» 2008 Academic All-America Team

Chantal Koechli (Greer, S.C. / Brighton – Mich.) of The College of Wooster was one of 12 players in the college division (NCAA Div. II and III, and NAIA) voted on to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team for women's soccer, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Tuesday.

A day after earning first-team all-North Coast Athletic Conference recognition for her exploits on the pitch, Koechli added a more prestigious honor to her haul of awards this fall. She is the first Academic All-American® over the women's soccer team's 24-year history and just the eighth Wooster student-athlete to be a first-team Academic All-American® since 1984.

Koechli has been a pivotal player for the Fighting Scots on both ends of the field throughout her career. This season, she ranked seventh in the NCAC with 20 points coming on five goals and 10 assists, in addition to helping hold opponents to one goal or less during 16 of the squad's 20 matches, including eight shutouts. Koechli's 10 assists led the conference and tied for the third-most in school history.

Through three years, Koechli has totaled 34 points, highlighted by 18 assists, which puts her on pace to equal Wooster's career record in that category (24). The standout midfielder has started 56 career matches, leading the Scots to a 38-17-2 mark (.684) over that time.

Off the field, Koechli carries a near-perfect grade-point average while majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology with a minor in French. She's also active with a variety of groups, including the Wooster Volunteer Network, Wooster Christian Fellowship, and Worthy Questions, and she reads to local elementary students.

Created in 1952, the Academic All-America Teams program now annually honors 816 male and female student-athletes who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.