Published: November 01, 2009 01:47 am      

SHSU goalkeeper earns spot on academic all-district team

Sam Houston State goalkeeper Jenny Pence earned a spot on the 2009 College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) Academic All-District VI women’s soccer first team.

The junior from Kingwood is one of only 37 student-athletes from NCAA Division I universities in the states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi to receive the honor. Only first-team selections from the eight districts of CoSIDA are eligible for selection to the 2009 Academic All-America squad.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America selections in all sports is the NCAA’s official national academic award for excellence both on the field and in the classroom. To be nominated, an individual must have an overall grade point average of 3.20 or higher on a four-point scale.

Pence is in her third season as the Bearkats’ starting goalkeeper. She has posted a 1.71 goals-against average and produced six shutouts during the 2009 regular season, which wraps up at home today at 1 p.m. with a game against Northwestern State.

Twice this fall she has been named as Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Week.

Only a junior, Pence already holds Sam Houston school records for most career shutouts (17) and best career goals against average (1.65). She also holds school season records for most shutouts (8), fewest goals allowed (16), consecutive scoreless minutes in goal (578) and most goalkeeper victories in a season (9).

In the classroom, she holds a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a biology major.

“Jenny truly is a leader for this team,” Sam Houston State head coach Tom Brown said. “This is a tremendous honor for Sam Houston State, Jenny and her team.”