Brandenburg named to Academic All-District squad

Emily Brandenburg, a senior defender and goalkeeper on the Francis Marion University women's soccer team, has been named to the first-team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District III Team.

A native of Martinez, Ga., Brandenburg has compiled a perfect 4.00 grade point average as a political science major.  She was one of only four non-ACC student-athletes on the 11-player first team.

On the playing field, she appeared in all 16 matches this past season for the Patriots and made 10 starts.  She played five matches in goal, making four starts, and recorded a 3.25 goals against average with 28 saves.  She also played in the field as a defender in 12 matches, including six starting roles.

In addition to playing soccer, Brandenburg is a member of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority, and is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Chi Alpha Sigma (national college athlete) honor societies.  Next week, she will be inducted into Phi Kappa Phi honor society.

She has served as head delegate for National Model United Nations China, and is a member of the Student Leadership Advisory Board.  She has been involved with FMU's Campus Outreach, the College Republicans, and the Honors Student Association; been a University Marshall and an Orientation Leader; and was named Miss Congeniality at the 2007 Miss FMU Pageant.  She has been named to both the Peach Belt Conference Presidential and FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic honor rolls each of the last three years.

She completed an internship in the United States Senate during the spring of 2009.  A current resident of West Columbia, she was named the 2009 South Carolina Cherry Blossom Princess and represented the state in the 97th-annual national Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington during March.

She represented Francis Marion as an honors student ambassador to Germany in 2007.

She was selected to the second-team 2008 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District III Team following her junior year.  That season, she appeared in 16 matches in goal, making 13 starts.  She registered a 2.16 goal against average, while posting three shutouts and a 5.1 saves per match average that ranked 89th among all NCAA Division I goalkeepers.

Her career totals include 44 matches played and a 2.53 GAA (in goal) with 123 saves.

She is a graduate of Lakeside High School in Augusta, Ga., where she was a first-team All-Area selection on the soccer field.

The Academic All-District Teams program honors male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by the College Sports Information Directors of America. District III includes Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and North and South Carolina.
        To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, and have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at her current institution.

    Emily Brandenburg