Brinkman earns Academic All-District® honors for the first time, having graduated over the weekend with a dual major (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens) |
Representatives of Stonehill field hockey and lacrosse programs earn academic recognition for the first time in their career
CoSIDA Announces 2022 Women's At Large Teams
Stonehill's All-Time CoSIDA Academic All-District selections
EASTON, Mass. (May 24, 2022) – Stonehill College has placed two student-athletes on the CoSIDA Academic All-District® I Women's At Large Team, as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members in Division II from the East Region.
Stonehill field hockey senior Elisha Brinkman and junior All-American Lydia Rudden from the women's lacrosse program have both earned Academic All-District® first team honors for the first time and are now eligible for Academic All-America® selection, voted on by members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® committee, to be announced later in June. The CoSIDA women's at large Academic All-America® program includes student-athletes competing in bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, and water polo. Brinkman is the ninth field hockey student-athlete to earn Academic All-District® honors, and its first since Sarah Morse, '17 in 2016, while Rudden is the ninth women's lacrosse student-athlete named At Large All-District® and first since Kayla Green, '13 in 2013.
Brinkman, who graduated this weekend as a dual major in economics and political science, has earned a 3.88 cumulative grade point average while enrolled in the Moreau Honors program at Stonehill and competing as a four-year member of the field hockey program. The Skyhawks captain helped lead Stonehill to a 13-5 record, including 11-3 in the Northeast-10 Conference, and a No. 10 national rank in the final National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll. The Skyhawks were regionally ranked for consideration for an NCAA Tournament bid all fall. She finished her senior season fourth on the team in scoring with ten points, scoring three goals with four assists and chipping in with a defensive save to earn a spot on the All-NE10 second team.
Brinkman |
Rudden |
Brinkman earned NE10 Academic All-Conference honors and has received the St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medal three years for having the highest cumulative grade point average on the field hockey team. She is a three-time NFHCA National Academic Squad member and has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester. Brinkman received the Economics Department's Outstanding Senior Award for having a 4.0 GPA in the major, while earning the Outstanding Achievement in International Relations Award. The Moreau Honors Scholar serves as a Moreau Mentor and is secretary of Lambda Epsilon Sigma Honor Society. Brinkman received an Athletic Director's Award for her achievements at Stonehill's annual Awards Night ceremony earlier this month.
Brinkman, named an NFHCA Senior All-Star, finished her Stonehill career with seven goals and eight assists or 22 points in 49 career games. She has received the Division II Athletic Director's Association (ADA) Academic Achievement Award and earned Academic Excellence status on the NE10 Academic Honor Roll for earned a 4.0 semester GPA.
Rudden has earned a 3.85 cumulative grade point average as a philosophy major in the Moreau Honors Program at Stonehill, while earning All-America honors for the women's lacrosse program. The NE10 Attack of the Year helped lead Stonehill to an 18-3 record, including 12-1 in the NE10 on its way to winning both a share of its NE10 record 12th regular season championship and then claim a Conference record tenth NE10 Tournament title. The Skyhawks earned a ninth NCAA Tournament bid and are ranked No. 5 in the most recent IWLCA Division II poll.
Rudden, an NE10 Academic All-Conference selection as a sophomore, has received the St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medal two straight years for having the highest cumulative GPA on the women's lacrosse team. She has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester and received the Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award. Rudden is a Moreau Honors Program mentor that has received the Presidential Merit Scholarship and serves as a Teaching Assistant in the Business Department, while also tutoring in the Writing Center.
Rudden adds Academic All-District® honors to a record setting season for the women's lacrosse program (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Rudden is coming off a record-breaking season for the Stonehill women's lacrosse program to earn All-America first team and All-East Region first team honors from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA). She was also selected as the NE10 Attack of the Year and earned a spot on the All-NE10 first team. Rudden led the NE10 in scoring with her program-record 119 points (2nd nationally) and assists with a program record and Division II-leading 77, while her 42 goals are fifth on the team and 14th among NE10 leaders. The four-time NE10 Player of the Week and two-time IWLCA Division II Offensive Player of the Week posted just the third 100-point season in Stonehill history, leading the Conference in scoring by 27 points and assists by 31.
Rudden, named Stonehill's Outstanding Junior Award recipient at its annual athletics awards night, has totaled 59 goals and 106 assists for 165 points in 34 career games, also totaling 45 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers. She will enter her senior year at Stonehill tied with head coach Katie (Lambert) Conover, '03 for second on the program's career assists list, 22 shy of the program record of 128 by Jenny McGrath, '06.
With 23 intercollegiate sports when women's ice hockey takes to the ice for the first time in 2022-23, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. A charter member of the NCAA Division II Northeast-10 Conference since 1980, the College announced that the athletic department will begin a transition to NCAA Division I as a member of the Northeast Conference on July 1 for the 2022-23 academic year. Stonehill has won the NE10 Presidents' Cup six times, all coming within the last 15 years. The Skyhawks have received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first ten years of the program's existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. The Skyhawks' 92-percent ASR for the cohort period of 2011-2014 ranks fifth among NE10 members and 20th nationally among 303 NCAA Division II member institutions, with seven program's earning perfect ASR scores of 100%. The College ranks No. 98 in the category of National Liberal Arts Schools by U.S. News & World Report and No. 94 for the Best Value category.
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