June 22, 2010

Arlington, Texas - UT Arlington led the league with three first and second-team All-Academic selections, the league office announced Tuesday.

Eleven student-athletes made a return appearance to the all-academic teams including three-time award winner Cara Hulme, two-time recipients Samantha Chumchal and Heather Fortenberry.

Hulme, Chumchal and Rebecca Collom represented the Mavericks on the all-academic first team squad while Fortenberry, Courtney Zink and Kelsey Kaiser earned a spot on the second team.

Hulme leads the pack, making her third appearance as a member of the all-academic team. The senior hurler not only excelled on the field but did so in the classroom, finishing with a 3.68 GPA in kinesiology. On the field, Hulme was a Third Team All-SLC pitcher and utility player. She finished fourth all-time in UTA history with 551 career strikeouts and tied for second with 22 career home runs.

First team All-Conference selection-Chumchal is a two-time all-academic selection. She finished her senior season with a 3.28 GPA in Pre-K Education. The three-time All-SLC First Team catcher tied UTA's all-time career home run record with 25 and finished her senior year with a career high 12 doubles. For her career, Chumchal connected on 29 doubles which is fourth all-time.

Collom is making her first appearance as an all-academic award winner after finishing her junior year with a 3.55 GPA in kinesiology. The first baseman is coming off one of her best seasons where she was named to the All-SLC second team. Collom led the team with a .317 batting average, including a career high 53 hits and 30 RBI.

Two-time award winner-Fortenberry finished her senior season with a 3.23 GPA in criminal justice. The senior spent most of the year as the designated hitter, recording a .259 average, connecting on 38 hits and driving in 16 RBI. She also led the Mavs at the Southland Conference Tournament with a .400 average, going 6-for-15 with two runs scored.

Sophomores Zink and Kaiser are making their first appearance on the all-academic team. Zink finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA in kinesiology. The second baseman finished fifth on the team with a .241 batting average where she connected on a career high 35 hits.

Kaiser finished the year with a 3.79 GPA in architecture. She appeared in 53 of the Mavericks 54 games and recorded a .204 batting average.

The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators from each Southland university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition to qualify for the all-academic squad.