CSR (Cara VanWoerkom Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JUNE 12, 2008

Cara VanWoerkom Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American

GRAND RAPIDS -- Calvin College swimmer Cara VanWoerkom has been named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. A native of Wyoming and a graduate of Grandville Calvin Christian High School, VanWoerkom has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team in the women's college at-large division.

The women's college at-large division includes includes the sports of swimming and diving, tennis, field hockey, ice hockey, crew, fencing, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, water polo and skiing and represents schools from the NCAA II, III and NAIA ranks.

The award is indeed significant for VanWoerkom as she is one of only 45 female athletes selected as ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans in the college division which represents a broad spectrum of more than 750 colleges or universities at the NCAA II, III and NAIA levels.

VanWoerkom is the second individual in Calvin women's swimming history to receive Academic All-America honors as 2007 graduate Becky Weima was a second team selection in 2006 and a first team choice in 2007.

A Spanish major, VanWoerkom will be a senior at Calvin next fall. She carries a 3.91 grade point average and plans to attend medical school after graduating from Calvin in the spring of 2009.

VanWoerkom is a five-time NCAA III All-American and a five-time NCAA III Honorable Mention All-American. This past winter, she was the MIAA champion in the 50 freestyle and the MIAA runner-up in the 100 free and 200 free. In addition, she was a member of the 2008 All-MIAA team.

At the 2008 NCAA III Swimming and Diving Championships, she took 14th in the 50 free and 16th in the 100 free at 2008. She was also a member of Calvin's All-America 200 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay. In 2007, she was the NCAA III runner-up in the 200 freestyle relay. She Helped Calvin finish sixth at the 2006 NCAA III Championships, fourth at the 2007 national meet and eighth at the 2008 nationals.

VanWoerkom is a two-time member of MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a two-time College Swim Coaches Association All-Academic team.

Calvin has now had its athletes receive ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America accolades 76 times including 50 times in the last 11 years.

ESPN The Magazine - winner of the 2006 and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence - is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized bi-weekly with a circulation of 1.9 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.

For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com or e-mail rlipe@bentley.edu.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Jun 12 10:10:01 2008