ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Recently, another round of academic honors were announced by various coaches' associations for the 2011-12 season, and numerous teams and individuals from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) were recognized for excellence in the classroom in tennis, track and field, swimming and diving, volleyball and men's golf.

ITA announces All-Academic Honors
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) recently honored teams and individuals for their performance in the classroom in 2012, and the MIAC was well-represented on the prestigious lists. On the men's side, two schools and nine individuals were recognized, while four teams and 17 individuals earned distinction on the women's side.

The two Northfield schools, Carleton and St. Olaf, were both named 2012 ITA All-Academic Teams for their collective grade point averages (GPA) this season. Carleton's Ben Huang and Nelson Wolf, Hamline's Andrew Lutz, Saint John's Connor Rust and Willie Paul and the St. Olaf quartet of Jon Foss, Knute Gundersen, Charlie Reinertsen and John Wight all were honored as 2012 ITA Scholar Athletes.

On the women's side, the 2012 ITA All-Academic Team honor was bestowed on Carleton, Hamline, St. Olaf and St. Thomas. Carleton had five individuals honored: Beret Fitzgerald, Felicity Flesher, Erin Gudul, Kathryn Schmidt and Erin Wilson. St. Thomas also had five honorees: Brittany Alexander, Maureen Carberry, Kirsten Haukoos, Kaitlyn Israel and Rachel Wright. Four St. Olaf individuals were honored: Julia Ellis, Caitlin Harper, Andrea Jumes and Kristine Kroker, while Hamline had three selections: Elizabeth Allen, Shamara Duwearatchi and Anna Yarbrough.

| ITA Division III Women's All-Academic Honors | ITA Division III Men's All-Academic Honors |

USTFCCCA Recognizes teams, individuals
The MIAC reigned as one of the most academically decorated conferences in all of Division III recently when the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) announced its 2012 Track and Field All-American Honors. The MIAC led the nation with eight men's teams honored as Academic All-American Teams - Carleton, Concordia, Gustavus, Macalester, Saint John's, Saint Mary's, St. Olaf and St. Thomas - while the conference's eight women's teams honored - Carleton, Concordia, Gustavus, Macalester, Saint Benedict, Saint Mary's, St. Catherine and St. Thomas - was the second-highest total in Division III.

The MIAC also ranked third in the nation with 26 individual women's Academic All-American selections. The selections included Carleton's Simone Childs-Walker, Alison Smyth and Ellie Wilson, Concordia's Hillary Birchem, Kaari Jensen, Cherae Reeves and Hilary Thompson, Gustavus' Danielle Burgmeier, Erica Roelofs and Allyson Voss, Hamline's Becky Culp, Saint Benedict's Julia Renner, Erin Sand and Mandy Witschen, St. Catherine's Jamie Kelly, St. Olaf's Emma Lee and St. Thomas' Taylor Berg, Kayla Goeman, Larissa Peyton, Christina Rozeske, Erin Statz, Angela Tipp, Erika Tripp, Emily Van Heel, Hanna Volkman and Haley Zajac.

MIAC men racked up 16 Academic All-American honors from the USTFCCCA in 2012. They included Bethel's Matthew Schafer, Carleton's Marcus Huderle, Concordia's John Bye, Gustavus' Cameron Clause and Steve Goskreutz, Hamline's Andrew Schlichting, St. Olaf's Reid Gilbertson and Brian Saksa and St. Thomas' Patrick Ecklund, Eyo Ekpo, Jay May, Ben Sathre, Bryan Thell, Doug Thoreson, Joe Wistrcill and Gavin Yseth.

USTFCCCA Releases | Women's Team | Women's Individual | Men's Team | Men's Individual |

AVCA honors academic teams
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) recently honored its 2011-12 AVCA Team Academic Award recipients, and five MIAC programs were recognized for their collective excellence in the classroom this season. The teams to earn the distinction were Bethel, Carleton, Macalester, Saint Mary's and St. Thomas.

AVCA Press Release

CSCAA hands out team, individual awards
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) honored teams and individuals throughout Division III for excellence in academics, with MIAC schools and student-athletes well-represented on the honor squads. The MIAC had 10 women's teams and six men's teams honored as 2012 Scholar All-America teams, with Augsburg (3.68 GPA), Concordia (3.61, 8th), St. Catherine (3.45), Carleton (3.42), St. Thomas (3.37), Saint Mary's (3.36), Gustavus (3.33), Macalester (3.33), St. Olaf (3.30) and Hamline (3.03) honored on the women's side, and Macalester (3.42), Carleton (3.28), St. Thomas (3.23), St. Olaf (3.17), Gustavus (3.11), Saint Mary's (3.04) receiving the men's honor.

The women had an impressive 12 individuals named to the Scholar All-American Team, led by Gustavus and St. Olaf with five selections each and two from St. Thomas. Gustavus' selections included: Steph Korba, Kelsey Lucia, Katie Olson, Alissa Tinklenberg and Sarah Hund. The five St. Olaf selections were Carolyn Bernhardt, Maggie Boling, Lydia Feldman, Sarah Kemp and Katie Kubat. The two St. Thomas honorees were Emily Punyko and Hayley Trace. There were also six MIAC swimmers honored as Honorable Mention selections, Carleton's Erin McDuffie, Annie Metcalf and Sophie Pilhofer, Gustavus' Allyson Hanneman, St. Catherine's Sarah Moody and St. Olaf's Lauren Snyder.

The men placed two men on the 2012 Scholar All-American team, and had another three earn Honorable Mention distinction. Carleton's Erik Klontz and St. Olaf's Chase Liaboe were both Scholar All-Americans, while Gustavus' Peter Crady and Billy Schultze and St. Olaf's Ian Straehly each received Honorable Mention.

CSCAA Press Releases | Individual | Team |

GCAA presents Academic Awards
Recently the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), which is the chief men's golf coaches' association, handed out its Team Academic Awards presented by Farmers Insurance, with two MIAC teams earning recognition. Both Saint John's and St. Thomas earned distinction as GCAA All-Academic Teams in Division III, with its their collective GPAs both meeting the 3.0 threshold needed for the honor. The award factors in all golfers' GPAs on each teams' roster.

GCAA Press Release