⚽️ Childers Named College Sports Communicators Second Team Academic All-American

AUSTIN, Texas — Kansas super-senior midfielder Rylan Childers was named a Second-Team Academic All-American as selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC) on Tuesday. Childers is only the second KU women’s soccer student-athlete in program history to be voted to a CSC Academic All-America team, joining Caroline Smith who earned the honor both in 2004 and 2005.

“Rylan truly exemplifies what it means to be an Academic All-American student-athlete,” Head Coach Mark Francis said. “She consistently has been a major impact player on the field for us, while performing at the highest level in the classroom. We are so proud of her on how she has represented our program, the athletic department, and the University of Kansas.”

Childers has posted a 3.93 cumulative GPA during her college career and will graduate this month with a degree in elementary education. On the pitch this season, Childers had seven goals and six assists, which tied her for the most points on the team with 20. Her six assists were the most on the team and her seven goals were second-most.

“When you think of what it means to be a Jayhawk student-athlete, Rylan Childers exceeds those expectations,” Associate Director of Academic & Career Counseling Denesha McCuin said. “Rylan takes extreme pride in her academic endeavors and always looks for opportunities to get better.”

Childers was one of two Big 12 women’s soccer student-athletes to be selected to a CSC Academic All-America team. She is also the first Jayhawk in any sport to be on a CSC Academic All-America team since 2018 when Hussain Al Hizam from the track & field team was a recipient. Childers’ recognition marks the 95th occasion that a KU student-athlete has received the honor.

To be nominated for the Academic All-America teams, student-athletes must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.50, be at least a sophomore athletically and academically with a year in residence at the school and appear in 50 percent of all contests. Recipients of the award are voted on by current dues-paying members of College Sports Communicators, members of the Academic All-America Core Committee, the Academic All-America Hall of Fame Committee, the Executive Board of Directors and CSC national staff. The award aims to recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.

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