Worcester, MA --- Senior Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) has been selected to the Capital One Academic Division III District I Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (Co-SIDA). Burns moves on to the national ballot for Academic All-American consideration.
The honor for Burns is a notable one as she becomes the first WSU women's basketball student-athlete since 1989 to earn a spot on an All-District team since Cathy Riverneider (also of W. Brookfield) as she also tries to become the first the first Academic All-American since Jackie Shaker received accolades in 1980 and 1981.
District I includes institutions that make up Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Burns was the only student-athlete from the MASCAC chosen to the six member team. Locally, senior Shannon Ray (Yonkers, NY) of Assumption was chosen on the Division II team.
Thus far in 18 games on the season, Burns has averaged 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds which are second and ninth in the MASCAC, respectively. She is also in the top 10 in the conference in several categories including field goal percentage (.397), free throw percentage (.684) and blocks (12) while her steals (30) and assists (41) are among the top 15.
En route to All-MASCAC Second-team laurels last season, Burns averaged 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds to go with 70 swipes in 25 games. Her clutch defensive play at guard was responsible for helping propel the squad as the MASCAC Regular Season Runners-up with a stellar 9-4 mark in league action and into the conference tournament semifinals.
After netting 12 points in her last game against Framingham State on Tuesday, she moved into 14th place on WSU's All-Time Scoring list with 1,040 points and she is only five steals away from 200 for her career.
With a stellar 3.82 grade point average as a Nursing major, Burns is a four-time MASCAC All-Academic selection, she has been honored on the dean's list three times and named to "Who's Who in US American Colleges and Universities."
An active participant in numerous community service activities, Burns one of the women's basketball representatives on both SAAC and the Athlete Mentor program. She has also been involved as a Special Olympics volunteer, a contributor in Community Reading Day and Team IMPACT. This past winter she helped the women's basketball team host two clinics for grade school children during their trip to Costa Rica.
To be eligible for all-academic honors, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
This year marks the third that the College Division (Non-Division I) has been expanded to include Divisions I, II, III and NAIA and Canadian schools and two year-institutions. The regions were spread out to include eight distinct geographic locations across the United States.
2013-14 Co-SIDA All-District Women's Basketball Team