University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Trio Named To 10-Member Academic All-District Team
May 15, 2014 | Field Hockey, Women's Gymnastics, Swimming & Diving, Academics, Student-Athlete Development
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Three Tar Heel student-athletes are among the 10 standouts named to the Capital One Academic All-District 3 At-Large Team, announced Thursday by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). Meredith Hoover (women's swimming, Michelle Ikoma (gymnastics) and Loren Shealy (field hockey) earned the distinction, which is based on academic and athletic achievement.
As members of an All-District team, they are now eligible for Academic All-America honors, which will be announced early in June. Candidates must have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 to be nominated.
The at-large women's team is open to student-athletes from the sports of bowling, rowing, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis and water polo. District 3 includes schools from North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
Hoover, from Concord, N.C., graduated this month with a major in romance languages. A two-time All-America in the 200-yard butterfly, she leaves UNC as the Atlantic Coast Conference record holder in that event, in which she was the 2014 ACC Champion. She was a two-time NCAA qualifier, finishing fourth as a junior and eighth as a senior. An All-ACC and All-ACC Academic honoree, she is the recipient of UNC's McCaskill Award as the top all-around senior female student-athlete. She also is the recipient of an ACC Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship and the Leader of Distinction award, the highest honor bestowed by the Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy.
Ikoma, from Naperville, Ill., also graduated in May. She earned a double major in business administration and exercise & sport science with a minor in mathematics. A team captain as a senior, she bounced back from a torn Achilles her sophomore year to turn in some of the best performances of her career. As a senior she competed in vault, bars and floor. An Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar, one of four student-athletes honored nationally, she won top honors in both of her majors as well as the top student-athlete honor at UNC's annual Chancellor's Awards. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, served as co-president of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, earned the Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy Leader of Distinction Award and was named to UNC's Ultimate Team.
Shealy, from Charlotte, N.C., is a rising senior and is majoring in business administration. She was named to the Academic All-District team for the second year in a row. As team captain, she led the 2013 UNC field hockey squad to its fifth consecutive final four berth, playing in all 24 games and starting 18 at forward. She was the recipient of the NCAA Elite 89 Award for field hockey for second year in a row and was named the 2013 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The 2012-13 Sports Illustrated Female College Athlete of the Year, Shealy is a member of the prestigious Robertson Scholars program, a member of the Honors Program and represents the field hockey team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
To see all of the Capital One Academic All-District Team honorees, click here.
Capital One Academic All-District 3 Winners
NCAA Division I
Lauren Blazing, Field Hockey, Duke, Jr., Durham, N.C., 3.99, Cultural Anthropology, Political Science
Loren Shealy, Field Hockey, North Carolina, Jr., Charlotte, N.C., 4.0, Business Administration
Michelle Ikoma, Gymnastics, North Carolina, Sr., Naperville, Ill., 3.99, Business Admin./Exercise & Sport Science
Lindsay Gendron, Swimming, Tennessee, Sr., Bloomington, Ill., 3.81, Marketing
Zoe Hamel, Tennis, UNC Asheville, Sr., Sedan, France, 3.99, Mathematics and Economics
Brittany Yang, Tennis, Liberty, Jr., Newnan, Ga., 4.0, Graphic Design
Meredith Hoover, Swimming, North Carolina, Sr., Concord, N.C., 3.53, Romance Languages
Kirsty Condon, Golf, Radford, Sr., Lincolnshire, England, 4.0, Foreign Language
Brites Moniz-Soares, Tennis, Davidson, Sr., Angra Do Heroismo, Portugal, 3.96, Economics
Ellen Williamson, Swimming, Virginia, Jr., Ft. Mitchell, Ky., 3.57, Systems Engineering
Players Mentioned
