Towson, MD – The Sage Colleges' softball team placed one student-athlete on the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America National Softball Third Team for her outstanding efforts in the classroom and on the playing field as sophomore second baseman, Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) was honored. She becomes the second Sage softball player to achieve the honor, while becoming the fourth Sage CoSIDA Academic All-American in the school's history.

Senior catcher Mackenzie Griffin of John Carroll University leads the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Softball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). A communications major with a 3.72 G.P.A., Griffin has been chosen as the Capital One Division III Academic All-America® of the Year award winner for softball.  

One of 11 first time selections on this year's Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Softball first team, Griffin is a 2013 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) first-team All-Central Region selection. A native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, she is a three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree, earning first team honors this season.

The Capital One Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2012-13 DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program.

Kristen Beikirch, who was named Sage's 2012-2013 Female Athlete of the Year as well as the 2013 Skyline Conference Softball Player of the Year, ranks nationally in five different categories. She ranks No. 43 in runs scored per game (1.12), while ranking 73rd in batting average (0.444). She is also ranked in slugging percentage (0.688) as well as home runs (6), and triples (3).

She not only leads Sage in batting average, but the entire conference in batting with her blistering .444 and broke her own record from a year ago as she connected for 64 hits this season, two more than last year's 62 hits. She also added a team-leading 11 doubles, three triples, and six home runs. She had a .688 slugging percentage that matched her impressive .464 on-base percentage.  Beikirch had 17 multiple-hit games this season, while starting all 41 games for the Gators.

Beikirch is already making her own run for several of Sage's career marks in just two seasons on the softball diamond. She already has 126 career hits in 87 games played and started, while carrying a .439 career batting average and 12 home runs, while ranking 5th in career hits, 5th in career home runs and third in runs scored.

Away from the field, she is a two-time Sage Scholar-Athlete honoree and is a biology major with a 3.91 grade point average. She earned a spot on the 2012 Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete Team and is a candidate for the same honor this season.

The 12 members of the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III softball first team maintain an average G.P.A. of 3.85, while two of the members have a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. 

About Capital One      

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $122.2 billion in deposits and     $197.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2010. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week. In 2010, Capital One launched the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men's and women's sports. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 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 18,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.

2013 Capital One Academic All-America ® Division III Softball Team

Academic All-America of the Year:  Mackenzie Griffin, John Carroll

FIRST TEAM

Pos.  Name                        School                            Yr.   Hometown                 G.P.A. Major

P       Amanda Kardys         Emory                             Jr.    Union, N.J.                 3.80    Biology and Psychology

P       Alexandria Hill (3)       Montclair State                 Jr.    Parsippany, N.J.        3.55    Psychology

C       Mackenzie Griffin       John Carroll                     Sr.   Lake Oswego, Ore.     3.72    Communications

INF    Jeramie Barletta         Drew                                Sr.   Madison, N.J.            3.97    Political Science

INF    Devan Boggs             Capital                             Sr.   West Jefferson, Ohio 3.53    Exercise Science (pre-PT)

INF    Gillian McCarthy (2)    RPI                        Sr.   Worthington, Ohio      3.93    Business, Mngmnt & Comm.

INF    Harmony Palmer       Claremont-Mudd-Scripps  Sr.   Oceanside, Calif.      3.88    Economics and Accounting

OF     Bri Dorale                  Augsburg                         Sr.   Ramsey, Minn.           3.90    Marketing

OF     Alison Gray (2)           Wisconsin-Stout               Sr.   St. Cloud, Minn.         4.00    Packaging

OF     Stephanie Schell        Messiah                           Sr.   Jarrettsville, Md.         3.96    Molecular Biology

OF     Laura Tjepkema (3)     Hope                               Sr.   Dorr, Mich.                 4.00    Special Education

DP    Kaaren Hatlen (1)        Pacific Lutheran               Sr.   Woodinville, Wash.     3.95    Mathematics

SECOND TEAM

Pos.  Name                        School                            Yr.   Hometown                 G.P.A. Major

P       Rachel Johnson         Salisbury                         So.  Preston, Md.              3.81    Biology

P       Ashley Marshall          Plattsburgh State             Sr.   Malone, N.Y.       3.71    Childhood Ed. (UG),Spec. Ed(G)

C       Abby Flannagan         Coe                                 Jr.    Manchester, Iowa       3.62    Biology, Pre-Med

INF    Kimmy Hassel            St.. Thomas (Minn.)          Sr.   Bloomington, Ill.    3.57    Middle, Secondary Educ.

INF    Cora Jeffers               Millikin                             Sr.   Sherman, Ill.            3.98    Music Education-Instrumental

INF    Megan Light               Emory                             Jr.    Atlanta, Ga.                3.96    Anthropology & Human Bio.

INF    Jessica Van Galen      Manhattanville                  Sr.   Bedford Hills, N.Y.     3.78    Education / mathematics

OF     Kristen Gromes          Mount Union                    Sr.   Navarre, Ohio             3.84    Engineering & art

OF     Ashley Janssen          Washington (Mo.)             Sr.   Lincoln, Neb.              3.87    Neuroscience

DP    Kelsey Neal (3)           Washington (Mo.)             Jr.    Miami, Okla.               3.87    Economics

THIRD TEAM

Pos.  Name                        School                            Yr.   Hometown                 G.P.A. Major

P       Bree Fuller                 Trine                                So.  Hubbardston, Mich.    3.88    Exercise Science

P       Krystina Leazer           Carthage                          Sr.   Des Plaines, Ill.          3.53    Exercise & Sport Science

P       Ali Sayre                    Heidelberg                       Sr.   Sylvania, Ohio            4.00    Political Science

C       Lya Swaner                East Texas Baptist           Sr.   St. Paul, Texas           3.85    Chemistry and Biology

C       Carol Brown               Skidmore                         Sr.   Seattle, Wash.            3.98    Mathematics

INF    Kristen Beikirch          The Sage Colleges               So.  Brockport, N.Y.          3.91    Biology

INF    Ashley Goettl (3)        Wisconsin-River Falls       Sr.   N. Mankato, MN 3.85    Journalism,Com. Stud.Pol.Sci.

INF    Caitlin Lovend (3)       Frostburg State                Sr.   Laurel, Md.                 3.81    Athletic Training

INF    Kelly McGrail (1)         Wisconsin-Whitewater       Jr.    Tinley Park, Ill.            3.97    Special Education BSE

INF    Holly Schell                Immaculata                      Sr.   Sewell, N.J.                3.98    Elementary, Special Ed.

OF     Leah Alpert                Mass. Inst. of Tech.          Sr.   Needham, Mass.      4.0   Comp. Science & Engineering

OF     Meghin Palmer (1)      Marywood                        Gr.   Greencastle, Pa.         3.89    CSD Speech Pathology

OF     Christina Smith           Concordia (Tex.)               Sr.   Mesa, Ariz.                 4.00    Biology

DP    Lauren Goldfarb         Wellesley                         Sr.   Albuquerque, N.M.     3.55    Geosciences

(1)  Capital One Academic All-America® first team in 2012             
(2) Capital One Academic All-America® second team in 2012

(3) Capital One Academic All-America® third team in 2012