Penn State Altoona women’s basketball student athletes Jess Burns, of South Fayette, and Camryn Figard, of Hollidaysburg, were recognized for their success in the classroom on Tuesday, March 26, when both student athletes were named to the College Sports Communicators’ Division III Academic All-District team.
GREENWOOD, Ind. — The College Sports Communicators (CSC) organization, formerly known as the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), announced its list of Academic All-District men’s and women’s tennis student-athletes on May 9.
Among the NCAA Division III honorees were Penn State Altoona men’s tennis student-athlete Casey Hess of Annville and women’s tennis student-athlete Stephanie Swain of Yadkin County, North Carolina.
Hess earned second-team All-AMCC honors in No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles this season. In singles matches, he went 13-2 overall to set a new Penn State Altoona single-season record for singles victories and also became the program’s all-time wins leader, finishing the season with 25 career singles wins. In doubles matches, Hess was 9-8 overall, playing all but one of his matches in the No. 1 spot. Hess is an electro-mechanical engineering technology major.
Swain was a second-team All-AMCC selection this past season in the No. 3 doubles position. She tied for the team lead in doubles wins with nine, posting a 9-5 overall doubles record that included going 7-2 in No. 3 doubles matches. In singles play, Swain was 5-9 overall, including a 3-2 mark in the AMCC, while playing the bulk of her matches in the No. 4 spot. Swain majored in accounting at Penn State Altoona.
To be included on the CSC Academic All-District teams, men's and women's tennis student-athletes were required to meet certain qualification criteria. All nominees must have completed at least one calendar year at their current institution while having cumulative grade-point averages of 3.5 or higher at the time of nomination, being key starters or reserves on their team, and having strong athletic accomplishments, statistics and accolades.
All-District student-athletes were nominated by athletics communication professionals who are members of CSC. Nominators could submit up to four deserving student-athletes per team.
The Penn State Altoona men’s tennis team finished its season with a 13-5 overall record, setting a new program single-season wins record. The Lions went 6-2 in the AMCC and ended as the conference runners-up, after falling in the conference championship match.
Penn State Altoona women’s tennis was 5-9 overall, including going 3-2 in the AMCC. The Lions qualified for the AMCC postseason tournament and reached the semifinal round.
Academic All-District honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced June 1.
