KALAMAZOO, Mich. - In a news release today from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), Christina Dandar has been named to the women's soccer Academic All-America First Team.
Dandar, a senior captain from Warren Township, holds a 3.99 GPA as a psychology major and has been involved in psychology research projects at K. Dandar's consistency and excellence extend from the classroom to the field where she was a starter in the Kalamazoo College defense for 75 of the 77 games she played in her career. This season she recorded two goals and two assists to bring her career point total to 16.
This Academic All-American honor is only the latest recognition is what has been a highly decorated career for Dandar. She is a three-time All-MIAA performer, being selected to the First Team once and the Second Team on twice. In 2016, she was also an All-Central region honoree.
Dandar has been selected to the MIAA Honor Roll in each of her seasons at K in recognition of her outstanding academics, and last season was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team. With her Academic All-America First Team selection this season, Dandar becomes Kalamazoo College's ninth two-time awardee and the first two-time Academic All-American in the history of the women's soccer program.
Coach Bryan Goyings said, "To be recognized as an Academic All-American once during a career is a tremendous achievement and to receive this honor a second time is truly extraordinary. The history of the women's soccer program at the college is rich with league MVPs, All-Americans and Academic All-Americans, but as a two-time honoree, Christina is truly peerless."
"The award is a testament to her pursuit of excellence athletically and academically," he said. "As a defender these accolades can often be difficult to procure as statistics are not as much of a staple of the position as with a forward or goalkeeper. However, it is clear through her consistent defensive contributions that Christina earned the respect of her teammates as well as the opponents and coaches that she competed against."