Nov. 17, 2009
Center Valley, Pa.—Three Patriot League student-athletes were named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, it was announced Tuesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Among the honorees was Navy senior Beth Reed, who was named the Academic All-American of the Year. Joining her on the Academic All-American First Team is Army senior Liz Betterbed. Navy senior Shelly Moeller was named a Third-Team Academic All-American.
A total of 21 Patriot League student-athletes have been named Academic All-Americans in women’s soccer, including 10 from Navy and six from Army. Reed is the first to be named Academic All-American of the Year. It is the second consecutive season and the fourth time overall that the Patriot League has had at least three student-athletes named to the Academic All-American team.
A mechanical engineering major, Reed owns a 3.97 grade-point average and ranks second in Overall Order of Merit among the 1,064 midshipmen in the Class of 2010. She has held the top ranking in her class in Academic Order of Merit in five of her six semesters at the Academy. The Indianapolis native also ranks sixth among her classmates in Military Order of Merit and has been recognized on the Commandant's List in each of her six semesters and named to Superintendent's List five times.
On the field, Reed put together a sensational senior season in 2009, leading the Midshipmen to a 14-win season and the program's fourth-straight Patriot League Tournament appearance.
In her first year as the team's starting keeper, Reed allowed a League-low 0.67 goals per contest, while posting a Navy senior class record nine solo shutouts, including a League-best four in Patriot League play. She has the 11th-best save percentage in the country (.875). She was named the Patriot League Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year in 2009.
Betterbed has ranked No. 1 in her class since her freshman year. The Mechanical Engineering major holds the second-highest rank in the Corps of Cadets, which numbers 4,400, as the Deputy Brigade Commander. She has also been a Team Leader, First Sergeant for the Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company, and the Executive Officer for the Summer Garrison Regiment.
A Dean's List student every semester, Betterbed was also a 2008 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic First Team selection. The three-time Patriot League academic honor roll selection was recently awarded a scholarship from the New York office of the Society of American Military Engineers. She is one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
Betterbed has been a starter on the pitch since her freshman year. Last year she was named to the All-Patriot League team as a defender and was one of four Black Knights named to the all-tournament team after leading Army to the Patriot League title and the first NCAA bid in school history. Switched to midfield this year, Betterbed led the team in scoring with three goals and four assists for 10 points along with a pair of game winners.
Moeller owns a 3.54 grade-point average while majoring in honors oceanography. She has posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in classes within her major in four of the last five semesters and has been named to the Commandant's List in each of her first six semesters at the Academy. Moeller held the top ranking in Military Order of Merit amongst her classmates through her first four semesters and is currently 20th in the Class of 2010. She has been named to the Superintendent's List three times, while also earning mention on the Dean's List.
Moeller was named to the All-Patriot League team for the fourth-straight year in 2009. She was named a First-Team All-Patriot League selection three times. She is one of six Navy soccer players in program history and the first since Xochitl Piedra to become a four-year All-Patriot League selection.
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Moeller started all 90 games of her collegiate career, which she concluded as Navy's all-time leader in games-started and games-played. Her consecutive games-started streak is the longest in school history.
The College Sports Information Directors of America has been selecting the nation's pre-eminent Academic All-American team for over one-half of a century. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
Criteria for the award requires a student-athlete be at least a sophomore, earn a varsity letter in their sport and have attained a minimum 3.30 cumulative grade-point average (changed from 3.20 for the 2008-09 academic year).
Nominees are first voted on by district, then all first-team all-district winners are placed onto a national ballot from which the Academic All-America teams are selected.
The Academic All-America of the Year award, which began in 1987-88, is presented to the most outstanding student-athlete of the year and is chosen from the student-athletes who have been awarded Team Member of the Year honors.
