AUSTIN, Texas - Carson-Newman softball alum Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) has been named to CoSIDA's Academic All-America first team for a second straight year, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Wednesday at noon.
Siebert is the only honoree to earn back-to-back first team honors in Division II this season and is Carson-Newman's second back-to-back first team Academic All-America honoree ever in any sport.
She joines Chris Horton (football, first team 1993-94) Keith Ackard (football, second team 1999, first team 2000), Stacey Thomas (women's soccer, second team 2005, first team 2006) and Brandon Burchfield (baseball, second team 2006, first team 2007) as the Eagles' other two-time honorees.
Randall Freeman earned Academic All-America honors as a two-sport athlete, earning a second team honor for football and a first team honor for track last seaosn.
Siebert was named the South Atlantic Conference's Scholar Athlete of the Year earlier this month, becoming the fifth Carson-Newman honoree for the league's scholar athlete award and the first for the program since Haley Allen won it in 2004. C-N's first four honorees came in-a-row from 2001 to 2004, with Marci Mitchell (now Whiteside) winning three straight from 2001-03.
Siebert tallied a .383 average to lead the Eagles offensively this season. The senior had 36 RBI, four dingers and four triples in her senior season. The 36 runs batted in rank ninth in the league while the four triples are the fourth highest total in the conference.
The Karns High School graduate collected the fourth, four-hit day of her career against Bluefield State, coming a home run shy of the cycle that day. She matched her own school record for doubles in a single game when she connected on three in April against Wingate.
Siebert graduated from Carson-Newman with a 3.97 GPA as an accounting major. A four-time Dean's List honoree, she earned Eagle Scholar honors during her sophomore, junior and senior years. Additionally, she was presented with the university's Academic Athlete of the Year at the third annual Frosty Awards in early May as the athlete graduating with the highest grade point average.
Siebert was a four-time Carson-Newman Hope Scholar and Carson-Newman Presidential Scholar. Siebert was also named to the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's honor roll all four years at Carson-Newman. She is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society.
A three-time All-SAC selection and all-region selection, Siebert was named a first-team All-American as a utility player during her junior year.
Siebert finished her career with 115 RBI, 22 home runs, 31 doubles and a .365 average at the plate. She is tied for eighth all-time in SAC history with 14 triples; she slugged .572 for her career.
