Virginia lacrosse senior Sammy Mueller, men’s tennis senior Carl Soderlund and two swimmers, junior Paige Madden and senior Ted Schubert have been named to the 2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division I Men’s and Women’s At-Large teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Mueller and Söderlund earned second-team honors while Madden and Schubert were named to their respective third teams. This is the highest number of Cavaliers to earn a spot on the Academic All-America At-Large teams since also having four earn the honors in 1997.
Mueller, a three-time All-American, gradated in May with a degree in Commerce with a 3.71 GPA. The midfielder was a standout during her career with the Cavaliers, being named to the Tewaaraton Top 25 as a junior. Mueller was a three-time All-ACC selection and three-time ACC All-Academic team selection. She finished her UVA career ranked sixth all-time at Virginia in goals (165), fourth in draw controls (204), eighth in points (215) and ninth in caused turnovers (84). She led ACC in ground balls last two years and paced UVA in points, ground balls, caused turnovers and draws in last two seasons. Mueller is the fifth player in program history to be named an Academic All-American and the first since Courtney Swan in 2015.
Söderlund, a 2019 All-American, reached a No. 1 ITA singles ranking in the 2019-20 preseason. Söderlund was both the 2019 ACC men’s Tennis Player of the Year and the ACC men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as being named the top male scholar athlete of the Virginia Athletics Department in each of the last two years. He is a three-time All-ACC honoree and has been lauded by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as the Atlantic Region player to watch in 2019 after being named the region’s rookie of the year during his freshman campaign. He helped lead the 2017 Virginia men’s tennis team to winning the NCAA team championship his freshman season. The three-time All-ACC Academic Team member and three-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar Athlete was a resident of The Lawn this year, earning his bachelor’s degree in economics. He also represents his native Sweden as a member of the nation’s Davis Cup team. He is the second Virginia men’s tennis player in program history to be named an Academic All-American and the first since Scott Lebovitz in 1997.
Madden was named the Co-ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, ACC Swimmer of the Year and ACC Swimmer of the Meet. The five-time ACC champion led the Cavaliers at the conference championships winning three individual events, the 200, 500 and 1650-yard freestyle, and two relays, 400 and 800-yard freestyle relay, to score 96 points at the meet. She was named a five-time All-America honoree this season after advancing to the NCAA Championships in all three individual events and qualifying with both relay teams, bringing her career total to nine All-America honors. She finished the season ranked second nationally in the 500-yard freestyle, sixth in the mile and seventh in both the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard freestyle. She concludes her collegiate career tied for 10th in program history for most overall ACC titles, winning eight conference events. She also holds the second-fastest 1650-yard freestyle (15:50.38) in program history. The junior is earning a degree in kinesiology. Madden is the second Virginia female swimmer to earn the honor, joining Megan Roesch who did so in 2002.
Schubert is a two-time ACC Champion, winning the 200 and 400-yard individual medley at the 2020 ACC Championships. He finished the season with three times ranked inside the top-15 nationally, posting the fourth-fastest time this season in the 400-yard individual medley, the 12th-fastest time in the 200-yard butterfly and the 14th-fastest time in the 200-yard individual medley. Schubert concluded his career as a six-time All-America honoree, earning three honors this season for advancing to the NCAA Championships in the 200-yard butterfly and the 200 and 400-yard individual medley. The UVA senior holds the school record in the 200-yard individual medley (1:43.09) and the program’s second-fastest time in both the 200-yard butterfly (1:41.34) and 400-yard individual medley (3:39.52). Schubert was named to the All-ACC Academic Team for three consecutive years and to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America’s Scholar All-America team three times. Schubert graduated with a degree in inter-cognitive science. Schubert is the fourth member of Virginia men’s swimming team to earn the honor and the first to do so since Austin Ramirez in 2000.
Despite the cancellation of spring competition during COVID-19, CoSIDA continued its sponsorship of the Academic All-America awards program. Student-athletes were selected based on career statistics. No less than 31 of 46 members of the 2019-2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Men’s At-Large teams have at least a 3.90 GPA, with 20 student-athletes maintaining a 4.00 GPA as either undergraduate or graduate students. The 16 members of the first team (which was expanded due to ties in the voting) have an average GPA of 3.96. On the women’s side, 33 of the 46 members of the 2019-2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Women’s At-Large teams achieved at least a 3.90 GPA, with 20 student-athletes posting a 4.00 GPA (or better) during their undergraduate and/or graduate careers. The 15 members of the first team compiled an average GPA of 3.94.
The at-large teams cover the sports of women’s beach volleyball, women’s bowling, women’s rowing, men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s rifle, men’s and women’s skiing, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo and wrestling.
Information from Virginia Athletics