Liermann collects CoSIDA's highest honor as one of four Academic All-Americans

By Jacob Knabel on Jun. 18, 2018 in Track & Field

CoSIDA release

SEWARD, Neb. – All four Bulldogs who were named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Men's and Women's Track & Field/Cross Country teams on May 29 were again honored on Monday (June 18) by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Just the second Concordia athlete ever to earn such a distinction, junior Samantha Liermann garnered the Google Cloud Academic All-America® of the Year award. Teammates Emily Deschaine (second team), Scott Johnson (first team) and Josiah McAllister (second team) joined Liermann as Google Cloud Academic All-America® honorees out of the College Division.

The Google Cloud Academic All-America® College Division Track & Field/Cross Country Teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions. The teams are released to recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. For more information about the Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit http://cosida.com.

Concordia has now had an Academic All-America® of the Year winner for the second year in a row. Chandler Folkerts received the same award in 2016-17 for the sport of men’s basketball. Liermann continues to rack up accolades as one of the NAIA’s elite throwers. Also sporting a near perfect grade point average, Liermann won the 2018 NAIA indoor shot put title and then placed as the shot put national runner up at the outdoor championships. She swept GPAC indoor and outdoor shot put championships this past season. Liermann also broke the school record in the shot put with her performance at the outdoor national championships. She is majoring in recreation and sport studies and business administration.

Deschaine, a native of Frankenmuth, Mich., concluded a stellar cross country career this past fall. She earned GPAC all-conference honors for the third-straight year courtesy of a sixth-place finish at the GPAC championships. She qualified for the national championships for the third time and placed 131st in a race that took place in Vancouver, Wash. Deschaine has also been an NAIA Scholar-Athlete as a junior and senior. She qualified for the 2015 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter runs. Deschaine graduated with degrees in secondary education, English and music.

Johnson, who hails from Kansas City, Kan., qualified for both the indoor and outdoor national championships in 2018. A two-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete, Johnson enjoyed one of the biggest thrills of his career when he won the GPAC triple jump title at the 2018 indoor conference meet. Johnson ranks inside the top three on the program’s all-time lists for the indoor and outdoor long jump and triple jump. Johnson has six career all-conference awards. He graduated with degrees in biology and chemistry.

A junior from Atkinson, Neb., McAllister helped the men’s 4x400 meter relay to a season best performance at last week’s NAIA outdoor national championships. A three-time national qualifier, McAllister has been a big contributor on the conference level. In 2018, he placed second in the 800 meters at the GPAC outdoor championships and third in the one mile at the conference indoor meet. An NAIA Scholar-Athlete and son of former Concordia football offensive coordinator Bill McAllister, Josiah is on a pre-medicine track.

2017-18 Academic All-District Honorees
*Emily Deschaine, Cross Country / Track & Field
*Scott Johnson, Track & Field
*Philly Lammers, Basketball
*Hallick Lehmann, Football
*Samantha Liermann, Track & Field
*Nick Little, Baseball
*Josiah McAllister, Track & Field
*Academic All-American