Athletes honored by ESPN The Magazine

Soccer players Ashley Meirick (‘10), Dani Meirick (‘12) and Adam Pyzdrowski (‘10) were all named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII as first-team and third-team selections. Sisters Ashley and Dani were placed in the third-team selection, while Pyzdrowski earned first-team selection, which is chosen from eight regions and then moves onto the Academic All-American ballot.

This is an annual award sponsored by ESPN The Magazine and the College Sports Information Directors of America. The award is presented to student-athletes who excel both in the classroom and on the field of competition. They must maintain a grade point average of 3.20 or greater and be a major contributer to their soccer team. Sports information directors nominate and vote on the athletes selected. Forty-eight Luther student-athletes have earned previous Academic All-America honors.

Each fall, 33 student-athletes from District VII are recognized as either a first, second or third-team all-district honoree, including student-athletes from the NCAA II, III and NAIA.

Ashley and Dani Meirick have started every match this season and helped lead Luther to the 2009 Iowa Conference championship. Luther’s 2009 title was its fourth in school history and first since 2004. The Norse entered the Iowa Conference Tournament as the #1 seed after posting a regular season record of 6-1-1, 10-6-2 overall.

Ashley, a two-time second-team all-conference performer, has started every game as a defender and has been credited with one assist. She also played a major role on a Luther defensive unit that posted eight consecutive shutouts.

Dani, a first-team all-conference and third-team all-region forward last season, leads the Norse in scoring. Dani has tallied 13 goals and added three assists for a point total of 29.

Pyzdrowski completed the 2009 soccer season leading the Norse in scoring. He produced six goals and added three assists for a total of 15 points. His six goals increased his career total to 30, ranking 10th on Luther’s all-time list. Pyzdrowski was one of 11 players named to the All-District VII first team that included student-athletes from the NCAA II, III and NAIA, and is also a three-time Iowa Conference academic all-conference honoree (3.5 gpa or higher), accumulating a grade point average of 3.88.