St. Mary's Women's Tennis Earns ITA Academic Honors

2011 ITA All-Academic Teams and Scholar-Athletes

Skillman, N.J. – For the fourth year in a row, the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's tennis team earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team status after posting a 3.35 cumulative team grade point average for the 2010-11 academic year.  The Seahawks were one of 70 Division III institutions honored by the ITA.

St. Mary's was one of two Capital Athletic Conference women's tennis programs to be recognized as an ITA All-Academic Team as University of Mary Washington also picked up the distinction.  Along with being selected as an All-Academic Team, eight Seahawks were honored as ITA Scholar-Athletes.

The ITA All-Academic Team Award is open to any ITA program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale).  All eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2010 and spring 2011).

In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must meet the following criteria: 1.) be a varsity letter winner, 2.) have a GPA of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and 3.) have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters (including first-year thorough senior year).

Representing St. Mary's as ITA Scholar-Athletes were juniors Jackie Brady (Thurmont, Md./Catoctin), Aviva Brown (Pasadena, Md./Old Mill), Alli Crawford (Frederick, Md./Urbana), Katie Lackler (Ellicott City, Md./Marriotts Ridge), Sarah Minkoff (Gaithersburg, Md./Poolesville) and Kathleen Ramsey (Dunkirk, Md./Northern); sophomore Marie Rau (Ellicott City, Md./Howard); and first-year Alexa Gaul (Ivyland, Pa./Council Rock North).

Brady and Ramsey are now three-time ITA Scholar-Athletes while Brown and Crawford are repeat selections.

St. Mary's finished this past season with a 9-12 (4-3 CAC) record, advancing to the CAC semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.  Ramsey set the school's career singles wins record at 39 as she finished her junior campaign with a team-best 12 victories, including seven wins at No. 4 singles.