Columbia's Maria Omondi Named College Division Academic All-American of the Year
Monday, November 23, 2009
(Adapted from the official CoSIDA release) - Senior middle hitter Maria Omondi of Columbia (Mo.) College headlines the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Volleyball Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Omondi has been named as the Academic All-America® of the Year in the College Divisions.
To be eligible for the national team, a student athlete had to have been selected to its District’s first team. Initial nomination criteria at the District level includes being a varsity starter or key reserve, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, reaching sophomore athletic and academic standing at his current institution and be nominated by their sports information director.
A native of Nairobi, Kenya, Omondi was named as the American Midwest Conference Player of the Year after leading the Cougars to the conference championship and a 16th consecutive berth in the NAIA national tournament. Omondi leads the team in blocks (147) while hitting a team best .420 as the seventh-seeded Cougars enter the NAIA Tournament with an overall record of 37-2.
A Biology and Chemistry major with a 3.94 G.P.A., Omondi is a NAIA Scholar-Athlete. She has been an active member of the Columbia Church of Christ since her freshman year where they are involved in the adopt-a-family program during the Christmas season. She volunteers as a reader at the local elementary school and currently she is volunteering her time with refugee services, offering her time as a tutor and translation.
Maria has been a model student-athlete for the Cougars, serving on Columbia’s Athletic Council and being named an NAIA Champion of Character.
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.
For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com
2009 ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-America®
Volleyball Team (College Division) as selected by CoSIDA
FIRST TEAM
Name School Dist. Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Jennifer Hefner Wayne State VII Jr. Archer, Neb. 3.96 Applied Human & Sport Physiology
Rebecca Kamp Calvin IV So. Orland Park, Ill. 3.83 Secondary Education
Alex May Mass. Inst. of Tech. I Sr. Des Moines, Iowa 3.80 Brain & Cognitive Sciences
Maria Omondi Columbia (Mo.) VII Sr. Nairobi, Kenya 3.94 Biology/Chemistry
Liz Schnelle Ohio Northern IV Sr. New Bremen, Ohio 3.65 Accounting
Mary Slinger Concordia-St. Paul V Sr. Faribault, Minn. 3.95 Chemistry & Biology
SECOND TEAM
Name School Dist. Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Renata da Silva California (PA) II Sr. Sao Paulo, Brazil 3.75 International Studies
Sara Graf SW Minnesota State V Sr. Mount Pleasant, Iowa 3.93 Accounting
Jamie Lancaster Anderson (S.C.) III Jr. Fountain Inn, S.C. 4.00 Parks & Recreation/sport mgmt.
Tricia McCutchan Case Western IV So. Hamilton, Ohio 4.00 Biomedical Engineering
Maggie McNamara Concordia-St. Paul V Sr. Zumbrota, Minn. 3.78 Mathematics
Devon Woolard Lynn III Jr. Delray Beach, Fla. 4.00 Business Administration
THIRD TEAM
Name School Dist. Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Courtney Ambrosch St. Francis (lll) V Sr. Joliet, Ill. 4.00 Accounting
Lauren Brown Winona State V Sr. Madison, Wis. 4.00 Biology
Kelsey Christoferson Biola VIII Sr. Carlsbad, Calif. 3.98 Mathematics
Emma Jaynes Saint Benedict V Sr. Hibbing, Minn. 3.85 Accounting
Morgan Magers Heidelberg IV Sr. Green Springs, Ohio 3.97 Education Intervention Specialist
Kaela Parnell Hardin-Simmons VI Sr. Carrollton, Texas 4.00 Pre-Med/Biology
Academic All-America of the Year: Maria Omondi, Columbia (Mo.)