COSIDA All-District 8 At Large Team

LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's Morgan Sjoerdsma made some history on Thursday when she was named to the 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Women's At Large team announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

The eight All-District teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America program separately recognizes soccer honorees in four divisions – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs.

Sjoerdsma becomes the first student-athlete in the women's golf program history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.

She was joined on the first team by Cal State LA tennis student-athlete Sakura Kurokawa and eight others. The women's At Large division includes the sports of golf, tennis, swimming, skiing, rifle, beach volleyball, bowling, crew/rowing, field hockey, gymnastics and water polo. 

The District 8 includes student-athletes from the California Collegiate Athletic Association, Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the PacWest Conference.

Sjoerdsma was the lone recipient from the CCAA and one of three golfers to earn first-team honors.
 
Sjoerdsma, Kurokawa and the other first-team Academic All-District winners will advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot. Academic All-America honorees will be announced next month.

"Morgan is the epitome of what a student-athlete should be. This award is certainly well deserved and is only a small piece of what makes her such an extraordinary young lady," Cal State LA head golf coach Hans Kersting said. "She is completely dedicated to her studies in Mathematics, and is proving herself to be one of the top players in the CCAA. Her significance to our team is beyond measure, and I am so excited to watch her continue to evolve as a student athlete at Cal State LA. I could not be any more proud of Morgan."

Sjoerdsma is a sophomore majoring in mathematics and carries a grade point average of 3.98. She quickly became one of the best golfers on Cal State LA's team last year and was one of the conference's top freshmen in 2020. She earned All-CCAA honorable mention in 2020 and competed in six tournaments and a total of 12 rounds.

She was second on the team with a scoring average of 79.4 and showed tremendous improvement during the season, averaging 76.5 per round in three spring tournaments. She also shared the team's low round of 73 in two tournaments and had a pair of top-seven finishes in three spring tournaments.

Sjoerdsma also earned Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar recognition in 2020 and has earned 2019-20 CCAA All-Academic and 2021 Spring Honor Roll recognition..

The CoSIDA academic teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.3 grade point average and be a starter or key reserve.