Martinez Earns Second First Team Academic All-District Honors
5/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 22, 2008
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Senior Diana Martinez (Medellin, Colombia/Nuestra Senora del Rosario) picked up one more award on Thursday afternoon in one of the most distinguished careers ever for a USC Upstate student-athlete, when CoSIDA announced that Martinez earned her second straight CoSIDA/ESPN: The Magazine All-Academic honors, finding a slot on the District 3 University Division At-Large First Team. The at-large category honors athletes from multiple sports, including golf, tennis, lacrosse, rifle, swimming & diving and field hockey.
Martinez will now be placed in the pool for Academic All-America honors, competing against the other first team selections in eight districts. The ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America program was put in place by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) to honor those student-athletes who excel in athletics and in the classroom. Franz earned First Team All-District honors on the University Division in District 3, which consists of all NCAA Division I institutions in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Virginia.
Martinez joins fellow senior tennis player, Sandy Franz (Duesseldorf, Germany/Berufskolleg Hilden) as the first athletes in Upstate history to earn two Academic All-District honors in their careers. Franz was a Second Team All-District 3 College Division selection as a junior while Martinez earned first team honors en route to a Second Team Academic All-America selection.
Martinez is the only athlete from the Atlantic Sun Conference honored on the Women's At-Large team and along with Furman's tennis player Laura Gioia, a second-team selection, is one of two players from South Carolina on the squad. Franz and Martinez join Luke Payne (Spartanburg, S.C./Spartanburg), a men's basketball player, as the second and third Upstate athletes to earn Academic All-District First Team honors this season. Softball player Vanessa Flores (Chino, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College) was a second-team selection.
USC Upstate is the only school in the Atlantic Sun Conference to post two female Academic All-District selections this season. Campbell, Florida Gulf Coast and Jacksonville have each had one female honoree. Overall, Upstate is currently tied for the lead with Mercer amongst all A-Sun schools with four Academic All-District selections.
Martinez, who finished her academic career with a flawless 4.0 GPA as an economics major, finished her athletic career as the school's all-time leader in singles wins (73), doubles wins (64) and combined wins (137). She finished this season at 20-6 in singles play, marking her second straight year with 20 wins, helping her become one of just three players in school history to win 20 matches in two straight years. She was the first tennis player in school history to earn Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week honors on Feb. 8, and helped Upstate to three NCAA Division II Regionals, one trip to the NCAA Division II National Tournament and the school's first Atlantic Sun Conference regular season conference championship in 2008.
In April, Martinez was rewarded for her impeccable academic record as the University of South Carolina Upstate Business and Economics School awarded her with the Marion McMillan Academic Excellence Award. The award goes to the business school's top student.
Upstate finished the year 17-3 overall and a perfect 11-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference to win the school's first Atlantic Sun Conference title. The Spartans, in their first year of Division I competition, are not eligible for postseason competition until 2010-11 as they are a provisional member of DI.
