SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth swimmer Samantha Kephart has added perhaps the final jewel to her crown of considerable accomplishments over her four year career. Kephart is a Third Team selection to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America Women's At-large College Division team, which was announced today.

Kephart, from Santa Maria, California, was an Elementary Education and Special Education major who graduated this spring with a 3.51 grade point average (through Jan Term). 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-America At-Large College Division teams include 30 individuals selected from sports without their own specific Academic All-District teams, including swimming, tennis, water polo, gymnastics, golf, wrestling and skiing. The individuals were selected from among 80 Academic All-District winners from around the country who were nominated by their institutions' sports information directors and selected by a subsequent vote of district SIDs.

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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