UMBC

Kali Shirk excells on the field and in the classroom.

Boston-Sophomore outfielder Kali Shirk (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) was selected to the America East spring All-Academic team, the conference announced last week. Ten UMBC spring athletes overall were named to their respective squads.

Shirk batted a solid .297 and stole a team high 41 bases this season. She stole a school-record 45 consecutive bases to start her career, including 17 in 2005, before getting caught for the first time on March 24. Shirk’s 41 steals in 2006 rank as the second-highest single season total in school history.

Also representing UMBC on the all-academic squads are senior Kelly Fiorani and juniors Kelly Fahey, Heather Licht and Megan Mullins from women’s lacrosse; seniors Adam Grossman and Keith Ransom from men’s outdoor track and field; juniors Jenelle Wilson and Francine Ward from women’s outdoor track and field; and junior Mehrban Iranshad from men’s tennis.

With 10 spring all-academic team members, UMBC tied Maine and Stony Brook for third-most in the conference. Albany (16) led the way, followed by Binghamton (15). New Hampshire (9), Boston U. (8), Vermont (6) and Hartford (4) round out the league.

UMBC had 28 honorees for the year, tying Boston University and Binghamton University for the second-most in the league, just one behind Maine’s 29.

This marks the first time the America East has named All-Academic teams for each of its spring sports. The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings. Faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor some of the league’s top athletes that are also quality students.

Each All-Academic Team has been selected based on the student-athlete’s academic and athletic accomplishments. Academic achievement for consideration requires student-athletes to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 entering the season. Athletic accomplishment standards vary between team sports and individual sports. For team sports, student-athletes are required to be a nomination on the post-season awards ballot, which is determined by the league’s head coaches. For track and field and swimming and diving, student-athletes are required to be a top-three finisher at the conference championship meet. For golf and tennis, student-athletes must be all-conference selections. Team size for team sports is based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., five on the court for basketball). In the event that the number of student-athletes meeting the requirements is greater than the number that participate in a contest at one time, all-conference vote totals were used as the tie-breaking criteria. Team size for individual sports is determined by the number of all-conference honorees who possess the minimum academic requirement. Freshmen are not eligible for the all-academic teams and grade-point averages are taken from the semester prior to the competing athletic season.

2006 America East All-Academic Softball Team
Amber Maisonet, Albany
Ali Meacham, Albany
Kelly Ogden, Albany
Samantha Morrison, Hartford
Nikki Thompson, Hartford
Sarah Bennis, Maine
Brittany Cheney, Maine
Amy Kuhl, Maine
Erin Provost, Maine
Kali Shirk, UMBC