Hughes and Graskey named First Team Academic All-District

St. Scholastica senior volleyball student-athlete Nikki Hughes and senior football student-athlete Sean Graskey have each been named First Team Division III College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/Capital One Academic All-District 6 selections.

Hughes is a former Northwestern Tiger and Graskey a former Superior Spartan.

Hughes, who was a second team all-district selection in 2010, earns first team academic honors for the first time. A Nursing major, Hughes carries a 3.93 cumulative grade-point-average and has been named to the Dean’s List all six previous semesters. Recently, Hughes was named honorable mention All-UMAC and was named the UMAC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She leads the team with 451 digs this season and is only 17 digs away from 1,500 for her career.

Graskey becomes the first CSS football player to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors. At linebacker, Graskey leads the team with 89 tackles, including 13 for a loss. He has been named to the D3football.com Team of the Week twice this season and has a conference-best six forced fumbles. Graskey majors in Communications and carries a 3.54 cumulative GPA.

With both being selected to the region’s academic first team they are now eligible for the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

The CoSIDA/Capitol One Academic Teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

St. Scholastica is included in District 6 and includes NCAA Division III institutions from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

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