June 17, 2004
CoSIDA Academic All-America Teams in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern University lacrosse player Courtney Koester was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Third Team in the women's at-large category.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America program is considered the most prestigious academic honor a collegiate student-athlete can receive. The at-large category combines all the NCAA-sponsored women's sports that do not have their own Academic All-America program; the sports that do have such programs are volleyball, soccer, basketball, softball and cross country/track & field.
Koester is the fifth Wildcat athlete to be honored at the national level this year - the others were Jason Wright and Jeff Backes in football, Jeremy Cook in men's soccer, and swimmer Tony Swanson in the men's at-large category.
Koester was a tri-captain and catalyst for the Wildcat lacrosse team this season; she helped the third-year program go 15-3, finish with a No. 6 national ranking, and reach the NCAA quarterfinal round (where they lost to eventual national champion Virginia). In addition, the 'Cats tied for the American Lacrosse Conference title with Final Four participant Vanderbilt; both teams went 5-1 in the conference.
Koester earned IWLCA second-team All-America this season, as well as first-team All-ALC honors for the second straight year, after leading the 'Cats in draw controls (45) and caused turnovers (20). She anchored a defense that ranked fifth nationally during the regular season in goals-against average. All this from a third-year player who had never played lacrosse before being recruited to try out in the fall of 2001. Koester is a computer engineering major who is a senior but still has a year of lacrosse eligibility left and plans to use it next spring.