Five Georgia Bulldogs selected as at-large Academic All-Americans

Led by First-Team selection Laura Ryan, a senior diver, the Georgia Bulldogs boast five members of the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America Division I Men’s and Women’s At-Large Teams. The selections were announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday.

Joining Ryan on the women’s squad is junior tennis player Lauren Herring and senior swimmer Shannon Vreeland, each of whom were selected to the Second-Team. Senior swimmers Andrew Gemmell and sjunior swimmer Nicolas Fink were chosen for the Second and Third Teams, respectively, on the men’s side.

The At-Large Teams include the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, and water polo for both men and women, along with bowling, rowing and field hockey for women, and volleyball and wrestling for men.

Ryan, Vreeland and Gemmell recently earned NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships. Vreeland also was chosen as the SEC’s H. Boyd McWhorter Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for all sports and received an additional Postgraduate Scholarship.

Earning a 3.79 GPA in Psychology, Ryan won the 1- and 3-meter springboards at the NCAA meet to become the first Georgia diver to claim national titles. She also came in third on platform and earned Diver of the Meet honors. Ryan medaled on all three boards (first on 3-meter, second on platform and third on 1-meter) at the conference meet and was chosen as the SEC Diver of the Year.

Vreeland, who has a 3.83 GPA in International Affairs/Economics, placed second in the 200 freestyle, fifth in the 100 freestyle and sixth in the 500 freestyle at the NCAAs. During the SEC meet, she won the 200 freestyle and placed second in the 100 and 500 freestyle. With a 3.86 GPA in Economics, Gemmell placed sixth in the 1,650 freestyle at the NCAAs and finished third in the 1,650 freestyle, sixth in the 500 freestyle and ninth in the 400 individual medley at the SECs.

Fink, who has a 3.73 GPA in Agricultural Engineering, finished second in the 100 breaststroke, third in the 200 breaststroke and seventh in the 200 individual medley at the NCAAs. With a win at this year’s SECs, Fink is the first Bulldog to win the SEC title in the 100 breaststroke three straight years. He also came in second in the 200 breaststroke and fourth in the 200 individual medley at the SECs.

With a 3.93 GPA in Sociology/Psychology, Herring was chosen as the SEC Player of the Year and earned All-America Tennis honors in singles and doubles. She finished the season ranked No. 7 in singles after posting a 31-6 record, including 17-2 at No. 1 in the lineup. Herring also paired with Maho Kowase and finished the year ranked No. 2 nationally with a 36-7 record as they advanced to the NC

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