SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Six Union College student-athletes spanning four sports were recognized for their work in competition and in the classroom with spots on the 2025 CSC Academic All-District Women’s At-Large Team, selected by College Sports Communicators and announced on Tuesday.

Seniors Maren Friday and Emma Hebert of the women’s hockey team were named to the Division I At-Large Team, while seniors Liz Bentsianov (women’s golf) and Julia Cole (women’s crew) as well as women’s lacrosse sophomores Gillian Joseph and Anna Dembowski all received Division III At-Large honors. Additionally, Bentsianov, Friday and Joseph were selected as CSC Academic All-America finalists and will advance to the national ballot, the results of which will be announced next month.

 

Unlike most sport-specific categories, the At-Large program is arguably the most competitive Academic All-District program, encompassing 12 different women’s sports: beach volleyball, bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing and water polo.

 

To be nominated for College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors, student-athletes must reach a minimum participation threshold (varies by sport), maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher, and reach sophomore athletic and academic standing at the school.

 

Friday earned Academic All-District honors for the third straight year. The 2025 Mandi Schwartz ECAC Hockey Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Friday broke career records for goals and points by a Union blueliner as a senior and finished her senior season with six goals and 13 assists for 19 points while also leading the team in blocked shots. The mechanical engineering major was recognized with Union’s Stephen Ritterbush ’68 Award and Award for Academic Excellence.

 

Friday was joined on the team as she is on the Union blue line by fellow co-captain Hebert, who is recognized for the first time. On the ice, the senior played in all 140 games of her four-year career, setting new program standards in games played and consecutive games played. Off the ice, the economics major was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa this spring.

 

Bentsianov is a three-time honoree as well after another excellent season with the women’s golf team. A biology and anthropology double major in the Leadership in Medicine program, Bentsianov swept Union’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards for her class over her four years and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as a senior. The first three-time All-Conference honoree in program history, she is Union’s all-time leader in career scoring average (81.93 strokes per round) and holds four of the program’s five lowest single-season scoring averages.

 

Cole is a first-time honoree after earning a second All-Liberty League selection with a spot on the first team in 2024-25. The senior was one of two Garnet Chargers to race in a varsity boat in all nine competitions this season, including six races in the six-seat of the varsity 8+ boat and three races in the varsity 4+ boat. The biology major finished her collegiate career by taking third place in the varsity 4+ boat at the Dad Vail Regatta.

 

Joseph and Dembowski both are honored for the first time after excellent seasons on the lacrosse field. Joseph, a neuroscience major, earned IWLCA All-Region and All-Liberty League first-team honors after leading Union with 46 goals and 28 assists for 74 points as a sophomore, ranking second in the conference in points per game and third in assists per game. Dembowski earned All-Liberty League second-team laurels on defense after the political science major ranked third in the conference with a team-leading 54 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers.

With the six honorees, Union student-athletes have now earned 259 Academic All-District honors since 2001.

 

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State gymnasts Nikki Smith and Gabrielle Stephen earned spots on the 2025 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District At-Large Team, the organization announced Tuesday. 

Stephen collects her third-consecutive Academic All-District honor, while Smith becomes a two-time honoree. 

To be eligible for Academic All-District selection, a student-athlete must be ranked in the top 75 in at least one event in the final Road to Nationals rankings and maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale.   

Smith, a junior, holds a 3.79 GPA as a studio art major. This season, she was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, becoming just the third conference gymnast of the year from MSU and first since 2007. She earned First Team All-Big Ten honors for the third-straight season and was honored as a Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) First Team Regular Season All-American on vault. Smith is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and two-time WCGA Scholastic All-American. 

Stephen, who graduated with a degree in criminal justice this spring with a 3.74 GPA, is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and WCGA Scholastic All-American. She became MSU’s first-ever four-time First Team All-Big Ten honoree this season alongside teammate Skyla Schulte and won a share of the 2025 Big Ten balance beam title with a program-first perfect 10.000 on the event. Stephen put together a spectacular postseason in 2025, winning three NCAA regional titles en route to being named MSU’s first-ever WCGA Regional Gymnast of the Year and ended her collegiate career with a third-place, NCAA First Team All-America finish on bars at the NCAA Championships. 

Smith and Stephen are now eligible for CSC Academic All-America status, with those selections set to be announced on July 8. 

MADISON, Wis.–Twenty-five Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) individuals have been named to the 2024-25 NCAA Division III Academic All-District® Men’s At-Large Team, selected by the College Sports Communicators.

