SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth swimmer Samantha Kephart has added another honor to her collection of awards. Kephart has been named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA At-large Academic All-District VIII College Division team.

Kephart, a senior from Santa Maria, California, is an Elementary Education and Special Education major with a 3.51 grade point average. Kephart was recently named Whitworth's Senior Women's Athlete of the Year.

The butterfly specialist led Whitworth's women to a Northwest Conference championship in February - ending a run of 11 straight conference titles by the University of Puget Sound. She then played a major role in the Pirate women finishing 10th at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships, the first top-ten finish by Whitworth's women at the NCAA championship meet. As a senior Kephart won NWC titles in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly races, finishing her career unbeaten at the NWC Championships in both events. She finished third in the 200 butterfly and fourth in the 100 butterfly at the NCAA Championships, the eighth and ninth All-America performances of her career. As a sophomore, Kephart won NCAA Division III championships in both the 100 and 200-yard butterfly races, setting an NCAA Division III record (2:00.15) in the 200 that still stands. She holds Northwest Conference records for both the 100 and 200 butterfly distances, and swam the anchor leg on Whitworth's 800-yard freestyle relay that also set a Northwest Conference record this season.

The ESPN The Magazine Men's and Women's Academic All-District VIII At-Large College Division teams included ten individuals selected from sports without their own specific Academic All-District teams, including swimming, tennis, water polo, gymnastics, golf, wrestling and skiing. The individuals are nominated by their institutions' sports information directors and the 10 selections are made by a subsequent vote of district SIDs. District VIII in the college divisions comprises all non-NCAA Division I institutions west of the Rocky Mountains.

This year marks the 57th year of the Academic All-America program. Over 15,000 students have been named Academic All-America team members at colleges and universities at all levels for every recognized NCAA sport.

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