May 27, 2004
Two Arizona State University juniors -- Kari Muth (Mesa, Ariz.) of gymnastics and Agnes Kovacs (Budapest, Hungary) of the swimming team -- have been named to the 2004 Academic All-American University Division Women's At-Large District VIII Team, announced by CoSIDA Thursday. CoSIDA stands for the College Sports Information Director's of America.
Muth was named a member of the First-Team Academic All-America team while Kovacs was named a member of the Second-Team.
Their biographies follow:
2004 Academic All-America® University Division Women's At-Large District VIII Team
FIRST TEAM
KRISTI AAMODT, Gonzaga, VIII, Senior (crew) 3.88, Public Relations Rows as a member of Varsity 8 ... team finished first at West Coast Conference Championships, third at Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships and 10th at Pac-10 Championships ... helped Gonzaga win WCC Championships in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 ... helped Gonzaga win ECAC National Invitational Race in 2003 after placing second in 2002 ... earned All-WCC Academic honors in 2002 and 2003 ... earned Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Academic All-West Region Honors in 2004 and 2003 ... first-team All-WCC in 2004 ... Gonzaga Scholar Athlete of the Year ... Seattle, Wash.
KELLY CHAN, Long Beach State, VIII, Senior (tennis) 3.91, Marketing Team record 18-9 ... 2nd-team All-Big West in singles and doubles ... 49ers were 2004 Big West champions ... 14-12 at No. 2 singles and 14-5 at No. 2 doubles ... her 67 career doubles wins ranks No. 1 all-time at LBSU ... is 4th with 107 overall wins at LBSU and 11th in doubles winning % (.632) and overall winning % (.582) ... first-ever two-time team captain (2003, 2004) under Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello ... 7-time 49er Academic All-Star ... LBSU's '04 female representative as Big West Scholar-Athlete ... named Big West Spring All-Academic in '02 and '03 ... member of Student-Athlete Advisory Council, serving as treasurer as a junior and VP as a senior ... Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
NORA FEDDERSEN, California, VIII, Senior (field hockey) 3.74, Mass Communications Team record 13-4 ... started 16 of 17 games at midfielder ... led Cal in 2003 with a career-high 15 goals ... also had two assists, giving her a team-high 32 points ... two-time All-American (2nd team in 2003, 3rd team in 2002) ... two-time NorPac West Player of the Year ... four-time first-team all-conference selection ... leaves Cal as the all-time leader in goals (45) and total points (103) ... picked to the 2003 NFHCA National Academic Squad ... member of Golden Key Honor Society and National Society of Collegiate Scholars ... received Pac-10 Postgraduate Scholarship and Cal's Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Award for having the highest GPA among graduating female student-athletes Berlin, Germany.
MARIELLE GRUENIG, UC Santa Barbara, VIII, Sophomore (tennis) 3.97, Biological Sciences Team record 11-13 ... UCSB's No. 1 singles and doubles player ... finished 11-13 at No. 1 singles ... All-Big West second team selection in singles and honorable mention in doubles ... 2003 All-Big West first team in singles and doubles ... played No. 2 singles as a freshman, finishing with 17-7 record ... finished 2003 season with 19-3 record at No. 1 doubles ... Basel, Switzerland.
SARAH MARSHALL, Pacific, VIII, Senior (swimming) 3.80, Biology Team record 4-3 ... Big West champion in 100 back (54.68) and 200 back (1:59.26) ... NCAA All-American as part of Pacific's 200 medley relay team that placed 15th ... 2002 Big West Women's Swimmer of the Year ... holds three school records ... three-year NCAA Championships qualifier ... 2003-04 Big West Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year ... NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient ... Dixon, Calif.
CAITLIN McCLAIN, Loyola Marymount, VIII, Junior (crew) 3.95, Urban Studies/Political Science Team record 10-2 in head-to-head competitions, the program's best ever ... led Lions Varsity 8 to three championships in 2004, a program record ... led team to San Diego Crew Classic championship, beating the nation's best in the process ... led LMU to West Coast Conference win in Varsity 8, also a program first ... led team to V8 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championship, the team's second straight ... first-team All-WCC and All-WIRA ... voted President of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee ... named team MVP in 2004 ... 2003 CoSIDA Academic All-District pick ... Everett, Wash.
