Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: February 7, 2008

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MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/07/08)-- Concordia standout senior Melanie Hageman (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South HS) were named to the prestigious ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team First Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) it was announced on Thursday.

It is the second straight year for Hageman to earn Academic All-District honors. Last year she was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team. Because of her first team award, Hageman will now be placed on the ballot for Academic All-American honors.

Hageman was one of only three men's or women's players from the MIAC to earn Academic All-District First Team honors. Concordia men's basketball player Luke Linz (Watkins, Minn./Eden-Valley Watkins HS)was one of the other two giving Concordia two of the three first team selections.

Concordia is one of only two schools in the entire nation in the College Division to have both a men's and women's player earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team honors.

Academically, Hageman carries a 3.79 grade point average and is majoring in Biology. The honor is given to athletes in the College Division of the Academic All-American award. The College Division includes players from NCAA Division II, III and NAIA from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana schools. Sophomores, juniors and seniors are eligible to be nominated. Student-athletes must have a grade-point average above 3.20 (4.0 scale) and have outstanding athletic credentials. College sports information directors in the district vote for the teams.

Hageman was named to the D3hoops.com All-West Region Second Team the past two seasons and is a two-time MIAC All-Conference First Team selection.

She currently leads the team in scoring and is second in the MIAC in scoring with a 17.5 points per game average this season in the team's 17 league games.

Hageman is fourth on the school's all-time scoring list and has 1,528 career points. She is only the fifth player in program history to break the 1,500-point barrier for her a career. She also has 639 career rebounds and is the 10th player in school history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds.

In 2007-08, Hageman has scored in double figures in all but one of the team's 20 games. She has scored at least 20 points in six games and had a season-high 27 points gainst St. Kate's on Dec. 8. She was also named the MIAC Player of the Week on Jan. 15.

The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team is part of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America program, administered by CoSIDA a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The Academic All-America program annually honors over 1600 student-athletes who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom.