Emory University women’s tennis player Zahra
Dawson was recognized by the College Sports Information
Directors of America (CoSIDA) for her academic and athletic
achievements during the 2010-11 season, as the junior was named to
the Capital One Academic All-America Second Team.
Dawson helped lead the Eagles to a third-place finish at the NCAA
Division III Championships, finishing the year with a singles
record of 28-9, giving her the most singles victories by an Eagle
during the year, and tying her for the third-most singles victories
in a single season in Emory history. In doubles play, she
compiled a record of 31-5, giving her the second-most wins in
school history, and the seventh-highest winning percentage
(.861). Dawson earned all-America honors after winning both
the singles and doubles draws at the 2010 Intercollegiate Tennis
Association (ITA) Fall South Regional Championships, and has earned
all-America honors all three years of her career. She also
earned a spot on the all-University Athletic Association (UAA)
first team for her work as the Eagles’ fourth singles and
second doubles player.
Academically, Dawson has a 3.84 grade point average as an Applied
Mathematics major. She was recently presented with the ITA
Atlantic South Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship
Award, and is a two-time UAA academic honoree. Earlier in the
year, she was named to the Capital One Academic all-District First
Team.
Dawson, along with women’s swimmer Anne Culpepper (who was
named to the at large first team on Thursday), becomes the
125th Emory student-athlete to receive Academic
All-America honors. It marks the 12th time a
member of the Emory women’s tennis team has garnered the
award, and the first time since Jolyn Taylor and Margaret Moscato
were named Academic all-Americans in 2004.
Dawson is the sixth Emory athlete to earn all-America honors this
year, joining Adam Waxman (men’s soccer first team), Emily
Rubin (women’s soccer third team), Brittany Boeshore
(softball third team), Paul Weinstein (men’s at large third
team) and Culpepper.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a
student-athlete must be a key member of the team, maintain a
cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached
sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current
institution and be nominated by her sports information
director. Nominees for the Academic All-America team are
selected from the pool of Academic All-District First Team
selectees.
Women's sports that are grouped into the At Large category include
bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey,
lacrosse, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis and water polo.
Emory nominees are part of the ‘College Division’ which
includes NCAA Division II and III institutions, along with NAIA
schools.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic
All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in
Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship
sports.
Emory Women’s Tennis Player Zahra Dawson Named to the Capital One Academic All-America Second Team
Posted: Jun 09, 2011