University of Minnesota Athletics
Beal Named Academic All-American
11/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
University of Minnesota's Rashida Beal (Germantown, Wisc.) has been named a First Team Academic All-American, announced today by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
A psychology major and neuroscience minor, Beal holds a 3.95 cumulative grade point average as a senior. She has been named Academic All-District the past two years, selected to the NSCAA Scholar All-Region (Central) in 2015, and earned Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Scholar honors.
Beal was named the 2016 Big Ten Defender of the Year as a key defensive back that recorded 14 shutouts. Minnesota's defense finished the season with a 0.50 goals against average, as the Gophers outscored opponents 48-12.
Beal is one of four student-athletes that hail from the Big Ten Conference. She is joined by Caroline Flynn (Nebraska, First Team), Nandi Mehta (Northwestern, First Team) and Lindsay Agnew (Ohio State, Second Team). To be considered for the award, student-athletes must hold a 3.30 GPA or higher and see significant playing time for their team.
Beal will be graduating a semester early with hopes of playing professional soccer this spring.
FIRST TEAM
Pos. / Name / School / Yr. / GPA / Major
GK / Emily Armstrong / Connecticut / Sr. / 4.00 / Curriculum & instruction
D / Rashida Beal / Minnesota / Sr. / 3.95 / Psychology
D / Paige Bendell / South Carolina / Sr. / 3.97 / Accounting
D / Emily Byorth / Clemson / Sr. / 3.99 / Health science
D / Kelsie Roberts / Abilene Christian / Sr. / 4.00 / Biochemistry
M / Chelsea Drennan / South Carolina / Sr. / 3.77 / Pre-pharmacy, Pharmacy
M / Caroline Flynn / Nebraska / Sr. / 3.99 / Communication studies
M / Nandi Mehta / Northwestern / Gr. / 4.00 / Economics & international studies
F / Kendall Ham / Bucknell / Jr. / 3.84 / Biology
F / Savannah Jordan / Florida / Sr. / 3.39 / Sociology
F / Kathryn Sloan / Louisiana Tech / Sr. / 4.00 / Communication arts & design
For a full list of honorees, visit CoSIDA.com.
