(SR, St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park HS) became the first Augsburg College women's swimming and diving student-athlete ever to be named to the Capital One Academic All-America Division III Women's At-Large Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), as she was named as a second-team selection on Tuesday.
Bier, who was named to the
Capital One Academic All-District squad in May, is the third Auggie to earn Capital One Academic All-America honors this school year, joining football players Chad Thompson (SR, Maple Grove, Minn.) and Chris DeVet (JR, Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS), who were
both named to the second team in football in December. Augsburg student-athletes have been honored 29 times with CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since 1981, including 16 since 2005.
Bier is a physics and chemistry major with a 4.00 grade-point average. She is planning to continue her academic career in the Ph.D program in medical physics at Duke University, and has been accepted to a summer research program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology through Augsburg's Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) department.
Bier ended her career as one of the top backstrokers in Augsburg's women's swimming and diving history. At the
2014 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships, Bier set school records in the 100-yard backstroke (1:05.78) and 200-yard backstroke (2:22.54), while also swimming backstroke legs of two medley relay school-record squads -- the 200-yard medley (1:58.53) and 400-yard medley (4:21.81). She placed 22nd as an individual in the 100-yard backstroke and 27th in the 200-yard backstroke at the MIAC Championships, while both relay squads placed ninth. She was part of an Auggie squad that had its best finish ever at the MIAC Championships in both its team finish (ninth) and point total (115).
Bier holds six of the top-10 times in school history in the 100-yard backstroke, seven of the top-10 times in the 200-yard backstroke and four of the top-10 times in the 50-yard backstroke, while she is also a part of six top-10 relay times in school history.
The
Capital One Academic All-America program is administered by the
College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Top student-athletes, who have already earned Academic All-District first-team honors, are eligible for inclusion on the Academic All-America team. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their current institutions, have a grade-point average above 3.30 (4.0 scale) and have outstanding athletic credentials. The Academic All-America ballot is voted on by a committee of CoSIDA members. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in NCAA Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
The Capital One Division III Academic All-America program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2013-14 Division III Academic All-America teams program. This is the third year of the expanded Academic All-America program, as CoSIDA has moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I), doubling the number of scholar-athletes honored. The teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools. First-team Academic All-District members advance to the Academic All-America ballot, voted on by a committee of CoSIDA members.
Capital One has been the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA's Academic All-America programs since 2011. An NCAA Corporate Champion, Capital One began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot team, Capital One Academic All Program, and supports all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.
Augsburg College's All-Time CoSIDA Academic All-Americans:Elianna Bier, women's swimming and diving (women's at-large), 2014 (second team)
Chad Thompson, football, 2013 (second team)
Chris DeVet, football, 2013 (second team)
Bri Dorale, softball, 2013 (first team)
Chad Thompson, football, 2012 (first team)
Tony Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2012 (first team)
Tony Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2011 (first team)
Alex Hildebrandt, men's soccer, 2009 (second team)
Alex Hildebrandt, men's soccer, 2008 (third team)
Nick Manders, men's soccer, 2007 (second team)
Andrew Neumann, football, 2006 (second team)
Ryan Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2006 (first team)
Riley Conway, men's track and field/cross country, 2005 (second team)
Mark Matzek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2005 (first team)
Ryan Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2005 (third team)
Darren Ginther, baseball, 2005 (first team)
Brent Peroutka, football, 2001 (second team)
Josh Cagle, wrestling (men's at-large), 2000 (first team)
Brian Jones, wrestling (men's at-large), 2000 (second team)
Josh Cagle, wrestling (men's at-large), 1999 (second team)
Jim Peterson, wrestling (men's at-large), 1999 (second team)
Scott Hvistendahl, football, 1998 (second team)
Ted Schultz, football, 1997 (first team)
Scott Hvistendahl, football, 1997 (second team)
Dan Lewandowski, wrestling (men's at-large), 1997 (second team)
Andrea Haight, softball, 1991 (second team)
Karen Sterner, track and field (women's at-large), 1987 (second team)
Karen Sterner, track and field (women's at-large), 1986 (first team)
Paul Elliot, football, 1981 (only one team selected)
(Note: This release includes information taken from the CoSIDA Academic All-District release and previous Augsburg Academic All-America news releases.)
