From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Case Western Reserve University senior defender Elizabeth White, senior midfielder Anika Washburn, and senior midfielder/forward Helina VanBibber were named to the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America Teams, as announced by the organization on Tuesday. White was named to the First Team, Washburn earned Second Team honors, and VanBibber was selected to the Third Team.
The trio are the first three Spartans named Academic All-Americans for the 2022-23 academic year.
It is the fourth Academic All-America honor of Washburn's career after she was named to the First Team in 2021 and 2020 and the Second Team in 2019. She is the first Case Western Reserve University student-athlete to be named to four Academic All-America Teams in a single sport. White joins Washburn as the only two student-athletes in CWRU women's soccer history to earn multiple First Team honors after being named to the First Team in 2021. White, Washburn, and former Spartan Sandra Oh (1995-97) are the only multiple-time Case Western Reserve women's soccer Academic All-Americans. VanBibber is the seventh player in CWRU women's soccer history to be named to an Academic All-America team joining White, Washburn, Oh, and former Spartans Elle Zadina (2017, Second Team), Nancy Moon (1993, Third Team), and Suzanne Boyer (1992, Second Team).
Since the program's inception, a total of 96 Case Western Reserve student-athletes have been named Academic All-Americans, compiling 135 selections.
Last week, White won the Elite 90 Award for the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship for having the highest cumulative grade point average while competing at the championship. A Civil Engineering major, she has a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA. On the field, White was named to the All-Region VII Second Team for the first time in her career and was a key player on the Spartan backline, starting all 21 matches for CWRU in 2022. The Case Western Reserve defense shut out 10 of its 21 opponents, allowing just 15 goals across 1,890 minutes. In addition, White is a two-time Academic All-District honoree, four-time University Athletic Association All-Academic honoree, and three-time member of the CWRU Van Horn Society, honoring juniors and seniors with grade point averages greater than 3.8.
Earlier this season, Washburn was named to the All-Region First Team for the third time after appearances on the team in 2019 and 2021. Earlier in the year, she was named to the All-UAA First Team for the third consecutive season, becoming the first player in program history to be named to three All-UAA First Teams. In 14 matches this season, including 10 starts, she scored four goals and added six assists. For her career, she holds the program records for goals (35), points (91), and game-winning goals (12), the last of which she set during the 2022 season. She is tied for the program career record with 21 assists. Washburn is also a four-time UAA All-Academic selection, four-time Academic All-District selection, and three-time member of the CWRU Van Horn Society. She has a 3.97 cumulative GPA as a Computer Science major.
A starter for the last two seasons, VanBibber scored 10 goals and tallied four assists in 2022, including five goals and two assists in postseason play. For her career, she has scored 14 goals and added eight assists for 36 points, with 55% of her shots on target. A Cognitive Science major on the Pre-Med track, VanBibber has a 4.00 cumulative GPA, earning three UAA All-Academic honors, one Academic All-District selection, and two selections to the Van Horn Society.
The CSC Academic All-America program separately recognizes soccer honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA — for each gender. The Division III CSC Academic All-America programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-23 Divisions III Academic All-America programs.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.50 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at their current institution, and be selected to an Academic All-District team.
The CWRU women's soccer team completed one of the most successful seasons ever by a Spartan team in any sport, as the team finished the year as the national runner-up with a 20-1-1 overall record after falling to Johns Hopkins in the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship. The national second place finish matches the best finish by any Case Western Reserve team in school history (2022 & 2021 men's tennis) and is the best finish in school history for any Spartan women's team. The team set a program record for wins in a season, set the program record for longest winning streak at 13, and finished 6-0-1 in UAA play, en route to winning the first conference championship in team history.