SFU Field Hockey Team, Players Earn NFHCA National Academic Honors
LORETTO, Pa. (March 10, 2006) – Seven Saint Francis University field hockey players were named to the 2005 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-Academic Team on Monday. Head coach Liz deSimas’ team was also listed as one of 54 Division I programs to post a combined grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
The seven Red Flash student-athletes named to the All-Academic Team were grad student Sam Nonweiler (Lehighton, Pa.), seniors Erin Davis (Dublin, Ohio) and Monica Nicoles (Delran, N.J.), junior Erin Maguire (Jeffersontown, Ky.), sophomore Christy Roos (Valencia, Pa.), and freshmen Blathnaid Mahon (Princeton, N.J.) and Erin Reifsteck (Battle Creek, Mich.). Davis and Maguire were named to the 2004 team, while Nicoles was named to the squad for the third time.
Student-athletes must post a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 through the first semester of the 2005-06 academic year to qualify for the team. The National Academic Team Award recognizes those institutions that achieve a minimum GPA of 3.0 during the first semester of the 2005-06 academic year.
deSimas led the fifth-year Red Flash program to its second-ever victory, a 2-1 win against Siena at DeGol Field, last October. Davis scored eight goals and 19 points last fall to become the all-time leading goal- and point-producer in school history, while Nonweiler’s four assists in 2005 set a single-season school-record.
The NFHCA is a non-profit organization serving field hockey coaches and supporters of the game from across the United States. The mission of the organization is to stimulate the professional development of coaching leadership within the sport of field hockey. The NFHCA strives to cultivate and recognize the professional contributions of its membership and to foster and promote the growth of the sport. The NFHCA is responsible for providing a recognizable presence and voice in regard to legislation affecting the sport as well as interscholastic and intercollegiate programs.