Carli Grosso and Brandon Watson may know soccer, but they also know a lot more.
The Simon Fraser University athletes continue to stand out in the classroom as well as the pitch for their respective teams, as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference honoured its soccer All-Academic team this past week.
Grosso, a sophomore from Vancouver, achieved the highest grade point average among all female soccer players in the Div. II conference, at 4.21 out of a possible 4.33. The 5-foot-7 defender has started 11 of the team’s 12 matches and scored once.
Watson, meanwhile, picked up his third straight selection to the all-academic team with a 4.14 cumulative GPA. The Victoria native is also considered among one of the best goalkeepers in GNAC history, having added five shutouts this season to his conference record of 21.
Both are majoring in kinesiology.
The duo were part of a strong SFU group noted for their academic prowess. Joining Grosso on the women’s all-academic team were senior captain Olivia Aguiar, of Coquitlam, and midfielder Devon Kollmyer of Lynden, Wash., each a third-year selection, and first-year academic all-conference team members Christina Dickson and Teagan McManus, both of Burnaby.
Aguiar has scored once and set up two others in her fourth season with the Clan, while registering a 3.84 GPA and serving as the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Kollmyer is a 3.98 GPA student studying molecular biology and biochemistry.
Dickson, who last year was the GNAC Freshman of the Year, sits second in team scoring with three goals and three assists and has a 3.52 GPA. McManus, meanwhile, has appeared in nine games and posted a 3.54 GPA in criminology.
Robert Hyams, a fourth-year defender with SFU, is making his third straight appearance on the all-academic roster, with a 3.64 GPA in economics.
