STANDISH, Maine - Saint Joseph's College junior guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) has earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) All-District® honors, as announced by the organization on Thursday.
The CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their excellence both on the field and in the classroom. The District Team selections are divided into eight geographic districts and further delineated by NCAA Divisions I, II and III.
McNamara is the first Saint Joseph's women's basketball player to garner CoSIDA All-District honors and 10th SJC athlete since 2009 to earn the high academic award. Danyelle Shufelt '13, who played both softball and basketball at St. Joe's, claimed All-District acclaim as a softball player during her senior season.
A three-year starting point guard for the Monks, McNamara is averaging 18.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 42.4% (158-373) from the field, 39.2% (76-194) from three-point distance, and 87.4% (76-87) from the free throw line. After nearly three full seasons, she already owns the Monks' career records for three-pointers made (220) and attempted (575) and currently ranks fourth in three-point shooting percentage (38.3%), free-throw shooting rate (83.0%), and assists average (4.8), fifth in scoring average (15.9), sixth in assists (400), ninth in points (1,336), and 10th in field goals attempted (1,119).
An Elementary Education major with a concentration in Special Education, McNamara collected Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) All-Academic accolades following her sophomore year and was also listed on the Dean's List in 2017. She completed an internship at a local elementary school at the second grade level last fall and is currently interning with a fifth grade class nearby.
She is the one of four GNAC players – Breanna Muir (Mount Ida), Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (Emmanuel), and Raquel Pederzani (JWU) are the others - to earn the academic honor and joins Husson junior Kenzie Worcester as one of two players hailing from a Maine College or University to be honored.
First team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first, second and third team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.
