UAB’s McCarty Named Third-Team Academic All-American

UAB women’s soccer player Briana McCarty was named to the 2003 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team on Monday, Nov. 24, as the University Division of the prestigious annual awards were released by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

“Briana is one of the best defenders in our conference and she is also an outstanding student,” said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. “She helped lead our team to the conference championship this season and she was also able to maintain a 3.95 GPA, and that exemplifies what college athletics is all about.”

McCarty, the Blazers’ junior defender from Lawrenceville, Ga., owns a stellar 3.95 grade point average in psychology and is one of only eight non-seniors to be named to the Academic All-America Team. She is a three-time member of the C-USA Honor Roll and was awarded with the conference’s Academic Medal of Honor a year ago.

A First-Team All-C-USA member, McCarty anchored UAB’s record-setting defense and started in all 19 matches of the 2003 season. She tallied two game-winning goals from her defensive position and added a pair of key assists for a total of six points on the year. McCarty currently ranks third on UAB’s all-time assist record (21) and only needs to record five more to surpass former Blazer great Monica Bagley.

“We are extremely proud of Briana and she joins a very distinguished list of Academic All-Americans that we have had in the last few years,” Harbin said. “It’s good to see her achieve her goals and it is also good to see that the tradition is continuing here at UAB.”

McCarty is the fourth Blazer to garner Academic All-America honors since 1999. On Monday, she joined an elite list comprised of former UAB players: Lisa Nowoslawski (2001 and 2002) Denise Peters (2001) and Vanessa Woodward (1999 and 2001).

The UAB women’s soccer team finished the 2003 campaign as the Conference USA regular-season champions and registered a school-record 13 victories. The Blazers concluded the season with an impressive 13-5-1 overall record and were ranked as high as eighth in the NSCAA Southeast Regional rankings.