AUSTIN, Texas.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks had a nation-leading six selections to the 2019-20 NCAA Division II Academic All-America At-Large Teams as selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America), which were announced Thursday.

CMU's honorees include repeat selections Brittany Dixon (women's swimming & diving) and Kristen Kirby (women's tennis), who is now the first CMU student-athlete in any sport to earn three honors.  She was also one of just three women and six student-athletes on the entire list to be a 3-time award winner.

Kirby and Dixon were joined on the women's teams by Kenzie Blackwell (lacrosse).  Lane Austin (swimming), Christian Cherry (lacrosse) and Mahmoud Elgayar (swimming) were all named to the men's teams and are the first Mavericks from their sports to ever receive the elite honor.

Blackwell, Kirby, Austin and Elgayar were all named to the second team units while Cherry and Dixon were third team selections.

The honorees are selected from a wide 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 significantly higher GPAs.  Thirty-four (20 women, 14 men) student-athletes on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division II At-Large Teams have a 4.00 GPA. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division II Women's At-Large First Team had an overall 3.94 GPA, while the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division II Men's At-Large First Team had an overall 3.93 GPA.
 
For the at-large program, institutions are limited to four nominations for each gender.
 
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-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 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).
 
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.

Including these six selections to the At-Large teams, the Mavericks have now had a NCAA Division II leading 11 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in the 2019-20 academic year across all sports thus far.  The others are Brendan Brown and Noah Rosenberg from the men's soccer squad, Kasie Gilfert (volleyball), Spencer Bramwell (baseball) and Hailey Hinson (softball).  The Cross Country/Track & Field Academic All-America teams will be announced next week.