Baylor Soccer Places Two On Academic All-America Teams - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen

TOWSON, Md. – Baylor seniors Dana Larsen and Lisa Sliwinski were named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America on Thursday.

Larsen, a first-team selection, joins baseball's Charley Carter (1998) as the only Baylor athletes to be honored as the Academic All-America of the Year. The native of Mequon, Wis., maintains a 4.0 grade point average, while majoring in biochemistry.

In 2011, Larsen was the first Academic All-America second-team member in program history and this season she becomes the first soccer player to earn the first-team accolade. Larsen is a three-time Academic All-District first-team selection and a three-time Academic All-Big 12 first-team member. In 2012, she led the Bears in goals (11), assists (9) and points (31).

With a 3.81 GPA in biology, Sliwinski garnered Academic All-America third-team recognition. The Plano, Texas, product was a third-team Academic All-District honoree two years ago, a second-team member last season, and earned the first-team distinction in 2012. She finished second on the team with 10 goals, five assists and 25 points.

Larsen and Sliwinski helped BU to the best record in program history at 19-1-5 and the program's first Big 12 Championship title. The Bears advanced to the third round of the NCAA Championship, the farthest any BU team had ever gone in the 64-team tournament. Both players scored a goal during the final two games of the season to wrap up their careers fourth (Sliwinski, 30 goals) and fifth (Larsen, 29 goals) on the all-time Baylor scoring list.

The Bears have now had two players make the Academic All-America team in back-to-back years, after Larsen (second team) and Bethany Johnston (third team) were honored in 2011. In total, five different players have received the distinction six different times in program history. Dawn Greathouse (1999) and Whitney Barrett (2002) were third-team selections.

Baylor was the only Big 12 institution with a player recognized and one of just five schools in the country with more than one honoree.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.