Wednesday, December 4, 2019

PORTLAND, Ore. – Representing their institutions and the conference on the field and in the classroom, two GNAC women’s soccer players were selected to the 2019 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Team.

Montana State Billings senior defender Amanda Hemmen was selected to the first team for the second consecutive year, posting a perfect 4.00 grade point average as a biology major. Hemmen was one of five repeat selections from last year’s CoSIDA Academic All-America Team.

A three-year team captain in Billings, Hemmen anchored the Yellowjacket defense on her way to earning Second Team All-GNAC honors in her senior campaign. She was also selected as a GNAC honorable mention in 2016 and 2018 and was named to the Academic All-GNAC Team for three straight years.

A major factor in the renaissance of the Western Oregon women’s soccer program, senior forward/midfielder Selene Konyn landed on the third team with a 4.00 GPA as an early childhood education major.

Konyn started in all 19 games for the Wolves in 2019, scoring five goals and distributing four assists to finish the season tied for 10th in the conference with 14 points in her final season in Monmouth. She helped to lead Western Oregon to a 10-6-3 overall record (7-3-2 GNAC), which marked the first time since 2002 that the Wolves won at least 10 matches. The Wolves also clinched the No. 3 seed in the 2019 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships after finishing in seventh place a year ago.

Of the 33 members selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team, 26 posted a 3.90 GPA or better. Hemmen and Konyn were two of 16 student-athletes to maintain a perfect 4.00 GPA.

The Academic All-America teams are nominated and voted upon by members of CoSIDA and recognize student-athletes of sophomore standing or better who are starters or significant reserves for their teams with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better. The 33 student-athletes were selected from a pool of those who received first-team academic honors in their respective regions.