Indiana University Athletics
Cardinell Named First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
7/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
June 17, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Graduating senior Cassandra Cardinell earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women's At-Large first team honors as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America on June 16.
"The award couldn't go to a more deserving student-athlete," Indiana head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber said. "Cassandra has dedicated herself to diving and the classroom and continues to do so as she trains for the 2008 Olympics and studies in graduate school. She has brought honor and distinction to Indiana University and the IU diving team, and I am proud of her as a student, diver and human being."
The Loudonville, N.Y., native put together an impressive semester of diving after coming back from foot surgery following competition at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. At the 2005 NCAA Championships in West Lafayette, Ind., Cardinell came from behind to snare the platform title. She became the first Hoosier from the swimming and diving team to win a national championship since Kimiko Hirai Soldati claimed the one-meter crown in 1996. She also became the first non-one-meter champion, as IU's only other national titles came with AIAW one-meter triumphs by Amy McGrath (1980) and Lona Foss (1982). Her performance paced IU to its best finish (ninth) at the national championship in program history. For her efforts, Indiana University named her the school's Female Athlete of the Year.
Additionally, Cardinell earned a spot on the USA Diving International Team, and traveled to Zhuhai, China, for the China Open. Meanwhile, the six-time All-American will compete at the 2005 World University Games in Izmir, Turkey, Aug. 11-21.
The women's At-Large program for Academic All-America includes the sports of bowling, crew, fencing, golf, gymnastics, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis and water polo.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. 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.
