Austin, TX – Two weeks after being named to the 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District® Team three UC Patriots student-athletes were named 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America®, announced Tuesday afternoon.  The Patriots led the NAIA with three women's Academic All-America^® selections.

Tennis player Tomomi Nagao earned First Team All-America® honors, while lacrosse goalie Emily Crump, and swimmer Mendy De Rooi were Second Team All-America® selections.

Nagao, a two-time NAIA All-American selection, continues to make program history becoming the first Patriot in program history to be selected as a CoSIDA All-America®. The junior finished the 2020 season with an 8-1 singles record and 7-2 doubles record.  Nagao won the ITA Regional Championship as the fourth-seed and earned MSC Player of the Week five times before the season was halted.  She ended the year ranked fourth in the ITA singles and tenth in the ITA doubles ranking alongside partner Jaclyn Jewell. Nagao and Jewell posted UC's highest doubles ranking in program history and became the first doubles pair to earn ITA All-American honors, while Nagao earned ITA All-American honors for her singles play as well.  The junior is a two-time MSC First Team All-Conference selection, the MSC Freshman of the Year in 2018, and earned CoSIDA All-District® honors in consecutive season.

Crump earned CoSIDA Second Team All-America® honors for the second straight year after completing a stellar career in the red and navy. Crump, a two-time NAIA First Team All-American, recorded a program-best 458 career saves and limited opponents to a 8.48 goals against average over her four years with the Patriots. Crump posted a perfect 8-0 record in the shortened 2020 season, which included limiting opponents to 6.71 GAA, which ranked second in the NAIA.  She ranked third in the NAIA with 66 saves, including making 17 stops in consecutive games against Missouri Valley and Benedictine. For her career, Crump has been a key part in Cumberlands two conference regular season and tournament championships and she named the AAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2018.  The senior is a Pre-Physical Therapy major and earned CoSIDA All-District® and CoSIDA Academic All-American® honors in 2019 and 2020.

De Rooi notched her first CoSIDA All-America® honor after capturing her seventh NAIA national championship and earning back-to-back NAIA Swimmer of the Year accolades.  The exercise sports science major won three individual national titles at then 2020 NAIA National Championships and was the NAIA Swimmer of the Month twice. De Rooi has also recorded the NAIA Swim of the Year (100 fly) and Mid-South Conference Swimmer of the Year honors in back-to-back season.  The Lelystad, Netherlands native is a 24x NAIA All-American and currently holds eight school records.  De Rooi is a two-time NAIA National Champion in the 100 free, 500 free, and 100 fly and was a member of Cumberlands first NAIA National Champion relay team, the 2019 400 medley relay.   

It marks the second straight year that the University of the Cumberlands placed three student-athletes on the CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-America® team. 
The 2020 Academic All-America® At-Large Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in their respective sport and in the classroom. The Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® NAIA Women's At-Large Team produced an average GPA of 3.87 with the first team combining for an average GPA of 3.91. The team includes six student-athletes with 4.0 GPA or higher.

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