 

Individuals from the WIAC receiving the honor included:  University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Connor Collins, Kyler Grundy, Tristan Massie and Willy Stauber; UW-La Crosse’s Marcus Orlandoni; UW-Platteville’s David Cushman; UW-River Falls’ Sam Anzai, Gibb Coady, Max Collette, Joey Foss, Josh Martin and Aidan Torres; UW-Stevens Point’s Nicholas Aromatario, David Hill, Brett Humberstone, Isaac Moberg, Alex Proctor and Harrison Stewart; UW-Stout’s Matt Dahlseide, Peyton Hart, Kobe Keller, Noe Perez, and Alex Stuckert; and Northland College’s Bryson Cecconi and Brandon Holt.

 

The at-large team includes the following sports: fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing and water polo, volleyball and wrestling.

To be nominated, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his current institution and is at least a sophomore academically and athletically. The athletic criteria for the at-large teams varies based on the sport.

 

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LOGAN, Utah – Utah State gymnastics had a school-record-tying six student-athletes named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team, it was announced by the organization on Tuesday.
 
Those earning the recognition include Avery Bibbey, Brianna Brooks, Payton Gatzlaff, Dani Kirstine, Nyla Morabito and Isabella Vater.
 
Bibbey, a junior from Chandler Arizona, has a 3.97 GPA majoring in kinesiology. She is a two-time Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Scholastic All-American and earned CSC Academic All-District, Academic All-Mountain West and MW Scholar-Athlete honors in 2024. During the 2025 campaign, Bibbey earned first-team All-MW honors on bars as she ranked third in the conference, tied for 17th in the North Central Region, and tied for 96th in the nation, with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 9.860. She competed on bars in 15 meets, averaging 9.712 on the event.
 
Brooks, a graduate student from Las Vegas, Nevada, had a 4.00 GPA while earning her master’s degree in sports management this past spring. She is a four-time WCGA Scholastic All-American and has earned CSC Academic All-District honors twice, along with earning Academic All-MW and MW Scholar-Athlete honors in 2024. She also received Academic All-Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference (MRGC) honors twice. Brooks was named the MW Beam Specialist of the Year and earned first-team All-MW honors on bars and beam in 2025. She ranked second in the conference, tied for eighth in the North Central Region, and tied for 60th in the nation on bars with an NQS of 9.880 and first in the conference, tied for eighth in the region, and tied for 57th in the nation on beam with an NQS of 9.880. She averaged 9.838 on beam, 9.800 on bars, and 9.595 on vault. Brooks won 12 event titles this past year, which is tied for the sixth-most by a senior in program history, as she placed first on beam seven times and first on bars five times. Her seven beam titles are tied for the most in a single-season in school history and her five bar titles are tied for the eighth-most.
 
Gatzlaff, a senior from Ankeny, Iowa, graduated this past spring with her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with a 3.94 GPA. She is a three-time WCGA Scholastic All-American and earned Academic All-MW and MW Scholar-Athlete honors in 2024. During the 2025 season, Gatzlaff competed in 14 meets on vault and averaged 9.745 on the event. She tied for ninth in the MW and tied for 37th in the North Central Region on vault with an NQS of 9.790.
 
Kirstine, a senior from Las Vegas, Nevada, graduated this past spring with her bachelor’s degree in journalism and communication with a 3.82 GPA. She is a three-time WCGA Scholastic All-American and earned Academic All-MW and MW Scholar-Athlete honors in 2024, along with earning Academic All-MRGC honors in 2023. During the 2025 season, Kirstine competed in 11 meets on bars and tied for seventh in the MW and was 31st in the North Central Region with an NQS of 9.835 and an average score of a 9.734.
 
Morabito, a sophomore from Welland, Ontario, Canada, has a 3.72 GPA majoring in kinesiology. She earned WCGA Scholastic All-American honors in 2024, along with being named Academic All-MW and a MW Scholar-Athlete. During the 2025 campaign, Morabito earned first-team All-MW honors on vault and floor with averages of 9.807 and 9.773, respectively. She ranked second in the conference and 20th in the North Central Region on vault with an NQS of 9.830 and second in the conference and tied for 18th in the region on floor with an NQS of 9.865. She led the team with eight weekly honors from the MW, while her seven individual titles were the second-most on the team.
 
Vater, a sophomore from Las Vegas, Nevada, has a 3.86 GPA majoring in marketing. She earned WCGA Scholastic All-American honors in 2024, along with being named Academic All-MW and a MW Scholar-Athlete. During the 2025 campaign, Vater earned second-team All-MW honors on floor as she ranked tied for fifth in the conference and tied for 31st in the North Central Region with an NQS of 9.835. She competed in 12 meets on floor, five meets on beam and one meet on vault and averaged 9.717 on floor and 9.730 on beam.
 
Fans can follow the Aggie gymnastics program at twitter.com/USUGymnastics, on Facebook at Utah State Gymnastics, and Instagram at USUGymnastics.
 
