CoSIDA Announcement

CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M's Valda Kabia and Nele Heinrich were named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans for a second time on Wednesday morning. 
 
To be eligible for the honor, student-athletes must maintain at least a 3.3 cumulative grade point average and not be in their first year at their respective institution. The Lady Buffs were the only school from the Lone Star Conference with multiple student-athletes named to the first, second or third team. 
 
Kabia becomes the third Lady Buff in program history to be named a First Team Academic All-American twice in a career joining Emma Love and Bri Leeper. The Richmond, British Columbia native earned All-American honors for a fifth time in her career at the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships as she anchored the 4x100-meter relay to a third-place finish. 
 
She concluded her career as the program record holder in the indoor and outdoor 200-meter dash. She was also named the Lone Star Conference Indoor Track & Field Academic Athlete of the Year in 2019 along with being named the outstanding female athlete of the championship after winning three events. 
 
Heinrich, a sprinter Guben, Germany, earned Second Team Academic All-American honors for the second straight year after completing her eligibility in May helping the Lady Buffs to their third Lone Star Conference Outdoor Track & Field title. 
 
During her four-year career in Canyon, Heinrich earned All-American honor three times including twice as the Lady Buffs won the 2018 NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championship over Western Colorado and Lincoln. She is also the program record holder in the indoor 400-meters.