Three From NESCAC Earned CoSIDA Academic All-America on Women's At-Large Team

Courtesy Amherst/Connecticut College/Hamilton Sports Information

HADLEY, Mass. – A total of three student-athletes representing three different NESCAC teams have been honored on the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America Women’s At-Large Teams, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday. Highlighting the three selections is Amherst's Kendra Stern, a two-time honoree who earned First Team honors.

Joining Stern on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Women's At-Large Teams from the NESCAC were Deborah Barany (Falcon Heights, Minn.), a senior member of the Hamilton women's tennis team selected to the At-Large Second Team, and Connecticut College senior swimmer Sarah Murphy (Williamsburg, Va.), who was honored on the Third Team.

An Academic All-America Second Team selection a year ago, Stern (Albuquerque, N.M.) becomes the first two-time honoree in school history. She is only the sixth Lord Jeff to earn First Team recognition since CoSIDA introduced the Academic All-America program in 1952. She joins an elite group of the country's most successful student-athletes, as the members of the First Team boast an average GPA of 3.95.

Stern graduated from Amherst this past May with an A-minus average as a double major in Spanish and art history. In her senior season alone she won three national titles, qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials, was named the NCAA Division III Swimmer of the Year, and became the second woman to earn three NESCAC Swimmer of the Year honors.

A 10-time NCAA individual champion, Stern was named National Swimmer of the Week eight times during her career. She holds three national records, six NESCAC records and 10 Amherst records, finishing her collegiate career undefeated in 100- and 200-yard freestyle races.

Stern is one of only 11 finalists for the Division III Athlete of the Year award, as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program. She has also been nominated for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award, which honors excellence and leadership in academics, athletics and community service.

Named an All-District At-Large Team for the second-straight spring, Barany led the Continentals' women's tennis team with nine singles victories as the program's No. 1 player. The dual major in mathematics and neuroscience earned a spot on the NESCAC spring all-academic team in 2010 and 2011. She finished her Hamilton career in second place on the team's all-time list with 48 singles wins.

A three-time national qualifier and eight-time All-American, Murphy capped off her career with a superlative senior season. At the 2011 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship in Knoxville, Tenn., Murphy garnered All-America honors in five events. In her most impressive swim, Murphy placed third in the 200 yard butterfly with a record setting time of 2:01.35.

In May, Murphy received the Anita L. DeFrantz Award at Connecticut College's senior athletic awards luncheon. The Award is given annually to the male and female members of the graduating class whose athletic ability, leadership and sportsmanship best exemplify the qualities of Olympic medalist Anita L. DeFrantz '74.

She graduated from Connecticut College this spring with a degree in human relations.