March 5, 2013

STANFORD, Calif.- Stanford was recently awarded team and individual honors as part of the 2012 Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad.

The Cardinal was well-represented this year with a school-record 18 honorees, trailing only Central Michigan (21) for the highest number of recipients among Division I schools. To be recognized as an Academic Squad member a student-athlete must achieve a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.30 through the first semester of the 2011-12 academic year.

This year's honorees include: Hope Burke, Jessica Chisholm, Dulcie Davies, Catherine Dawson, Becky Dru, Kelsey Harbin, Emily Henriksson, Shannon Herold, Kelsey Lloyd, Katie Mitchell, Sam Neuber, Elise Ogle, Kasey Quon, Colleen Ryan, Maddie Secco, Alysha Sekhon, Anna Simmons and Hannah Thiemann.

Stanford has been honored with at least 10 selections in 10 of the last 11 seasons.

In addition, Stanford was honored for its collective team GPA as a 2012 National Academic squad. The National Academic Team Award recognizes those institutions that achieve a minimum GPA of 3.0 during the first semester of the 2012-13 academic year.

Stanford (16-7, 6-0 NorPac) is coming off another impressive campaign, reaching the NCAA Tournament and capturing the NorPac Championship for the fifth time in six years. The Cardinal, which has been a fixture in the national rankings for all but one week over the last three years, navigated through a grueling non-conference schedule in which it played four games against the nation's No. 1-ranked team at the time.

Stanford was anchored once again by senior Becky Dru, named a Longstreth/NFHCA First Team All-American for the second consecutive season. Dru was also honored as the 2012 NorPac Player of the Year, earning the distinction for the second straight season and collecting her fifth conference award overall. A native of Buckinghamshire, England, Dru led the Cardinal in goals (12), assists (12), points (36), shots (65) and game-winning goals (3) this season. Arguably one of the most decorated players in school history, Dru totaled 54 goals, 36 assists, 144 points, 311 shots and 15 game-winning goals in 87 career games.