GILBERT, Ariz. – The Union College field hockey team has been recognized both as a team and individually for academic achievement during the Fall 2020 trimester by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.
 
The Dutchwomen earned the NFHCA Division III National Academic Team Award for the eighth year in a row, while 14 student-athletes were named to the NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad and three Dutchwomen earned NFHCA Scholar of Distinction honors.
 
The Div. III National Academic Squad program honors student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 or higher through the first semester or trimester of the 2020-21 academic year. More than half the team reached the required GPA threshold this season, with 14 of the team's 25 student-athletes earning the honor, a number that breaks the team's previous record of 13 honorees set in 2017.

Juniors Katherine Sadak and Anna Trancozo earned the honor for the third year in a row, while seniors Heather Poisson and Mary Beth Rudolf; junior Sydney Walters; and sophomores Emily Dawson, Isabel Lubin, Eliza Munns and Caroline Werner were named for the second time. Sophomore Jill Bove and first-years Alix Barry, Grace Krebs, Sam Ossoff and Sophie Ruhl all were recognized for the first time as well.

In addition, three Dutchwomen - Barry, Munns and Ossoff - were recognized as NFHCA Scholars of Distinction, honoring student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.90 or higher through the first trimester of the 2020-21 academic year. Munns, Union's Freshman Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award winner last year, earned the honor for the second year in a row.

To complement the individual honors, the National Academic Team Award recognizes programs that achieved a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher during the fall semester or trimester of the 2019-20 school year. After the fall trimester, Union's 25 student-athletes combined for a cumulative GPA of 3.61 to easily reach the standard. 
 
The Dutchwomen are one of 146 Division III teams that earned the prestigious academic honor, which the team has earned every year since 2013 under ninth-year head coach Kelly Harchetts.