Tuesday, November 22, 2005

MORAVIAN’ S ERIN GONDA NAMED TO ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC
ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM

WALTHAM, MA --- Senior defender Erin Gonda (Bethlehem, PA/Salisbury HS) has been named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division Women’s Soccer Second Team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Gonda helped the Greyhounds to their best season ever with the program’s first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and a 16-6-1 record on the season including an opening round win in the NCAA Tournament. Moravian had a 5-1-1 mark during the Commonwealth Conference regular season and made the program’s fourth appearance in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament, playing for the conference championship for the first time in school history.

Gonda scored three goals and an assist for seven points, and she was named to the Commonwealth All-Conference Second Team for the third straight year. Gonda has also been on the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation Academic Honor Roll three times. Gonda had five goals and five assists for 15 points in 57 career matches.

Gonda is the 31st ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in Moravian history and the 26th in the last 13 years.

The Academic All-America® Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually 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 consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

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. 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.

The College Division is made up of all the NCAA Division II and III schools in the nation as well as all NAIA schools. Student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools are named to the University Division Teams. District II is made up of schools from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

ESPN The Magazine – winner of the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized bi-weekly with a circulation of 1.85 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.

For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com or e-mail rlipe@bentley.edu.