AUSTIN, Texas – The 2023 College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America Women’s At-Large Teams were announced Thursday and Gustavus hockey player Kayla Vrieze (Sr., Eagan) has been selected First Team Academic All-America. Academic All-America Teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
Vrieze, a public accounting major with a 3.99 GPA, had a storybook ending to her Gustavus hockey career by captaining the team to its first national championship. For the second consecutive season, Vrieze earned CCM/AHCA First Team All-America and the NCAA Elite 90 Award. Vrieze also earned MIAC Defensive Player of the Year this season, while helping the Gusties win both the MIAC regular season and playoff titles. Vrieze earned the MIAC Elite 22 Award in 2020 and 2022 and is a four-time MIAC Academic All-Conference selection. She accumulated 16 goals, 43 assists, 59 points, a +68 rating, and four game-winning goals in her career as a defender. Vrieze missed only one game out of 121 in her career while the Gusties posted a 94-18-9 record during that time. Vrieze earns the women’s hockey program’s ninth CSC Academic All-America honor and is the first two-time recipient since Carolyn Draayer garnered selections in 2014 and 2015.
Vrieze brings Gustavus’s CSC Academic All-America all-time count to 131, which ranks first in the MIAC (53 more than the next institution), 13th in NCAA Division III, and 38th among all NCAA divisions. Vrieze is one of four ice hockey players on the 16-member First Team, which also includes student-athletes who compete in golf, rowing, field hockey, lacrosse, gymnastics, and water polo. Gustavus now has 42 Women’s At-Large Academic All-Americans, which ranks sixth among all NCAA divisions.
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 his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.