41 Comets Make League’s All-Academic Teams
Forty-one UT Dallas student-athletes were honored by the American Southwest Conference when it recently released its Academic All-ASC Teams for the league’s fall sports.
The Comets were well-represented in each of the five fall sports. UT Dallas had eight volleyball players on the list, more than any other school in the conference. For the University’s other fall sports, men's cross country had five honorees, women's cross country eight, men's soccer 11 and women's soccer nine.
More than 400 student-athletes from the ASC’s 13 member institutions were recognized by the conference. To be eligible for ASC All-Academic honors, student-athletes must be classified academically as a sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student during the competition season and have been in attendance and completed at least one academic year (two consecutive semesters) at their institution. They must also have a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average as certified at the conclusion of the academic semester in which the ASC sport championship is held.
Below is a complete list of UT Dallas’ Academic All-ASC selections for the 2015 fall semester.
Keishi Mii
Megan Mugavero
Abbie Barth
Men’s Cross Country
Ian Brown
Emanuel Grella
David Merz
Keishi Mii
Mohammad Nourani
Women's Cross Country
Lisa Bagen
Mallory Bing
Catherine Davis
Sam Hartke
Stephanie Kubecka
Aimi Nguyen
Lindsey Rayborn
Samantha Tschirhart
Men's Soccer
Luke Cotter
Tyler Cotter
Connor Crabtree
Sam Konstanty
Jacob Malone
Michael Matthews
Danny Meyer
Roman Rodriguez
Jordan Rubel
Joseph Weber
Kevin Whatley
Women's Soccer
Macaire Ament
Millie Atkins
Emily Bishop
Jessie Bowers
Eliza Carey
Laurel Hansen
Emily Luth
Tatum Moog
Megan Mugavero
Volleyball
Abbie Barth
Meredith Crawford
Holyn Handley
Kayla Jordan
Kelsey Morrison
Mary Speights
Michelle Toro
Aimee Wilhelm
Sophomore cross country runner Samantha Tschirhart, junior volleyball player Michelle Toro and junior soccer player Sam Konstanty have been named Distinguished Scholar Athletes by the American Southwest Conference (ASC) for its fall sports. It's just the second time that one institution had three student-athletes earn the honor during the same fall semester.
Samantha TschirhartTschirhart, an actuarial science major from Castroville with a 3.97 grade-point average, led her squad to its second straight runner-up finish at the ASC Championships. She placed fourth at the 2015 ASC meet and helped the Comets finish 15th at the NCAA Division III Regional Meet.
Michelle ToroToro, a mechanical engineering major from Flower Mound with a 3.91 grade-point average, led the Comets to their first ASC title since 2009 and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament. She was named third-team AVCA All-America and third-team CoSIDA Academic All-America. Toro led the ASC with a school-record .399 hitting percentage.
Sam KonstantyKonstanty, a native of Missouri City, was the conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Year as well as second-team All-West Region selection by the NSCAA. A first-team Academic All-America selection, he led the Comets to their first ASC title since 2007. Konstanty, a biomedical engineering major with 4.0 grade-point average, helped the squad record a school-record 13 shutouts.
The Distinguished Scholar Athlete teams recognize student-athletes who achieve a 3.2 grade-point average or better while competing as a starter or important reserve on their team. From that list — limited to one nominee per school in each sport — the sports information directors from conference schools select a Distinguished Scholar Athlete in each sport.
Media Contact: The Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, [email protected].