Three Horizon League soccer players honored on NSCAA Scholar All-America teams

Dec. 19, 2006

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INDIANAPOLIS -- In a soccer season that saw the Horizon League soccer teams compete with the nation's elite on the field, three League players also earned recognition for their effort in the classroom as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Scholar All-America Teams were announced on Monday (Dec. 18). University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior defender Ginny Graczyk (Second-Team) and University of Detroit Mercy senior Mary Parker (Third-Team) were honored on the women's side, while UWM senior backliner Billy Meier (Second-Team) was honored on the men's list.

Graczyk, who owns a 3.87 grade-point average as a health sciences/psychology major, played every minute of every game for a UWM defense that posted a school-standard 16 shutouts and ranked fourth in the nation with a program-best 0.44 goals-against average. The two-time First-Team Academic All-District V selection earned First-Team All-League honors for the third time in 2006 after helping the Panthers to the regular-season League title with an unblemished 7-0-0 loop ledger.

Graczyk adds this award to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN The Magazine Second-Team Academic All-America, NSCAA All-Great Lakes First-Team, NSCAA Scholar All-Central Region First-Team, Soccer Buzz All-Great Lakes Region First-Team and Soccer Buzz All-America Second-Team credits she has already earned this off-season.

Parker earned Horizon League Player of the Year accolades this fall, pacing the conference in goals (17) and points (40). It marked the second time in her career she earned the honor (the first coming in 2004) and she also became only the fourth player to earn First-Team All-League honors in four consecutive seasons. Parker paced the Titans to the final match of this year's League Championship, and either scored or set up 23 of the team's 29 goals in 2006. Her 111 career points (47 goals and 17 assists) rank sixth on the all-time League charts.

Parker also was selected to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team First Team after posting a 3.80 grade-point average in chemistry and pre-med. She won the Horizon League's Scholar-Athlete of the Week award on three occasions and finished third in the vote for CoSIDA National Player of the Year, behind Heather O'Reilley, a U.S. National Team forward from the University of North Carolina, and Lizzie Barnes, a goalie for the U.S. Naval Academy.

Meier, a Second-Team NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-America, earns another academic honor after being tabbed to the Second-Team COSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America and to the Horizon Academic All-League Team.

Meier was the League's Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, anchoring a Panther unit that posted six shutouts and a 1.07 goals-against average en route to a 8-9-1 record. UWM tied for third place in the loop standings with a 4-2-1 League mark, aided by Meier's efforts which garnered First-Team All-League recognition. He also tied for second place on the team charts with three goals (two match-winners) and added two helpers for eight points. Meier owns a 3.79 GPA in his studies as a business major.

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The NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-America Teams can be found on the PDF version of this release.