Two Wittenberg omen soccer players, sophomore Nicole Karavakis and senior Kate Burns, were recently awarded the All-Academic Ohio Award. The awards are given to 
those soccer players who perform well within the classroom and have a large impact on the field.
Within the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association (OCSA) teams, Karavakis and Burns were both selected for the Division III collegiate soccer teams.
“I missed nearly half the 2015 fall season because of the knee injury that led to surgery, so it feels great to be recognized by the OCSA as someone who made a significant contribution to the team while I was able to play,” Karavakis said. “I also feel honored to be recognized for my academics, because along with soccer, it’s something I continually work at to be the best I can be.”
These awards are distributed across the state of Ohio by the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association in Division I, Division II, NAIA and Division III schools. The awards are also divided into the category of first team, second team and third team. In order to be nominated for this award, there are requirements that the soccer player must meet. They must have a 3.2 GPA, and they must play half the season.
“I managed academics and sport in the same way everyone else on the team did: getting homework done before home games, doing homework on bus rides to and from away games, and doing homework in hotel rooms if we ever had to stay the night somewhere for an away game. Because of everyone’s hard work, we were able to be awarded the Team Academic Award from the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America),” Karavakis said.
Even though these women were selected for the Division III team, the award does not ask them to play with or against each other. The selected members are just listed as receiving an accolade.
