Thursday, June 18, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. – After capping a stellar four-year career as a key member of Central Oklahoma’s rowing program, Bronchos’ senior Bailee Thomas has been named by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) to the Division II Academic All-America At-Large First Team.

One of just two rowers named to the Academic All-America Team, Thomas graduated from Central Oklahoma this spring with a 4.00 GPA as a double major in forensic science and psychology. Thomas is one of an impressive nine student-athletes on the first team to compile a perfect 4.00 GPA.

The Academic All-America At-Large Team is comprised of student-athletes nominated in NCAA championship sports for which there is no separate Academic All-America team. The sports include beach volleyball, field hockey, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing and tennis.

With the shortened collegiate spring seasons nationwide, nominees for the program were evaluated using career statistics instead of season statistics.

Thomas was part of the Bronchos’ varsity 8+ in both fall regattas, the Head of the Oklahoma and the Tulsa Invite, and also rowed as a member of the varsity 4+ at the Head of the Oklahoma. In addition, Thomas was part of Central Oklahoma’s national-champion varsity 8+ at the 2019 NCAA Division II Championships.

In 2019, Thomas was named the winner of the NCAA Elite 90 Award for Division II women’s rowing. The award is presented to the student-athlete at each championship site with the highest cumulative GPA. Ties are broken by the total number of credit hours completed.

Thomas is the first rowing Academic All-American for the GNAC, which is in its first year sponsoring the sport. She is the fifth Academic All-American from the conference this academic year and joins Montana State Billings’ women’s soccer player Amanda Hemmen as a first-team selection.

To be eligible for the CoSIDA All-Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and must have completed one full calendar year at the nominating institution. Nominated student-athletes must also have participated in at least 50 percent of their teams’ contests.