 

WORCESTER, Mass. – Twelve Holy Cross student-athletes have been selected to the 2024-2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District at-large team. The Crusaders to be honored are senior Ginger Berry, senior Owen Egan, senior Emilie Fortunato, senior Meggan Fourie, senior Thomas Gale, junior Abby Hornung, senior Lindsay Hult, senior Calahan McPherson, senior John Mitchell, senior Nolan Schuermann, senior Luke Shoemaker and senior Sally Zinsner. McPherson, Mitchell and Zinsner were recognized for the second straight year.

The team is comprised of student-athletes from the sports of beach volleyball, bowling, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, rowing, skiing, water polo and wrestling.

Berry, who earned Academic All-Patriot League honors, was a member of the women’s rowing team’s varsity eight in four spring races this season. She helped the boat to a second-place finish at the Jesuit Invitational and a seventh-place finish at the Patriot League Championship. A semifinalist for the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year Award, Berry was also a member of the Holy Cross women’s swimming and diving team. She graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.79 in Spanish and International Studies.

Egan was a three-time captain for the men’s golf team. During his senior season with the Crusaders, he averaged 74.38 strokes per 18 holes, including a career-low round of 67 on the final day of the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate. Throughout his time at Holy Cross, he averaged 74.41 strokes per round, the best mark in program history. In the classroom, Egan graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.63 in Economics.

Fortunato played in 31 games for the women’s ice hockey team this season, recording three assists. She also ranked third on the team with 37 blocked shots, while helping the Crusaders post a 2.09 team goals against average. Over the course of her collegiate career, Fortunato totaled three goals, 18 assists and 164 blocked shots in 129 games played. She graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.76 in Neuroscience.

Fourie was named All-Patriot League, All-Northeast Region, All-ECAC and Academic All-Patriot League for the field hockey squad this year. She led the team in scoring with 33 points on 15 goals and three assists, while ranking second in the Patriot League in goals, points and defensive saves (seven). During her Holy Cross career, Fourie totaled 70 points on 30 goals and 10 assists in 64 games played. In the classroom, she graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.62 in Computer Science and Economics.

Gale was named this season’s Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Year for the men’s ice hockey team. He finished the season with a 2.14 goals against average and a .927 save percentage, while setting a program single-season record with 24 victories. Gale finished his Crusader career with 37 victories, five shutouts, a .917 save percentage and a 2.41 goals against average. He graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.55 in Psychology.

Hornung earned Hockey East and New England Hockey Writers Association All-Star honors for the women’s ice hockey team this season. She finished the year with a 1.90 goals against average and a .940 save percentage, while posting two shutouts. During her Holy Cross career, Hornung now owns a 1.95 goals against average and a .939 save percentage. She currently carries a 3.64 cumulative grade point average with a major in International Studies and Sociology.

Hult was a four-year starter for the women’s lacrosse team, serving as a team captain as a senior. She led the squad with 29 caused turnovers this season, while ranking second on the team with 35 ground balls. Hult finished her Crusader career with 106 ground balls, 80 caused turnover and 80 draw controls in 67 games played, ranking third in program history in caused turnovers. She graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.66 in Sociology.

McPherson played in all 15 games for the men’s lacrosse team this year. He ranked ninth on the team with 15 ground balls, in addition to recording three caused turnovers and one assist. Over the course of his collegiate career, McPherson played in 49 games, totaling 49 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers, two goals and one assist. In the classroom, he graduated with a 3.81 cumulative grade point average in Economics.

Mitchell started all 15 games this season for the men’s lacrosse team. He led the squad in scoring with 23 points on 14 goals and nine assists, in addition to picking up 14 ground balls. During his career with the Crusaders, Mitchell played in 47 games, recording 33 points on 23 goals and 10 assists to go along with 25 ground balls. He graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.83 in Economics.

Schuermann won the Patriot League individual title for the men’s golf team, in addition to being named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He averaged a team-low 74.00 strokes per round this year, and qualified for the NCAA Amherst Regional. A three-time All-Patriot League selection, Schuermann finished his collegiate career with a average of 74.79 strokes per 18 holes. He graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.57 in Economics.

Shoemaker started all 15 games this year for the men’s lacrosse squad. He ranked third on the team with 18 caused turnovers, in addition to picking up 22 ground balls and recording one assist. During his collegiate career, Shoemaker played in 50 games, totaling 45 ground balls and 38 caused turnovers. In the classroom, he graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.68 in Biology.

Zinsner, who earned first team All-Patriot League and Academic All-Patriot League honors this year, started all 18 games for the women’s lacrosse team. She ranked second on the squad in scoring with 68 points on a team-best 52 goals and 16 assists. Zinsner ranked fifth in the Patriot League in goals per game (2.89) and eighth in points per game (3.78). Over the course of her collegiate career, she totaled 182 points on 133 goals and 49 assists in 54 games played. Zinsner graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.70 in English and Spanish.

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