Springfield, Ohio – Senior women’s lacrosse midfielder Francine Murzynski (Mentor, Ohio/Lake Catholic) has been recognized for the combination of her athletic and academic accomplishments with first-team Capital One Academic All-America College Division All-District 7 honors.
It is Murzynski’s second straight year with first-team academic all-district honors in the "Women's At-Large" category, which encompasses numerous sports, including field hockey, lacrosse, swimming and diving, golf and tennis, among others. The district awards are a result of online voting conducted recently by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Only student-athletes who make the first team in district voting can be considered for Academic All-America awards, which will be announced later this month.
Murzynski has played a key role in the Tigers’ unprecedented success the last three years as Wittenberg compiled records of 38-12 overall and 22-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season. The Tigers finished first in the NCAC regular season three straight seasons and were runners-up in the NCAC Tournament in 2012 and 2014.
In 2014, Murzynski ranked third on the team with career-highs in goals (41) and total points (68) and second in assists (24). She also ranked second in ground balls with 61 and led the team by a wide margin with a school-record 98 draw controls. For her career, Murzynski ranks sixth in goals (123), second in assists (74), third in total points (197), 11th in ground balls (186) and first by a wide margin in draw controls (266).
A two-year team captain, Murzynski ranked second in the NCAC and 31st nationally in draw controls per game (5.76) in 2014. She was a three-time first-team All-NCAC honoree, culminating with NCAC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2014, and she owns three all-region awards – second-team All-West Region in 2012 and first-team All-Great Lakes Region in 2013 and 2014. In 2013, Synapse Sports named Murzynski a third-team All-American.
Off the field, Murzynski is a business major who has volunteered at the Westcott House, a museum in Springfield originally built by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Service for Sight, Habitat for Humanity, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and 4Paws for Ability, a program that gives college students the opportunity to train service dogs. She has held several leadership positions in Delta Gamma sorority, including chapter president, and she has been inducted into numerous academic honoraries.
Written By: Ryan Maurer