CoSIDA Academic All-America Release

Austin, TX – The University of the Cumberlands athletics department has continued to excel in both on the field and in the classroom and on Wednesday four student-athletes were named to the 2022 CoSIDA Women's Academic At-Large All-America® team, CoSIDA officials announced Wednesday.  It marks the second year that the Patriots have placed four honorees on the list as they have the most selection across all four divisions.

Leading the way is women's lacrosse player Bella Ricchiazzi and women's wrestler Jesse Kirby who were both first team selections, while women's tennis standout Tomomi Nagao and swimmer Hanne te Velthuis were second team honorees. UC and St. Ambrose were the only NAIA school with multiple first team selections.
A year after being named a Second Team All-America®, Ricchiazzi's stellar season elevated her to First Team honors this year.  The reigning NAIA Player of the Year recorded 100 goals, 61 assists, and 161 points on the season, while helping Cumberlands capture the MSC North Division title for the second straight year.  Ricchiazzi was voted the MSC Player of the Year as well as a first team all-conference selection, which builds upon a resume that already had the 2021 MSC Offensive Player of the Year, 2019 MSC Freshman of the Year, and a three-time All-American.  The junior has rewritten the Patriots record books as she is the program's all-time leader in points and assist with 422 and 158, respectively, while closing out the season ranked second in program history for assists and points.  The junior became just the third Patriot to surpass the century mark in goals for a season.

Kirby becomes the first Patriots women's wrestler to earn CoSIDA All-America® accolades. The junior went 33-6 on the season at the 191 lbs. weight class.  Kirby earned MSC first team all-conference honors after capturing the conference title and placed fourth at the NAIA National Championships to earn All-American honors.  She rewrote the record books becoming the first wrestler in the MSC to be named wrestler of the week in consecutive weeks and she rose to be ranked #1 in the 191 class in the season. The Culpeper, VA native went a perfect 7-0 at the Patriot Duals and won the Warrior Open to highlight her regular season success.  The junior opened the season with a runner-up finish at the Falcon Invite.  Kirby success in the classroom also aided her in being named the 2022 HESS Department Award recipient.

On the heels of being the first Patriot to be named to the CoSIDA All-District team four times, Nagao captures All-America® for the third consecutive season. Nagao, a two-time Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-America®, posted a 24-1 singles record at #1 singles this season, while going 18-8 at #1 doubles. The grad student is a two-time Mid-South Conference Player of the Year, while being a first team all-conference selection for the fourth time.  The Gifu, Japan native is a four-time NAIA All-American, a two-time ITA Singles All-American, and a 2020 ITA Doubles All-American.  Nagao posted an impressive 24-0 record against NAIA opponents in 2022 and closed out the year ranked tenth in the ITA singles rankings.  The senior has been part of four UC tennis teams that have qualified for the NAIA National Championships, helping to lead the Patriots to the 2022 MSC Tournament championship and the 2021 MSC Conference Championship team.  Nagao is the Patriots career singles and doubles leader with a 74-15 singles record and a 61-33 doubles record making her the first Patriot to earn at least 50 singles and doubles matches over their career.
 
Te Velthuis becomes the fourth Patriot swimmer to earn CoSIDA All-America® honors as UC has had at least one swimmer in each of the past five years named to the list.  The sophomore led the Patriots as a seven-time NAIA All-American and a seven-time MSC First Team All-Conference selection.  Te Velthuis won all three of her individual events during conference to be named the MSC Swimmer of the Year, while setting three records on the season.  The Beerzarveld, Netherlands native has been a 14 time all-conference selection over her career and helped UC to a pair of conference titles and a fourth place finish at the 2022 NAIA National Championships.  Te Velthuis holds a top-five time in three events, including her 1:53.58 in the 200 free, which is the second fastest time in program history.
 
This marks the fourth straight year that Cumberlands has placed at least three student-athletes on the CoSIDA At-Large All-America® list.  The 2021-22 Academic All-America® At-Large Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes 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 at-large honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
 
The At-Large category consist of student-athletes across a variety of sports including women's beach volleyball, men's & women's bowling, cheerleading, dance, men's & women's golf, men's & women's lacrosse, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, men's volleyball, men's wrestling. Each school can nominate up to four men and four women in this category.
 
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