Two 2021 McKelvey Engineering graduates earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors
Ally Persky and Benjamin van der Sman were among three Washington University in St. Louis student-athletes who earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District At-Large honors
Three Washington University in St. Louis student-athletes earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District At-Large honors, the organization recently announced.
Swimming and diving's Nathan Katz, women's tennis' Ally Persky and men's tennis' Benjamin van der Sman earned a spot on the District 5 team, which is comprised of schools from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
For the 2020-21 academic year, nominations were based on career statistics.
Persky recently graduated with a degree in chemical engineering and was valedictorian of the McKelvey School of Engineering. In June, she earned the prestigious Elite 90 award at the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships. This is the third career all-district honor for Persky, and she was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American last year. During her playing career at WashU, Persky has primarily played No. 1 singles and doubles and as a first-year, earned ITA All-America honors for doubles. As a senior, Persky finished with an 8-3 record for a career mark of 34-34. She qualified for the NCAA Division III Individual Championships to conclude her solid career.
On the men's side, van der Sman recently graduated with a degree in systems science and engineering. On the court, van der Sman finished his career with a 50-23 overall record, after going 10-2 during his senior campaign. During the 2021 season, he was an integral part of the Bears' run to the Final Four for the first time since 2015. During his career, van der Sman has collected three All-UAA honors – two for doubles and one for singles. This season, van der Sman and Daniel Li finished at No. 10 for doubles in the final ITA Top 25 rankings.
The trio of Katz, Persky and van der Sman will now advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot, to be announced later this month.
Full All-District At-Large honors announcement
