UW-Whitewater senior Amy Gahl (Beloit/Parkview) has earned First Team College Sports Information Directors of America/ESPN The Magazine Academic College Division All-District Five honors. Gahl heads a group of four Warhawk players named to the team, with Amanda LeBeau (Worth, IL/Richards) and Jessica Stang (Minnetonka, MN/Minnetonka) selected to the second team, and Suzanne Gersich (Wadsworth, IL/Warren) picked for the third team.
Gahl is a senior psychology major with a 3.66 grade point average. She has been a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar Athlete and on the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Scholastic Honor Roll three times. She has also earned the UW-W Athletic Academic Achievement Award her first three years and was a UW-W Chancellor's Scholar Athlete this year. Gahl earned Third Team CoSIDA/ESPN All-District honors in 2008. As an outfielder she earned All-America honors in 2007 and was a first all-region pick this season, batting .435 with 52 runs scored.
LeBeau, UW-W's junior shortstop, has a 3.71 GPA with a double major in accounting and finance. She earned NFCA Scholar Athlete honors her first two seasons and the UW-W Athletics Academic Achievement Award twice. She is a member of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, and has received the two scholarships. LeBeau batted .362 for the Warhawks.
Stang is a sophomore with a 3.59 grade point average, majoring in accounting with a Spanish minor. She is the recipient of two scholarships, and is a member of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and Golden Key International Honor Society. She was the WIAC Co-Pitcher of the Year in 2008 and the sole recipient of the award this season. She went 21-3 with a 0.84 earned run average and five saves, striking out 199 and walking just 32 in 161.1 innings.
Gersich, a senior outfielder, has a 3.32 GPA with a social work major and coaching minor. She received the NFCA Scholar Athlete Award in 2007 and 2008, the UW-W Athletic Academic Achievement Award the same years, and was a Chancellor's Scholar Athlete this spring. Gersich batted .492 with seven home runs and 39 runs batted in this season. She ends her Warhawk career as the school and WIAC record holder for home runs and runs batted in.
All four of the UW-Whitewater players were also named First Team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for 2009. Gahl was the WIAC Judy Kruckman Co-Scholar Athlete for Softball.
UW-Whitewater went 38-7 this season, winning the WIAC championship and earning a berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship tournament.
The College Division includes all National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II and Division III schools and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics members. District Five covers Minnesota, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana.
The CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine team invites nominations from all member schools. Each school is allowed unlimited nominations with the stipulation that nominees must be a starter or regular, must have at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average, must be at least a sophomore, and must have completed one full academic year at their current institution. Academic success, campus and community service, and athletic performance are all qualities addressed in the nomination. The nominees are compiled on a ballot which member sports information directors vote on. Members of the first team from each of eight districts will be included on a ballot for Academic All-America honors.
For additional information: Brenda Volk, UW-W coach
