KIRWAN NAMED CAPITAL ONE 1ST TEAM ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT

Emmanuel College senior Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) has been named a 1st Team Capital One Academic All-District selection. Kirwan, a captain of the Saints Women’s Basketball Team, possesses a 3.68 cumulative grade point average, while majoring in Elementary Education at Emmanuel. She is one of just five women’s basketball players from New England to receive 1st Team Academic All-District honors.

The 2012 Capital One Academic All-District Women’s Basketball Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, were released on February 2nd and recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Capital One became the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA’s Academic All-America teams programs in 2011. First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

Kirwan transferred to Emmanuel College after playing two years of Division II basketball at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.  In her time at Emmanuel, she has been a two-year starter and among the Saints’ leaders in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.  As a junior, Kirwan led Emmanuel in scoring, was a 1st team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference selection and was voted the Most Valuable Player of the GNAC Tournament.

This season, Kirwan is Emmanuel’s second leading scorer and rebounder with 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.  She also leads the Saints and is third among the GNAC leaders in field goal percentage, knocking down 52.8% of her shots from the floor.  Over her career at Emmanuel, Kirwan has been named the conference’s Player of the Week three times and to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll four times.

Kirwan is among an elite group of Emmanuel student-athletes, who have received this prestigious honor.  Just a handful of Saints have been named Academic All-District over the past decade, including Betsy Suda (Cross Country - 2003), Katie Foley (Softball – 2003 and 2004), Kelly Dunn (Women’s Volleyball – 2004), Cathryne Lariviere (Cross Country – 2008) and Kate McKenna (Women’s Soccer – 2009).

Kirwan and the Emmanuel Women’s Basketball Team are currently undefeated at 9-0 in conference play and 15-6 overall for the 2011-12 season.  Kirwan will now appear on the ballot for Capital One Academic All-America, which will be voted upon by the college sports information directors later in February.


The NCAA Division III Academic All District (MA, ME, NH, VT) 1st Team:

Lauren Hannmann WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC, Sr. East Greenbush, N.Y. 3.77 - Chemical Engineering
Meghan Kirwan EMMANUEL COLLEGE, Sr. Melrose, Mass. 3.68 - Elementary Education
Emma Morrison MAINE-FARMINGTON, Sr. Saco, Maine 3.94 - Mathematics
Lauren Sascha Burton MIT, Jr. Seattle, Wash. 3.80 - Mechanical engineering
Caroline Stedman AMHERST, Sr. Walpole, Mass. 3.50 - Economics/Spanish