Three PBC Women's Soccer Players Named Academic All-American

AUGUSTA, GA -- A record three Peach Belt Conference women’s soccer players have been named Academic All-Americans by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Georgia College & State University’s Beth Coughlin and Armstrong Atlantic State’s Kristin Burton and Ashley Elam were all selected third-team Academic All-Americans, an award widely regarded as the most prestigous a student-athlete can recieve. The PBC has never had three women’s soccer players named Academic All-American and the selections are the first for the conference since Clayton State’s Olaitan Yusuf was placed on the 2005 team.

Coughlin is the first GCSU women’s soccer player to be named Academic All-American. A junior nursing major, she has a perfect 4.0 GPA, naturally tops among all GCSU student-athletes. Coughlin started all 18 contests, leading the team with eight assists and finishing third on the squad with 12 points. Her assist total also ranked fifth in the PBC. The highlight of her season came in a 5-4 barnburner at Clayton State University, scoring the game-winning goal with less than three minutes left.

Burton and Elam are also the first AASU women’s soccer players to be placed on the team. A senior from Valdosta, Ga., Elam carries a perfect 4.00 GPA in biology for the Pirates. A transfer from Darton JC in 2006, Elam has played in all 20 matches this season as a defensive midfielder and 41 matches in two seasons with AASU. She recorded one assist this season and four total in her career and during last year’s PBC Championship match, Elam converted on a penalty kick to help keep the match alive.

Sophomore Kristin Burton joins Elam on the Academic All-America team as a forward, carrying a 3.74 GPA in health science. The 2006 PBC Freshman and Player of the Year, Burton bettered her freshman numbers by leading the Peach Belt in goals with 23 and in points with 54. She ranks seventh in NCAA Division II in points per game (2.75) and 10th in goals per game (1.15) and has also earned All-PBC, All-PBC Tournament and Daktronics All-Southeast Region honors this season. A native of Ocala, Fla., Burton becomes the first sophomore in AASU history to earn Academic All-America honors regardless of sport.

The duo join AASU volleyball player Traci Knuth (2006) as the only female student-athletes in AASU history to earn ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, and it is also the first time in Pirate history that two players from one sport have earned the honor in the same season.

Ashley Elam	Kristin Burton	Beth Couglin