Kari Muth, Arizona State, VIII, Junior (gymnastics) 3.96, Finance Team record 10-6 ... scored 10.0 on beam vs. Minnesota ... scored 10.0 on floor vs. Eastern Michigan ... won several events during season, including beam vs. Minnesota, floor and bars vs. EMU, bars vs. Arizona and bars vs. Oregon State ... earned first-team Pac-10 All-Academic recognition the past two seasons ... set personal bests in all three of her events in 2004 after setting bests in each of her previous two seasons ...finished 16th on floor (9.85), 36th on bars (9.75) and 26th on beam (9.75) at the 2004 NCAA Championships in Los Angeles ... placed 13th (9.85) on beam and 20th (9.8) on floor at the 2004 NCAA Central Regional in Baton Rouge, La. ... Mesa, Ariz.
KATE RICHARDSON, UCLA, VIII, Sophomore (gymnastics) 3.755, Physiological Studies Team record 15-5 ... '04 averages of 9.925 (vault), 9.9 (bars), 9.87 (beam), 9.91 (floor), 39.606 (A-A) ... had 23 individual wins and 43 Top 3 finishes in '04 ... finished regular-season ranked 1st on beam, 2nd in A-A, 4th on vault, 6th on floor, 11th on bars ... UCLA won '03 and '04 NCAA championships ... '03 NCAA beam and bars champ ... 1st-team All-American in A-A, vault & bars in '04 and in A-A, bars, beam & floor in '03 ... 2nd-team All-American on beam in '04 ... '03 and '04 Pac-10 floor champion ... '03 Pac-10 A-A champion ... career highs of 10.0 (vault), 9.95 (bars), 10.0 (beam), 10.0 (floor), 39.85 (A-A) ... '04 Pac-10 All-Academic ... '03 NACGC Scholastic All-American ... '00 Olympian, '04 Olympic hopeful ... Coquitlam, B.C.
BIRTE STEVEN, Oregon State, VIII, Senior (swimming) 3.90, Psychology Team record 7-4 ... seven-time All-American (twice in '04) ... 2nd in 200 breast and 3rd in 100 breast at 2004 NCAA Championships ... also swam 400-IM at NCAAs ... 2nd in 200 and 4th in 100 at Pac-10 Championships ... won 28 races ... swam at 2003 World University Games and will compete at German Olympic Trials ... 4-time All-American in 200 breast (1st-team in '03, '04, 2nd-team in '01, '02) ... 3-time All-American in 100 breast (1st-team in '04, 2nd-team in '02, '03) ... holds school records in 100, 200 breast, 200-IM ... 2nd-team Academic All-District in '03, 3rd-team in '02 ... 3-time 1st-team Pac-10 All-Academic ... German record-holder in 200 breast ... Hannover, Germany.
MELISSA VITUJ, Utah, VIII, Senior (gymnastics) 3.452, Health Promotion & Education 2004 NCAA South Region Gymnast of Year ... 2004 South Region A-A and balance beam champ ... 1st-team All-American on floor (T-3rd), 2nd-team in A-A (7th) and beam (T-9th) ... 39.875 A-A score on Feb. 27 is 3rd-best ever at Utah ... Inside Gymnastics' NCAA Gymnast of Week (March 1) ... Honda Broderick Award finalist ... hit 94 % (199-of-212) of routines on career ... led Utah to NCAA Super 6 all 4 years ... Deseret News Athlete of the Month for April ... 11-time All-American ... 4-time NCAA floor finalist ... only 3-time Utah gymnastics MVP ever ... 48 career wins ... only collegian performing triple twisting flyaway dismount on bars ... name appears 8 times in Utah's all-time Top 10 A-A scoring list ... Ada, Mich.
SECOND TEAM
ATHLETE SCHOOL YR. SPORT GPA MAJOR(S) HOMETOWN SHIRLA CHOY San Jose State Sr. Gymnastics 3.41 Kinesiology University Place, Wash. MEGHAN DEMCHUK Utah So. Swimming 3.761 Business Regina, Saskatchewan MONICA GROVA UCLA Jr. Crew 3.801 Neuroscience Santa Cruz, Calif. AGNES KOVACS Arizona State Jr. Swimming 3.43 Marketing Budapest, Hungary CHRISSY LAMUN Oregon State So. Gymnastics 3.82 General Science Reno, Nev. KRISTEN LEWIS UCLA Sr. Swimming 3.571 Sociology Moraga, Calif. APRIL MANCUSO Utah Jr. Skiing 3.570 Exercise & Sport Science Lake Tahoe, Calif. EMILY MASON Arizona Jr. Swimming 3.26 Journalism Phoenix, Ariz. THERESE WENSLOW Oregon So. Golf 4.02 Business Administration Bunkeflostrand, Sweden
?gnes Kov?cs -- Returning All-American Sr. ? Breast/IM Budapest, Hungary
2004: Had a sensational junior season to once again lead the Sun Devils in the pool