Emily Wandling becomes first Vixen since 2003 to be named Academic All-District

Less than two weeks after being named Second Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference, junior Emily Wandling became the first Sweet Briar student-athlete to earn Google Cloud Academic All-District honors in over 15 years.

Wandling (Mechanicsville, Va.) was named Google Cloud Academic All-District Women’s At-Large, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) after a strong 2019 season on the court and in the classroom boasting a cumulative grade point average of 3.99 in biochemistry and molecular biology.

The 2018-19 Google Cloud Academic All-District Women’s At-Large Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in the athletic realm and in the classroom. Nominees must be academically classified as sophomores or higher and hold a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher, while competing as a starter or as a significant reserve for their respective team. The At-Large Team consists of student-athletes from the following women’s sports: beach volleyball, bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis and water polo.

On the court, Wandling finished 2018-19 with a 7-4 record at No. 1 singles in ODAC action, while boasting a 13-8 overall record in singles play. Wandling finished the month of April undefeated at 7-0, with all victories coming in two-set matches.

A member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society and Iota Sigma Pi Chemistry Honor Society, Wandling also serves as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee vice president, student affiliate president of the American Chemical Society and in leadership roles in multiple on-campus organizations at Sweet Briar.

During the 2019 season, Wandling presented in Orlando, Fla., at the American Chemical Society Conference on the “Extraction of Betulin and Synthesis of Betulin Analogue.”

Wandling was recognized at Sweet Briar as the recipient of the 2018-19 Whiteman Award, presented to a student-athlete with a high scholastic average, sportsmanship and outstanding achievement in sport.

The last Sweet Briar student-athlete to be named by CoSIDA as an Academic All-District selection was volleyball student-athlete Briana Beckham in the fall of 2003. The spring of 2003 saw Carlota Stoevhase named Academic All-District, marking the last time a Sweet Briar tennis student-athlete was honored by CoSIDA.

Wandling was joined by fellow ODAC tennis players Lilli Altenburg of Lynchburg and Kristin Dantzler of Randolph-Macon as District 5 representatives on the CoSIDA Academic All-District NCAA Division III Women’s At-Large Team.

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America ballot. First, second and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in June.