Webber's Caitlyn Johnson named CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American

by Richard Baptist

Babson Park, Fla. (06/17/2020) — Caitlyn Johnson of the Webber International University women's bowling volleyball team was honored as a part of the 2019-20 Academic All-America NAIA Women's At-Large Second-Team as voted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Johnson was the only bowler player to be named either a first-team or second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, and becomes the first CoSIDA Academic All-American in program history for Webber.

Johnson lands among 10 student-athletes on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second-Team. Overall, only 21 players in the NAIA make up the CoSIDA Academic All-America NAIA Women's At-Large first and second teams. To be eligible, a player must have one complete season at their institution with a minimum career GPA of 3.3 and be a starter or key reserve. Despite the cancellation of spring competition during COVID-19, CoSIDA continued its sponsorship of the Academic All-America awards program. Student-athletes were selected based on career statistics.

Johnson is a native of Beaumont, Texas, who boasts a 3.75 grade point average in the integrated marketing communications program as a senior.

She has been named the International Bowling Media Association's (IBMA) Women's Collegiate Bowler of the Year in 2018 and in 2020, and was also the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association's (NCBCA) Most Valuable Women's Player in both 2018 and in 2020.

She is a three-time NCBCA First-Team All-America selection, was the NAIA Player of the Year in 2018, was the NAIA Rookie of the Year in 2017, and was a 2017-2018 NAIA First Team All-American.

She has made 18 career all-tournament teams and has been named tournament Most Valuable Player four times.

Johnson bowled in the anchor position at Webber all four years and was a team captain for three years. She was the silver medalist as the World Bowling Youth Championships in 2018 and was the runner-up at Junior Gold in 2017.

During her senior season in 2019-20, Johnson averaged more than 210 in nine events, which included six top-five individual finishes and a win at the Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational, a Tier I event on the USBC Collegiate schedule. Johnson led the nation in average differential (38.03) and paced all female competitors in Tier I average (215.9) and average differential (40.34).

In just her freshman year, Johnson helped her team to a runner-up finish in the 2016-2017 ITC National Championship competition. Johnson has averaged over 200 for her entire collegiate career, resulting in her having a top-5 average in three of those seasons as well.

Academic awards for Johnson from her time at Webber include being a four-time Academic All-American (NCBCA Scholar-Athlete Award) and being a two-year member of the Dean's List at Webber (junior and senior year).

Community service projects Johnson has spearheaded include leading her team to do the Lake Wales Kwana's Pancake Day the past two years, organizing the team's annual Bowl-A-Thom fundraiser for the past three years, and hosting various team bonding activities, including Secret Santa for the last three years.

The 2019-20 Academic All-America program, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America program separately recognizes soccer honorees in four divisions - NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

The at-large program for the Academic All-America program includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo for both men and women; bowling, crew and field hockey for women; and volleyball and wrestling for men.

The NAIA Academic All-America program is financially supported by the NAIA national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 NAIA Academic All-America teams.

For more information on the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, go tohttps://academicallamerica.com/.

Congrats again to Caitlyn Johnson on her terrific CoSIDA Academic All-America Second-Team recognition.

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