Six Cavaliers Named VaSID Academic All-State Honorees
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia had six student-athletes recognized on the 2021-22 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Academic All-State Team, the organization announced on Thursday (July 14).
Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) from women’s swimming, Jake Gelof (Rehoboth Beach, Del.) from baseball, Nicola Lawless (London, England) from rowing, Owayne Owens (Montego Bay, Jamaica) from men’s track & field, Natasha Subhash (Fairfax, Va.) from women’s tennis and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (Zurich, Switzerland) from men’s tennis were named honorees, joining a list of 222 student-athletes from 37 colleges and universities within the state.
Douglass was crowned the ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year after helping the UVA women’s program secure its second straight NCAA championship, UVA’s 30th in school history. She is the Honda Sports Award winner for the sport and was named CSCAA and ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Year after she won three individual NCAA titles. At the NCAA meet, Douglass set the American, NCAA and US Open records in the 50-yard free and the 200-yard breaststroke, and the American record in the 100-yard fly. She also won four relay NCAA titles, as she was the leadoff swimmer in the 200-yard and 400-yard free relays and the anchor in the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays. At the 2022 FINA World Championships, Douglass grabbed bronze in the 200m breaststroke and was a member of the third-place 4x100m freestyle and mixed 4x100m freestyle relay teams.
Gelof, a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American, was a semifinalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy, which is presented by the NCBWA. He also earned All-America honors from ABCA/Rawlings (Second Team), Perfect Game (Second Team), NCBWA (Third Team), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (Third Team), Baseball America (Third Team) and D1Baseball.com (Third Team). Gelof started in all 58 games this season and led the Cavaliers in batting average (.377), home runs (21), RBI (81) and slugging percentage (.764). The First Team All-ACC selection was also named to the Greenville All-Regional Team after going 5-for-11 with two home runs and seven RBI in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Lawless was named the ACC’s Scholar Athlete of the Year, an All-ACC Academic selection and a CRCA National Scholar Athlete honoree. The senior guided the Cavaliers’ Varsity Eight to the program’s 12th consecutive ACC title and a 12th-place finish at NCAA Championships. Lawless was also named part of the ACC Crew of the Year and a First Team All-ACC honoree.
Owens repeated as the ACC indoor champion in the men’s triple jump while earning All-America honors in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships after placing eighth. Outdoors, Owens won the triple jump at Penn Relays with a personal-best mark of 16.61 meters (54’6”) and claimed silver at the ACC Outdoor Championships. Owens advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second consecutive season. He ranks second all-time at Virginia in the triple jump outdoors, and third indoors. Owens also holds the UVA indoor long jump record. Owens became the first-ever member of the Virginia men’s and women’s track and field programs to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America first-team honors. He is also the only UVA track and field athlete to be selected as an Academic All-American more than once.
Subhash, like Gelof and Owens, was one of UVA’s three CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2021-22. She earned her fourth career ITA All-America honor after advancing to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Singles Championship. Subhash was an All-ACC Second Team honoree, finishing the year with a 29-12 record in singles and a 25-11 mark in doubles. She also repeated as UVA’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognizing the department’s outstanding female student-athlete based on academic excellence and performance with distinction as a member of a varsity team. Subhash was ranked in the top-10 in both singles and doubles in the ITA Preseason Rankings, repeating as the ITA Atlantic Regional Singles Champion in the fall.
Von der Schulenburg, UVA’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, guided the men’s tennis team to the program’s fifth NCAA championship. Von der Schulenburg garnered All-ACC Second Team honors and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 3 singles and No. 3. doubles as well as earning his second-straight All-ACC Academic Team mention. He earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championship for the second straight year and finished the season ranked No. 38 in the ITA Singles rankings.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and be a sophomore or higher.
VaSID is comprised of sports information or athletics communications professionals from intercollegiate institutions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Membership is open to any individual affiliated with one of the state’s institutions at the NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, USCAA, NJCAA, community college and independent levels, provided that individual’s area of responsibility lies within the realm of sports information.