GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— For the second straight year, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks had a region-high seven selections to the 2019-20 NCAA Division II Academic All-District At-Large Teams, selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America).
All seven, including repeat selections
Brittany Dixon (women's swimming diving) and
Kristen Kirby (women's tennis), are now on the national ballot for Academic All-America honors, which will be announced in June. They were joined on the women's team by
Kenzie Blackwell (lacrosse) and
Hannah More (golf).
Lane Austin (swimming),
Christian Cherry (lacrosse) and
Mahmoud Elgayar (swimming) were all named to the 10-man men's District 6 team, made up of the top student-athletes from the Lone Star and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Due to ties in the voting, 13 women were selected based on voting of CoSIDA members who weighted a combination of athletic and academic accomplishments. The honorees are selected from a pool of 26 different sports that do not have their individually selected teams.
To be nominated, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 or higher cumulative GPA, although those selected typically have higher GPAs. They must have also completed at least one full calendar year at their institution and have reached sophomore athletic eligibility.
For the at-large program, institutions are limited to four nominations for each gender.
Kirby is now a 3-time Academic All-District honoree and has earned Academic All-America honors in each of the previous two years. Dixon also received both honors last year.
Kirby, a senior from Thornton, Colorado, holds a 3.96 GPA and is majoring in exercise science. She won 120 matches over the past four years and earned First Team All-RMAC honors in all six opportunities before the conference stopped sponsoring the sport in 2019. She was also named as the RMAC Summit Award winner in 2018 and 2019 amongst her many accomplishments.
Dixon, a senior from West Fargo, North Dakota, holds a 3.81 GPA while majoring in political science. She was a 4-time CSCAA All-American Diver and was named as the RMAC Diver of the Year twice and as the RMAC Championship Diver of the Meet three times. She was also named as the RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year for Women's Swimming & Diving this season.
Blackwell, a junior nursing major from Granite Bay, California holds a perfect 4.0 GPA. She was named as the RMAC Academic Player of the Year for women's lacrosse this season and is a 2-time First Team All-RMAC pick. She was also an Honorable Mention All-RMAC pick in 2019 and ranks fifth in program history for career assists (47) and 11
th in career points (96).
More, a senior from Littleton, Colorado holds a 3.81 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering. She was named as the RMAC Golfer of the Week three times during the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season, averaging 75.20 strokes. She was named to the First Team RMAC All-Academic Team and is a 3-time All-RMAC honoree in her career.
Austin, a sophomore from Thornton, Colorado and Mountain Range High School, the same as Kirby, holds a 3.93 GPA and is majoring in business administration/hospitality management. He was named as the RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year for men's swimming and has earned six all-America and ten All-RMAC honors in his first two years as a Maverick. He won three RMAC titles this year and is a part of three school-record holding relay teams.
Cherry, the first Maverick men's lacrosse player to ever earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, was named to the First Team RMAC All-Academic team for the second straight time this spring and holds a 3.92 GPA while majoring in biology. The senior goalie from Edmond, Oklahoma was also named as the RMAC Summit Award winner in 2019 and led the RMAC in goals against average (6.90) and save percentage (.615) during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, which saw the Mavericks go a perfect 7-0.
Elgayar, a sophomore from Cairo, Egypt, holds a 3.84 GPA and is majoring in mechanical engineering. He holds the school record in five total events, including the 200-yard breaststroke, and is a 7-time CSCAA All-American. He is also a 5-time RMAC Champion and 11-time All-RMAC performer in two years and was named as the 2019-20 RMAC Men's Swimmer of the Year.
