Five Cavaliers Earn CoSIDA Academic All-District Honors
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia women’s swimmer Paige Madden, tennis players Carl Söderlund and Natasha Subhash, rower Sophia Kershner and men’s lacrosse defenseman Kyle Kology have been named to the 2021 Academic All-District At-Large District 3 Teams, as announced today (July 8) by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The 2020-21 Academic All-District Men’s and Women’s At-Large Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in athletic competition and in the classroom. There were 12 female and 11 male athletes selected from District 3, which covers NCAA I institutions in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Women’s beach volleyball, women’s bowling, women’s rowing, men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s rifle, men’s and women’s skiing, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo and wrestling are covered by the at-large teams.
Madden and Söderlund were voted Virginia’s top male and female athletes for the 2020-21 academic year. Söderlund earned the WINA Award as the top male athlete, while Madden claimed the IMP Award as UVA’s top female athlete for the second straight year. Söderlund and Subhash were the department’s 2020-21 Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
Madden, who will be competing at the Tokyo Olympics at the end of the month, is a two-time ACC Women’s Swimming Scholar-Athlete of the Year. An ACC Postgraduate Scholarship Award winner, she was a Honda Sports Award Finalist for swimming & diving. Madden is a two-time ACC Swimmer of the Year and of the Meet. She led Virginia to its first-ever NCAA Championship title in 2021 after capturing three individual races and one relay title, the most of any swimmer at the meet. She holds 14 CSCAA All-America honors and is a 13-time ACC Champion. She was named to the 2020 CoSIDA All-District team last year before being named a CoSIDA Third-Team Academic All-American.
Söderlund repeated as the ACC Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and the ACC Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was named the MVP of the ACC Championship after leading UVA to both the conference’s regular-season and tournament titles. The All-American and Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year has been ranked nationally in the top-10 in both singles and doubles this year as he helped elevate his team to a top-three national ranking. He has been named UVA’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in each of the last three years. He was named to the 2020 CoSIDA All-District team last year before being named a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American.
Subhash was ranked as high as No. 8 nationally in singles and No. 17 in doubles this season. The All-ACC First Team and Academic All-ACC honoree earned All-America status in both singles and doubles. She helped lead the team back to the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time since 2016 before advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship. She was recognized as the department’s outstanding female student-athlete based on academic excellence and performance with distinction as a member of a varsity team. She is the lone sophomore on the District 3 team. She is also the first player in program history to earn the accolade.
Kershner helped the Cavaliers to their 11th consecutive ACC rowing title by earning All-ACC first-team honors. Kershner was part of the UVA Varsity Eight, which earned ACC Crew of the Year honors. Kershner, who earned ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, was also a CRCA National Scholar-Athlete honoree. Kershner and the Cavaliers finished fifth at the NCAA Rowing Championships. This is her first CoSIDA Academic All-District honor.
Kology, a USILA Academic All-American and All-ACC Academic Team member, ranked No. 8 in the nation with 23 caused turnovers with 36 ground balls for the NCAA Champion Cavaliers. The defender was on the USILA All-American third team and was an honorable mention for All-America honors from USA Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse. He was also lauded with a placement on the VaSID All-State team. This is his first CoSIDA Academic All-District honor.
First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot. First-, second and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in early August. The CoSIDA Academic All-District teams are divided into geographic districts across the United States and Canada.
