June 5, 2012

Bennett, Palumbo earn Academic All-America

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Grove City College senior women's tennis player Megan Bennett (Poland, Ohio/Poland) and junior swimmer Angela Palumbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) both earned Capital One/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Division III Academic All-America honors Thursday afternoon.

Bennett and Palumbo both earned Second Team distinction on the At-Large Team. Bennett earned her second career CoSIDA Academic All-America honor and Palumbo is receiving her first All-America citation.

A 2011 Capital One/CoSIDA Third Team College Division Academic All-American, Bennett helped the Wolverines earn their fourth straight trip to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament while primarily playing second singles and first doubles.

She teamed with senior Stacy Moon (Lima, Ohio/Shawnee) to win the Presidents' Athletic Conference title at first doubles last October. Bennett also earned PAC runner up at No. 2 singles, helping Grove City win its 25th straight conference title. During the fall, Bennett went 9-7 in singles play and 13-3 in doubles action. She is a four-year letterwinner and co-captained the 2011-12 team.

In the classroom, Bennett graduated with a 3.98 cumulative grade-point average as a finance major. She is a Dean's List student who has been named to the conference's Academic Honor Roll. Bennett has earned induction into the Operation Top Management business honorary along with All-Academic recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. She served as treasurer of the Omicron Delta Kappa honorary and as secretary of the Delta Mu Delta honorary.

Bennett is the seventh Grove City student-athlete to earn multiple Academic All-America honors.

Palumbo is the most-decorated female student-athlete in Grove City College history, having earned 15 career All-America citations at the NCAA Division III Championships. She earned All-America honors in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free on an individual basis and contributed to All-America performances in all three free relays at the 2012 NCAA Championships in March.

Her efforts helped Grove City place 10th nationally in the team standings. In 2010, Palumbo captured All-America distinction in five events, helping the Wolverines finish 11th at the NCAA meet. Last year, she garnered All-America in four relay events as Grove City again took 11th  nationally.

Palumbo owns school records in the 50, 100 and 200 free events and in all five relays. She has helped Grove City capture three straight Presidents' Athletic Conference titles.

A mathematics major, Palumbo owns a 3.71 GPA and has been nominated for CoSIDA Academic All-America consideration. She is a Dean's List student and has been named to the conference's Academic Honor Roll. Palumbo has also received the Collegiate Swim Coaches Association's All-Academic award. She has been inducted into the Kappa Delta Pi education honorary and the Kappa Mu Epsilon math honorary. She has been awarded the Presidential Scholarship and the College's Scholar-Athlete honor.

In May, Palumbo became the first junior to earn the College's Sportswoman of the Year award.

Senior men's soccer players Tim Boswell (Jonesborough, Tenn./Providence Academy) and Brian Eckenhoff (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) also earned CoSIDA Academic All-America distinction in November. Grove City's four Academic All-Americans are the most ever for the College in an academic year.

All-time, Grove City has produced 37 Academic All-Americans, including 20 since 2002. Those 20 Academic All-Americans have accounted for 26 total Academic All-America honors. Grove City has at least one Academic All-American in each of the last 10 academic years.

The 2011-12 academic year marks the first year that CoSIDA has based its Academic All-America program on individual divisions within college athletics. Currently, CoSIDA honors student-athletes in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, along with a "College" division that includes NAIA institutions and junior colleges. Prior to this year, the College Division included NCAA Divisions II and III, as well as NAIA schools.  

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