Riitta Schaublin joined an elite group of University of Minnesota Duluth student-athletes today when the junior goaltender became just the eighth Bulldog to secure ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Shaublin was a second team pick on the Women's At-Large Team, which is comprised of NCAA Division I athletes from all sports with the exception of volleyball, track and cross country, softball and basketball.
A native of Basel, Switzerland, Schaublin earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from UMD this past May while maintaining a 3.94 cumulative grade point average and will begin pursuing her Master's degree in mathematics this fall. This past season, she was chosen as the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Student-Athlete of the Year (the second Bulldog in as many years to be so honored) in addition to receiving WCHA All-Academic Team recognition for a second straight season.
On the ice, Schaublin posted a 20-9-3 record in 2005-06 to go with a stingy 1.59 goals against average and a .941 saves percentage (whcih ranked second on the NCAA I charts) en route to being named at Top 3 Finalist for the prestigious Patty Kazmaier Award as the most outstanding player in women's college hockey. She was also tabbed as an All-American first team selection by by the American College Hockey Association and USCHO.com as well as being a member of the All-WCHA first teammer.
Schaublin, who served as a team co-captain with the 2005-06 Bulldogs, owns UMD career records for both wins (she is 52-23-6 in 78 lifetime appearances) and saves (2,039 saves -- the 12th highest figure in NCAA I history).
A complete listing of previous UMD Academic All-America honorees is as follows:
Name Sport YearNate Beerling Cross Country/Track 2004-05 (First Team)
2003-04 (Second Team)
Lindsey Dietz Women's Basketball 2005-06 (First Team)
2004-05 (First Team)
2003-04 (Second Team)
Heather Hamilton Cross Country/Track 2004-05 (First Team)
2003-04 (First Team)
2002-03 (Third Team)
Katie Huntley Cross Country/At-Large 1999-2000 (Third Team)
Track/At-Large 1999-2000 (Second Team)
Caroline Oullette Hockey/At-Large 2004-05 (Third Team)
Riitta Schaublin Hockey/At-Large 2005-06 (Second Team)
Jeff Scissons Hockey/At-Large 1999-2000 (First Team)
Dan Schroyer Track/At-Large 1999-2000 (Third Team)
