DENVER - Three Western Athletic Conference standout student-athletes from Fresno State and Tulsa have earned Verizon Academic All-American accolades, as announced on June 14 by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Liesl Fichtbauer, Fresno State's accomplished tennis player, was one of 15 named to the University Division First Team. A senior majoring in Kinesiology and Sports Medicine, Fichtbauer maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her four collegiate seasons. The native of Hamburg, Germany, reached the Round of 16 at the 2001 NCAA Tennis Singles Championships and garnered All-American honors. The 2001 WAC Tennis Player of the Year and All-WAC singles selection, was ranked 33rd in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association's standings, while guiding the No. 14 Bulldogs to a school-best 21-5 mark. At one point during the dual-match season, she won 18 consecutive matches and notched her 100th career singles win on May 13 in her final home match.
Tulsa's highly decorated golfer Stacy Prammanasudh was named to the Verizon Academic All-American Second Team. Following the NCAA Women's Golf Championships, where Prammansudh and the Hurricane notched a top-10 finish, the junior became only the second TU golfer to be named a first-team All-American by the National Golf Coaches Association for three consecutive seasons. The Enid, Okla., native was also presented the Edith Munson Award, which is given to the All-American with the highest grade point average.
In this year's campaign, Prammanasudh placed among the top-10 in nine of 11 tournaments and captured medallist honors three times, including the WAC individual title. Throughout the season, she was listed in the top 10 of the major rankings, including Golfstat, Golfweek/Sagarin and MasterCard. Twice named the WAC Golfer of the Week, she was also twice was selected as the Golf World Player of the Week this year (Oct. 27, 2000 and May 4, 2001). For the second straight year, she earned WAC Golfer of the Year honors.
Jennifer DeSpain, Tulsa's all-time winningest singles tennis player, achieved Third Team Academic All-American honors. Off the court, the senior from Edmond, Okla., registered a 3.78 GPA in Biology and Pre-Med.
DeSpain was a member of the TU's Presidents Honor Roll and the Athletic Directors Honor Roll and earned all-WAC Academic honors. She is the first player in school history to post three consecutive seasons with 20 or more victories and was a three-time All-WAC doubles selection, while garnering All-WAC singles second-team honors this spring.
The Verizon Academic All-American Teams are selected by a vote of the 1,800-member CoSIDA. To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.0. CoSIDA has been selecting Academic All-American Teams since 1952.