Courtesy of CNU Athletic Communications

AUSTIN, Texas -- Setting a new standard of success for a student-athlete at Christopher Newport University, women's soccer senior Carson Pokorny was honored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as a first team Academic All-American on Tuesday afternoon for the second straight year. Pokorny, from Williamsburg, Va., is the first Captain in any sport to earn the prestigious academic award three times in her career and one of just three players nationwide to be a three-time Academic All-American selection this season. 

Requirements for the CoSIDA Academic All-American nomination include sophomore eligibility, a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30, and participation in at least 50 percent of the team's games during the season. For the first time in the history of Christopher Newport University athletics, a student-athlete was honored by the organization in all three of her eligible campaigns. Pokorny was selected as a second team Academic All-American in 2017 before back-to-back first-team selections in 2018 and 2019. 

Her impressive academic achievements include a perfect 4.0 grade-point average while studying toward a degree in Biochemistry at Christopher Newport University. She was named the Capital Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year following her senior season to add to a bevy of individual academic awards. During her tenure as a Captain, Pokorny is a three-time Academic All-Conference pick, three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District first team honoree, and now a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American. She earned the NCAA Elite 90 award at the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championships as the participant with the highest GPA and was also named to the 2018-19 Virginia Sports Information Directors All-State Academic Team. 

Pokorny was one of six Division III women's soccer players to post a perfect 4.0 GPA on the first team in 2019. She was one of 33 student-athletes from across the nation to receive the national accolade and one of only 12 selected to the first team. One of only four first team midfielders, Pokorny started 20 of her 21 games played on the outside for the Captains in her senior season. 

Following graduation this year, Pokorny intends to attend medical school with career aspirations to become a doctor. 

Not just a precedent-setting academic achiever, Pokorny also set records on the pitch as well. The senior midfielder became the all-time leader in career assists during her final campaign in which she finished with 10 points on 2 goals and 6 assists. Her sixth and final helper came on the game-winning goal in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Worcester State and pushed her passed Victoria Perry to the top of the all-time chart with 32 career assists. She wrapped her career with 72 points on 20 goals and 32 assists, ranking eighth all-time in career scoring at Christopher Newport. 

Over the course of her career, Pokorny helped the nationally-ranked Captains reach new heights, including the 2018 national semifinals appearance. The team was 73-9-5 over the last four seasons for a winning percentage of 86.8%. 

CoSIDA began the distinguished Google Cloud Academic All-America® program in 1952, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America® scholar-athlete honors. In 2018-19, the program saw 18,471 nominations with 3,773 individuals being honored with Academic All-District® honors and 1,498 student-athletes being named Academic All-America®.