June 11, 2009
Erin Reifsteck Named SFU’s 34th ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
LORETTO, Pa. – Former Saint Francis University field hockey player Erin Reifsteck (Battle Creek, Mich. / Battle Creek) has been named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women’s At-Large Second Team, which was announced by the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA) on Thursday.
Reifsteck has been named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American for the second straight year, becoming the seventh student-athlete in school history to garner multiple awards. She was named to the program’s third team in 2008. She joins Matt Hartmann (1999, 2000, 2001), Mike Iuzzolino (1990, 1991), Rob Krimmel (1999, 2000), Andrew Maloney (2003, 2004, 2005), Kate Remillard (1999, 2000, 2001) and Bethany Swink (2004, 2005) as multiple recipients of CoSIDA’s Academic All-America honors.
Reifsteck graduated with a 3.99 grade-point-average (GPA) in Psychology, and spent four years as Saint Francis’ starting goalkeeper. She was a three-year team captain while excelling on the field. She finished as the school’s all-time leader in wins, saves, saves per game and save percentage. Reifsteck concluded her career by ranking second in the nation in saves per game (8.83) and 25th in save percentage (.740), and was named to the all-Northeast Conference Second Team.
During her senior campaign, Reifsteck picked up the school’s first-ever shutout in a 3-0 victory over Siena. She won nine games as a member of the Red Flash after coming to a program that had just one victory in its previous four years of existence.
Off of the field, Reifsteck was an active leader and supporter in the community. She served as the President of Saint Francis’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during 2008, and was a three-year member. She was a two-year APPLE Conference representative, and spent 2007-08 on the SFU Leadership Council.
Reifsteck made it on to Saint Francis’ Dean’s List every semester, and had a 4.0 GPA in seven of eight semesters. As a junior, she was named to the Northeast Conference All-Tournament Team after leading the Red Flash to their first-ever conference tournament.
To be eligible for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America award, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30-or-better on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA Championship sports.
CoSIDA selects Academic All-America teams in 12 programs: football, women’s volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s track & field/cross country, women’s track & field/cross country, men’s at-large and women’s at-large.
For more information about the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Teams program, visit www.cosida.com.