Tuesday, November 08, 2011

MACON, Ga. – Six Atlantic Sun Conference women’s soccer players were named to The 2011 Capital One Academic All-District ® Women’s Soccer Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Of the six, five were selected to the First Team and one to the Second Team of their respective districts.

Lipscomb University teammates Danielle Bethke and Kristen Heikkinen earned First Team honors in District 3, while Florida Gulf Coast University’s Jennifer Crittenberger and Gina Petracco joined Mercer University’s Olivia Tucker as First Team selections in District 4. FGCU’s Brittany Burt earned District 4 Second Team honors.

Bethke graduated in May 2011 carrying a 4.0 GPA in accounting. She began work on her Master’s of Accountancy this fall, in addition to scoring a goal and adding two assists in 18 regular season games for the Lady Bisons. She finished her Lipscomb career with four goals and four assists, playing primarily out of the midfield, in 75 matches. Heikkinen double-majored in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics at Lipscomb, and carries a 4.0 herself. She will graduate in the spring and enroll in a graduate school for mechanical engineering. She started all 75 games she appeared in for Lipscomb, scoring three goals and assisting on four. She was Lipscomb’s second-leading scorer in 2011 with two goals and three assists.

FGCU’s trio became the first-ever women’s soccer players to be recognized with Capital One Academic All-District team honors. Petracco was one of four forwards on the District 4 first team thanks in part to her 4.0 GPA in public relations, as she is on track to become FGCU’s first 4.0 student-athlete. Two weeks ago, she was a unanimous choice to the Atlantic Sun’s inaugural All-Academic team and she was named the A-Sun Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year. On the field, Petracco has led the Eagles with 20 points on eight goals and four assists. Her 20 points are the fifth best total in single-season program history. She was also named to the A-Sun All-Conference first team.

Crittenberger has played in all 19 games for the Eagles, helping an FGCU backline produce a league-best 11 shutouts. Her 3.75 GPA in accounting earned her a spot as one of five defenders on the District 4 first team, adding to her A-Sun Academic All-Conference team honor two weeks ago.

Tucker is the second player in Mercer history (Kacie Hudson, 2010) to be named to the All-District team. She is a three-year captain for the Bears and is the active leading point scorer in the A-Sun conference. Tucker also led the team this season with nine goals on the year and was recently named First Team All A-Sun for the fourth-consecutive year. She was also listed on the inaugural All-Academic A-Sun team, and the midfielder carries a 3.5 GPA in Biology.

Burt has also appeared in all 19 games posting a career-best seven assists on the season, which is second on the team. Her 3.61 GPA in communications landed her on the District 4 second team and she earned A-Sun All-Academic honors in 2010.

The Academic All-District ® teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the first year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moves from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non Division I) and doubles the number of scholar-athletes honored. The teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.

The teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Capital One became the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA’s Academic All-America teams programs in 2011.

First-team Academic All-District ® honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

Follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an NCAA Division I league with 10 member institutions committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun meets the challenge of maintaining the highest standards in academic and athletic achievement with a true balance between student and athlete. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.