BATON ROUGE – While leading the LSU soccer team on the field throughout the 2010 season, the duo of senior Courtney Alexander and sophomore Carlie Banks have also been honored for their outstanding performance in the classroom with their selection to the 2010 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI Second-Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
This year’s academic all-district teams were announced by CoSIDA this past week with the Tigers taking part in the 2010 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala.
Both Alexander and Banks have earned second-team academic all-district selections this season. Student-athletes earning first-team academic all-district honors in the eight districts across the country are also under consideration for Academic All-America accolades from CoSIDA.
A senior from Liberty, Mo., Alexander has maintained a 3.74 cumulative grade-point average pursuing an undergraduate degree in kinesiology. After graduating from LSU, she plans to enter Physician’s Assistant school and embark on a career in humanitarian and medical missions overseas.
Alexander served as LSU’s captain as the team’s lone senior during the 2010 season, ending the year with two goals and one assist for five points while seeing playing time at each position on the field in 21 starts. She started all 45 matches during her two-year LSU career after joining the program in 2008. She has also earned two selections to the SEC Academic Honor Roll during her time in Baton Rouge.
A sophomore from Peachtree City, Ga., Banks has earned a second-team academic all-district selection of CoSIDA after maintaining an impressive 3.70 GPA over the last two seasons while also pursuing a degree in kinesiology with a concentration in fitness studies. This comes on the heels of a rookie season when the striker was selected as a member of the SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll.
Banks, a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team a year ago, finished the 2010 season as tied as the No. 1 goal scorer on the team with five goals and one assist for nine points. She has now scored a total of 11 goals and five assists for 27 points while starting 40 of 45 career games over the past two seasons.
With the selection of Alexander and Banks, the Tigers continue to be recognized for their academic effort as they now boast nine CoSIDA academic all-district selections since 2003.