June 11, 2009
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Thursday, June 11, 2009) - Redhawks gymnast Sandra Blake (Tri-Cities, Wash.) was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American At-Large First Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). This marks the second-straight season that Blake has been honored as an Academic All-American after being named to the At-Large Third Team in 2008.
Blake, who just recently completed her senior season of eligibility, will graduate from Southeast Missouri State in December with a degree in Accounting. She has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average during her collegiate career.
She becomes just the seventh First Team Academic All-American selection in school history and the first such selection since 2005 when Derek Winans was named to the Men's Basketball Academic All-American First Team. She also becomes the school's seventh multiple Academic All-American. Winans was the last multiple Academic All-American, garnering Second Team honors in 2004.
She is a three-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District 7 Team selection in the At-Large category including this past season. Last season Blake became the gymnastics programs first Academic All-American selection.
Among her academic honors as a Redhawk, she has also been named National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC) Scholar Athlete since her freshman season and has helped her team to back-to-back the NACGC Academic National Championships including this past season when the team finished with the nation's best team GPA with a 3.82.
Blake was also awarded the Ohio Valley Conference Medal of Honor for her academic excellence in 2008 for the fourth-straight season as well as being a four-time selection to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll and a Southeast Scholar Athlete.
In the gym, Blake helped lead the Redhawks to their first Midwest Independent Conference Championship in over a decade this past season. A four-time NCAA gymnastics regional qualifier, she was one of four Redhawks that represented Southeast at the 2009 NCAA South Central Regional with her best finish coming in the floor exercise as she placed 14th with a score of 9.800.
Blake has also been tabbed as the Midwest Independent Conference Gymnast of the Week nine times in her career, including three times this past season. In 2006 Blake was named MIC Gymnast of the Year, as well as Newcomer of the Year.
She becomes the third Redhawks student athlete this school year to be named to an Academic All-American team joining Molly Davis (Third Team-Volleyball) and Jim Klocke (Second Team-Baseball). It is the most Academic All-Americans for the school since 2004 and the fourth time in school history the Redhawks have had three Academic All-Americans in one school year.
The ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American At-Large Teams features three teams comprising of 45 members. Blake is one of four gymnasts selected First Team Academic All-American and the only representative from a MIC or OVC member school. She is also one of 18 athletes named Academic All-American with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 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. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.
Since 1986 the Redhawks have had 30 student-athletes named to an Academic All-American Team.
