2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-America Women's Basketball Teams
AUSTIN, Tex. - Bard College junior Christina Kiser has been named Academic All-America Third Team by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), it was announced Wednesday.
Kiser, a women's basketball player, joins men's soccer player Stergios Mentesides '11 as the only CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in Bard history.
"Christina contributes so much to our department," Interim Athletic Director David Lindholm said, "Her compassion and dedication to teammates and students throughout campus is evident from the work she does every day."
A biology major with a 3.73 grade point average, Kiser has scored 1,002 career points in just two seasons. She was the Liberty League, D3hoops.com and ECAC Rookie of the Year after her first year, and All-Liberty League First Team as a sophomore. She has scored more points than anyone in the conference over the last two full seasons, and she has made more free throws than anyone else in the league has even taken.
"She embodies what it means to be a student-athlete," Bard women's basketball coach Casi Donlean said. "She crushes it in the classroom, she's a great player and a great citizen on our campus."
A member of Bard EMS with aspirations of becoming a surgeon, Kiser is in the process of becoming certified as an EMT. She is a teaching assistant and a tutor in the Biology Department, a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee officer, and head of the Mental Health subcommittee of SAAC. When she's not working at Sottery Hall on campus, Kiser is studying for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), which she plans to take this summer. Earlier this month, she was named one of Bard's Student-Athletes of the Year.
She is one of just two juniors to make All-America this year. The rest of the winners are seniors or graduate students.
"From her first semester on campus, she has been concerned with the mental health of student-athletes, and is working to build and improve programs that help students through difficult times," Lindholm said. "Her work on SAAC has been helpful to students and staff alike, and her general presence lifts those around her. We are so grateful for everything she's done for Bard Athletics and are eager to continue working with her in the coming year."
CoSIDA has been naming Academic All-America teams since 1952. CoSIDA members can nominate players who are significant contributors on the court with grade point averages of 3.3 or higher. Voting occurs within numerous geographic districts, with CoSIDA members doing the voting. First Team All-District selections move onto the national ballot, where members vote for Academic All-America teams within their division. CoSIDA produces Academic All-America teams for NCAA Div. I, Div. II, Div. III, NAIA and two-year colleges and Canadian institutions.