Kelsie Roberts Named Southland Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Abilene Christian senior defender Kelsie Roberts was named the Southland Conference Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Wednesday in conjunction with the release of All-Academic selections.
Roberts, who posted a perfect 4.00 grade point average with a major in biochemistry, was named a First Team All-Academic defender for the third straight year. She was earned First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District and First Team Academic All-American honors for 2016. Roberts was named a Third Team Academic All-American in 2015.
Roberts was also named Southland Conference Defender of the Year while starting in all 19 games for the Wildcats. The Lucas, Texas native anchored a back line which helped ACU to seven shutouts, a +4 goal differential and +25 shot differential on the season.
McNeese junior Bettina Brulhart earned First Team All-Academic distinction after being named a First Team All-Conference selection and a Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American. The Zurich, Switzerland native holds a 4.00 GPA with a major in mass communications.
Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin led the way with three players each selected to this year’s All-Academic teams while Lamar, McNeese and Abilene Christian each earned a pair of selections.
Stephen F. Austin returned a pair of now three-time All-Academic senior selections in defender Brooke Dunnigan, who was also named 2015 Student-Athlete of the Year, and midfielder Amanda Doyle. Ladyjack senior goalkeeper Lillie Ehlert was also named to her second Southland All-Academic team.
Northwestern State’s three first-team selections included senior defender Patry Carrion and junior goalkeeper Alex Latham – both First Team All-Southland selections for 2016. Junior forward Esdeina Gonzalez earned a first-team at-large selection, the second All-Academic honor in her career.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member universities, votes for the student-athlete of the year. The Southland student-athlete of the year award is presented to the one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated athletic achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
The All-Academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic advisors from each Southland Conference university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competition to qualify for the all-academic squad.
2016 Southland Conference Soccer All-Academic Teams
Student-Athlete of the Year – Kelsie Roberts, Sr., D, Abilene Christian
First Team
| Name |
School |
Position |
Cl. |
GPA |
Major |
| Camille Bassett* |
Central Arkansas |
Forward |
So. |
3.58 |
Undecided |
| Ashley Smith* |
Central Arkansas |
Forward |
So. |
3.71 |
Undecided |
| Casey Peacock |
Southeastern La. |
Forward |
Sr. |
3.959 |
Criminal Justice/Political Science |
| Bettina Brulhart*& |
McNeese |
Midfielder |
Jr. |
4.00 |
Mass Communications |
| Jess Coates*2 |
Nicholls |
Midfielder |
Grad. |
3.62 |
M.Ed. - Secondary Education |
| Amanda Doyle*3 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Midfielder |
Sr. |
3.41 |
Kinesiology |
| Kelsie Roberts*3&%1 |
Abilene Christian |
Defender |
Sr. |
4.00 |
Biochemistry |
| Gabi D’Alesandro*2 |
McNeese |
Defender |
So. |
3.26 |
Nursing |
| Patry Carrion* |
Northwestern State |
Defender |
Sr. |
3.22 |
Business |
| Brooke Dunnigan*3 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Defender |
Sr. |
3.86 |
Food & Nutrition Dietetics |
| Alex Latham* |
Northwestern State |
Goalkeeper |
Jr. |
3.89 |
Accounting |
| Esdeina Gonzalez^2 |
Northwestern State |
Forward |
Jr. |
3.49 |
Accounting |
Second Team
| Name |
School |
Position |
Cl. |
GPA |
Major |
| Alessia Dal Monte |
Houston Baptist |
Forward |
Sr. |
3.97 |
Psychology |
| Natalie Throneberry |
Abilene Christian |
Forward |
Sr. |
3.59 |
Kinesiology |
| Jordan Mulnix |
Lamar |
Forward |
So. |
3.90 |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Allison Abendschein |
Houston Baptist |
Midfielder |
Sr. |
3.63 |
Kinesiology |
| M.J. Eckart |
Lamar |
Midfielder |
Jr. |
4.00 |
Exercise Science |
| Chloe Fifer |
Abilene Christian |
Midfielder |
Sr. |
3.86 |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Kristi O’Brien |
Houston Baptist |
Defender |
Sr. |
3.88 |
Kinesiology |
| Whitney Woodward |
Sam Houston State |
Defender |
Jr. |
4.00 |
Health Sciences |
| Lillie Ehlert2 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Goalkeeper |
Sr. |
3.73 |
Nursing |
| Alex Moore^ |
Central Arkansas |
Midfielder |
Jr. |
3.56 |
Family & Consumer Science |
Automatic Selections:
* 2016 First Team All-Southland
& CoSIDA Academic All-American
% CoSIDA Academic All-District
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1 Student-Athlete of the Year
2 Two-time all-academic selection
3 Three-time all-academic selection
^ At-large Selection