The NCAA News - News and Features

April 6, 1998

GTE Academic All-America men's, women's players chosen

Players from Notre Dame, Southwest Missouri State, Elon and Saint Rose head this year's GTE Academic All-America men's and women's basketball teams.

Seniors Pat Garrity of Notre Dame and Lisa Davies of Southwest Missouri State are GTE Academic All-America Team Members of the Year in university division basketball, and seniors Christopher Kiger of Elon and Krista Kandere of Saint Rose earned Team Member of the Year honors in the college division.

The Team Member of the Year recognition goes annually to the players who "best represent the qualities of an Academic All-America student-athlete."

Garrity, who also was a first-team Academic All-America selection last year, is a preprofessional science major at Notre Dame and finished his career as the Fighting Irish's third-leading career scorer.

Davies, a communication science disorders major at Southwest Missouri State who was a second-team honoree last year, helped lead her team to an appearance in this year's Division I Women's Basketball Championship.

Kiger, a third-team Academic All-America selection last year, is a political science/public administration major at Elon.

Kandere, whose team went 33-0 this season before losing in a Division II regional final, is a biology/chemistry major at Saint Rose and was a second-team Academic All-America selection last year.

The GTE Academic All-America Teams are selected by a vote of the 1,800 members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). To be eligible for selection, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.200 (4.000 scale). CoSIDA has been selecting Academic All-America teams since 1952.

This year's Academic All-America teams in basketball:

University division/men

First team: Pat Garrity, Notre Dame, pre-professional science; Michael Doleac, Utah, biology; Matt Harpring, Georgia Tech, management; T. J. Lux, Northern Illinois, math education; Corey Reed, Radford, chemistry.

Second team: Scott Cross, Texas-Arlington, marketing; Steve Goodrich, Princeton, history; Pete Lisicky, Penn State, finance; Dan Muller, Illinois State, business management; Damian Owens, West Virginia, business administration.

Third team: Carlos Daniel, Washington State, history; Drew Hansen, Utah, political science and economics; Alexander Koul, George Washington, business and project managaement; Casey Shaw, Toledo, higher education; Matt Sundblad, Lamar, psychology and premedicine.

University division/women

First team: Lisa Davies, Southwest Missouri State, communication science disorders; Cindy Blodgett, Maine, education; Mary Klima, American, finance, law and society; Myndee Larsen, Southern Utah, communications; Katrina Price, Stephen F. Austin, kinesiology.

Second team: Kristin Folkl, Stanford, economics; Korie Hlede, Duquesne, communications and psychology; Amy O'Brien, Holy Cross, psychology and Spanish; Carrie Templin, Kent, speech pathology and audiology; Carrie Welle, Creighton, finance.

Third team: Kristina Behnfeldt, Marshall, marketing; Wendy Ray, New Mexico State, animal science (preveterinary); Nicki Taggart, Marquette, mechanical engineering; Amy Towne, Arkansas State, nursing; Stephanie White, Purdue, communications.

College division/men

First team: Craig Bears, Northwestern (Iowa), history; Bryan Crabtree, Illinois Wesleyan, business administration; Geoff Ping, Seattle Pacific, biology; Mike Shannon, Worcester Polytechnic, civil engineering; Rick Stafford, Alaska Anchorage, English.

Second team: Korey Coon, Illinois Wesleyan, risk management and history; Ryan Harrigan, Sewanee (University of the South), Spanish and economics; Troy Nesmith, Gannon, elementary education; Brent Niebrugge. Illinois Wesleyan, business administration; Greg Roehrig, Johns Hopkins, biology.

Third team: J. R. Duke, Harding, history and prelaw; Jerome Maiatico, Franklin & Marshall, business accounting and government; Marc Newell, Gustavus Adolphus, biology, biochemistry and chemistry; Jason Reinberg, Truman State, biology; Zach Wein, Nazareth, psychology.

College division/women

First team: Krista Kandere, Saint Rose, biology and chemistry; Missy McVoy, Northern Colorado, kinesiology; Lori Robinson-Nuzzo, Slippery Rock, health and physical education; Jarra Rusnock, Albright, chemistry; Suzanne Venet, Mount Union, sports medicine and physical education.

Second team: Jennifer Altman, Northern Colorado, psychology and kinesiology; Mol-ly Carr, Indiana (Pennsylvania), education; Michelle Davis, Hardin-Simmons, biology; Alia Fischer, Washington (Missouri), business; Jamie Martens, Missouri-Rolla, geological engineering.

Third team: Stacey Connors, Bentley, marketing; Sarah Krause, Taylor, elementary education; Telica Philip, St. Leo, biology/premedicine; Marija Preimats, Guilford, biology; Wendi Schoff, William Smith, mathematics