Eleven Tar Heels Named To National Academic Squad

Feline Guenther
University of North Carolina Field Hockey v Iowa
NCAA Tournament
Karen Shelton Stadium
Chapel Hill, NC
Sunday, November 17, 2019

Senior Feline Guenther earned the NFHCA academic honor for the third year in a row.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 10, 2020 | Field Hockey, Academics

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Eleven Tar Heels have been named to the Zag Field Hockey/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad for 2019, recognizing a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 or better. The honor was announced Tuesday by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.

The academic honors come on top of an outstanding season on the turf. In 2019, UNC finished 23-0 for the second year in a row, winning NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference titles.

Last week, Carolina was announced as a winner of the Zag Field Hockey/NFHCA DI National Academic Team Award, recognizing a team GPA of 3.0 or better.

Those named to the National Academic Squad for 2019 are Brooke Behan, Marissa Creatore, Karlijn Goes, Feline Guenther, Catherine Hayden, Yentl Leemans, Mimi Leonard, Abby Pitcairn, Megan Ragusa, Meredith Sholder and Cassie Sumfest.

Guenther, Hayden, Ragusa, Sholder and Sumfest were honored for the third time in their Tar Heel careers.

Creatore, Guenther, Hayden and Leemans were seniors on the 2019 team. Creatore, a psychology major, and Hayden, a journalism major, graduated in December. Guenther, a business administration major, and Leemans, a psychology major, will graduate in May.

Pitcairn, honored for the second year in a row, is a rising junior and is majoring in biology. She played in every game last season, starting five, and was the recipient of the NCAA Elite 90 Award.

Sholder, a biology major, and Sumfest, a business administration major, both missed the 2019 season with injuries. They'll return in 2020 with two years of eligibility remaining.

Ragusa, a nutrition major, appeared in two games last season as a back-up goalkeeper. She has two years of eligibility remaining.

Leonard, a business administration major, played her first season for UNC in 2019 after transferring from Saint Louis and will be a senior on the team in 2020.

Behan and Goes were freshmen in 2019. Behan, a journalism major, redshirted the season and Goes, a psychology major, appeared in all 23 games, starting one.

More than a thousand student-athletes from Division I schools earned the honor for 2019. For a full list, click here.