Eastern Mennonite University women’s basketball player Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) has been named the Academic All-American® of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Also the two-time Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete, Rheinheimer combined 19.5 points and 6.8 rebounds a game with her 3.95 GPA in the classroom. A versatile 5-10 forward, she was one of the top shooters in the ODAC again this year, hitting 47.1% of her field goal attempts and 33.6% from three-point range. She connected on 82.6% of her free throws.
The senior impressively balanced a stellar GPA with her efforts on the basketball court, despite studying in EMU’s highly-respected nursing program. A member of EMU’s Student Nurses Association, she also studied in Honduras as part of the school’s cross cultural program.
She was named preseason All-American First Team by multiple publications and is a finalist for the WBCA Good Works® team. Rheinheimer won the Jostens Award last spring, becoming only the second junior ever to win the national award based on excellence on the court, in the classroom and in the community. She also is the first woman to ever win both the ODAC Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete awards twice.
Rheinheimer will graduate as the No. 3 scorer in Eastern Mennonite history, finishing with 1,567 points. The forward is also No. 11 all-time in rebounding, with 646 rebounds.
She helped the Royals to some of the best seasons in program history, including a run of three straight NCAA National Tournament appearances.
This is the 11th time an Eastern Mennonite student-athlete has been named to an Academic All-America® Team, including last year when both Rheinheimer and women’s cross country/track & field runner Hannah Chappell-Dick (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) earned spots. This is the first time an EMU athlete has been named the Academic All-American® of the Year.
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