May 9, 2008

ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Softball Teams

IRVING, Texas - Seven Conference USA softball players have been named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams, it has been announced. Tulsa senior Sara Dyer earned first team honors in District 6, while UCF's Cat Snapp, Memphis' Lindsay Kelso, Southern Miss' Kristin Chaney, Tulsa's Vanessa Vice and Houston's Kate Bush were second team selections. Tori Gross of Memphis was named as a third team selection in District 4.

As a First Team selection, Dyer will now be included on the national Academic All-America® ballot.

Dyer, a first baseman for the Hurricane, has maintained a 3.94 grade point average in Communication. On the field, Dyer finished the season with a .341 batting average and .520 slugging percentage. She is Tulsa's all-time leader for hits, doubles in a game, season and career. Dyer is a four-time all-conference performer and was a 2007 Easton Third-Team All-America selection.

The Academic All-America program annually honors more than 1600 student-athletes who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA (the College Sports Information Directors of America), a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

ESPN The Magazine - winner of the 2006 and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence - is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized biweekly with a circulation of 1.9 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.