Guimaraes Collects Academic All-America Honor

by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–William Penn junior women’s golfer Alexis Guimaraes (San Ramon, Calif., Psychology) was honored for exemplary work on the course as well as in the classroom as she was named to the NAIA All-America At-Large team as part of the Google Cloud Academic All-America program by CoSIDA.

The junior earned a First-Team Academic All-America accolade; the award recognizes student-athletes not only for their athletic prowess but also their successes academically. The NAIA is in its second year of having its own exclusive division; prior to that, it was grouped in with other associations as part of the College division. The Academic All-America program began in 1952.

Guimaraes, who owned a perfect 4.0 Grade Point Average entering the spring, tallied an 82.1 stroke average over 27 tournaments. The junior posted a low round of 75 and was in the 70s seven times. She placed in the top 10 five times as well, headlined by one win that resulted in a Heart of America Athletic Conference Golfer of the Week accolade.

Guimaraes, who was a first-team all-district selection earlier this spring, is one of just three individuals from the Heart on the All-America list and the only one on the first team. She is also the first individual in WPU women’s golf history to earn a laurel from the CoSIDA Academic All-America program.

To be eligible for the award, athletes must be of at least sophomore academic standing, be a starter or key reserve player (other playing requirements where applicable), maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 or above on a 4.0 scale, and have attended the nominating institution for at least one full calendar year.