AUSTIN, Texas (July 8, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian swimmer
Grace Hill picked up another award on Thursday when she was named as an Academic All-District At-Large selection for NCAA Division II by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Hill is the OC women's program's second Academic All-District At-Large selection in as many years, joining teammate
Jamie McGarrigle, who received the honor following the 2019-20 season.
The CoSIDA honor recognizes student-athletes for their combined athletic and academic prowess and is considered one of the most prestigious in collegiate athletics. To qualify for the honor, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.3 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, have reached sophomore status athletically, have legitimate athletic credentials and have been at the nominating institution at least one calendar year.
The Academic All-District awards are divided into eight geographic districts and four divisions. OC student-athletes compete for awards against their counterparts from other Division II schools. District 6 includes universities that are members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic and Lone Star Conferences – a total of 35 schools. Sports information directors from those universities vote for the Academic All-District team. OC competes in the LSC in all sports except men's and women's swimming, in which the university competes in the RMAC.
Sports that fall under the "At-Large" umbrella for CoSIDA award purposes are beach volleyball, bowling, lacrosse, rifle, crew, skiing, fencing, swimming, field hockey, tennis, golf, gymnastics, water polo and ice hockey. Individual universities are allowed no more than four nominees for the At-Large category, making it exceptionally competitive. Two golfers for OC's women's team, Shaley Goad and Abigail Rigsby, joined Hill on the Academic All-District At-Large list.
Hill, an Interior Design major from Santa Clarita, Calif., carries a 3.97 GPA. In 2021, she was the RMAC's female Summit Award winner, a honor given to the student-athlete at the RMAC Championships with the highest GPA. She's a two-time RMAC All-Academic first-team selection and soon will be a two-time recipient of the Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award.
In the pool, she was a two-time RMAC event A finalist, finishing sixth in the 400-yard individual medley and seventh in the 200 IM.
Hill, Goad and Rigsby now will advance to the ballot for the Academic All-America At-Large team, which will be selected through a vote of sports information directors from NCAA Division II schools in the U.S. and Canada. That list will be announced later this summer.
