Courtney Clarke Named Academic All-District

Sophomore mechanical engineering major carries a 3.84 GPA

OXFORD, Ohio – Miami University sophomore Courtney Clarke has been tabbed to the 2009 women’s soccer ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Third Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America have announced. Clarke is the first RedHawk to earn Academic All-District honors since Kathleen Vistica in 2006 and is just the fourth different RedHawk to earn the distinction.

Clarke (Scarborough, Ont.) is a mechanical engineering major with a 3.84 cumulative grade-point average, the highest on the team. The defender, who has also seen some time at forward this year, has played in all 19 games on the season, starting 16.

Clarke has helped Miami pitch eight shutouts this year while the defense has allowed just 12 goals all season, or 0.63 a game, which ranks second in the Mid-American Conference and is a Miami single-season record. Clarke and the RedHawks’ defense have not conceded a goal in their last three matches and have allowied more than one goal in a contest just once all year (two, Sept. 18 vs. Dayton).

On the offensive side, Clarke has scored a pair of goals in 2009, both on headers (her only shots on goal of the year). She tallied her first goal of the campaign Aug. 23 in a win over Eastern Kentucky and again found the back of the net on Oct. 29 in a record-setting 8-0 victory over Ball State. She now has five goals in her career.

Clarke is one of just six women’s soccer players from the MAC to be named Academic All-District among the 34 recipients in District IV, which includes universities in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.

To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-District teams, student-athletes must have at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA, have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games and must have completed a full year at the academic institution.

Clarke hopes to help record a fourth straight clean sheet when sixth-seeded Miami faces second-seeded Eastern Michigan in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament, hosted by top-seeded Central Michigan, Friday at 2 p.m. ET in Mount Pleasant, Mich.