Six Vulcans named to Academic All-District Team

UH-Hilo Sports Information Academic All-District Team awardees include, from left in the top row, Alexis Lacy, Malia Risdall and Brandee Chinen; bottom row, Ryan Cho, James Yamasaki and Casey Yamauchi.
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GREENWOOD, Indiana — University of Hawai‘i at Hilo softball players Malia Risdall, Brandee Chinen and Alexis Lacy and baseball players Ryan Cho, Casey Yamauchi and James Yamasaki were named to the 2023 Academic All-District Team as selected and announced by College Sports Communicators.

The Academic All-District Team as selected by College Sports Communicators recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have played in at least 50 percent of the team’s games (or pitched 10.0 innings) with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and completed one full calendar year at their current institution.

Risdall and Chinen are departing seniors and have achieved cumulative GPAs of 3.67 and 3.51, respectively. Cho and Yamauchi are also departing seniors and received cumulative GPAs of 3.68 and 3.73, respectively. Yamasaki, a junior, earned a GPA of 3.85. Lacy, a sophomore, earned a GPA of 3.78.

Academic All-District Team honorees advance to the Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced June 7.

Founded in the mid 1950s, the highly regarded Academic All-America selected by College Sports Communicators program is regarded as the premier awards program in intercollegiate athletics for honoring combined academic and athletic excellence.

As CSC’s signature program, it has been presented a federal registration brand mark for “Academic All-America and Academic All-American” meaning that it is the sole organization that can refer to an awards program which includes that brand mark/name.