July 11, 2012

2012 ACWPC All-Academic Honors

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. - The Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) announced this week the 2012 Women's All-Academic awards, and the LMU women's water polo team ranked seventh overall with a 3.310 team grade point average, third best among NCAA Division-I programs.

In addition to its highest team honors in program history, the eight Lions were honored with individual All-Academic Awards. Kimberly Benedetti, Kiara Cerda, Whitney Delgado, Casey Flacks, Aimee Goodwin, Alexandra Honny, Laura Lopez and Jessica Morelos all were named ACWPC All-Academic for the 2012 season.

"Our program is about attaining the highest level of success not only in the pool, but in the classroom as well. I am very proud of this team as we had 14 of our players earn a GPA better than a 3.0, with eight of those 14 earning national academic honors," said Head Coach Kyle Witt. "The success we have been able to achieve this year and in years past is due to the commitment and hard work of our student-athletes. I am very proud of this team."

The ACWPC honored 20 programs with a 3.0 GPA or higher as a team, while honoring 138 Division-I student-athletes. The ACWPC All-Academic honors are split among three categories: Outstanding (GPA of 3.71 - 4.0), Superior (3.41-3.70) and Excellent (3.20-3.40).

Pacing the Lions was Cerda, who earned the NCAA Elite 89 Award for the highest GPA at the NCAA National Championships. She, along with Morelos were named outstanding. Cerda holds a 3.95 GPA, while Morelos claims a 3.81.

Earning Superior honors were Benedetti and Goodwin. Excellent honors went to Delgado, Flacks, Honny and Lopez.

The eight individuals honored at the national level equals the 2008 team for the most in program history. Flacks and Benedetti earned national honors each of their four years with the Lions.