Alabama Gymnastics Has Two Earn a Place on the CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large First Team

The Alabama gymnastics duo of Mackenzie Brannan and Keely McNeer have earned a place on the CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large First Team it was announced Thursday.

“We are so proud of Mack and Keely,” UA head coach Dana Duckworth said. “This is an amazing honor, one that is so hard to earn. To have two of our ladies earn first-team recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication that they have put into both their gymnastics and their academic pursuits.”

It is Brannan's second-consecutive Academic All-America honor and the first for McNeer. The at-large team spans the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo, bowling, field hockey and rowing.

Brannan and McNeer both carry 4.0 grade point averages. Brannan is a four-time All-American who has also earned a pair of NCAA regional titles while pursuing a psychology degree. A two-time All-American, McNeer is earning a degree in chemical engineering at the Capstone.

Alabama was the only school to put two student-athletes on the first team and one of eight schools to have two more honorees in 2017. At least one Crimson Tide gymnast has earned a place on the women's at-large team in nine of the last 10 years and Alabama gymnasts have earned Academic All-America honors 22 times since 1987.

In addition to Brannan and McNeer, Alabama’s put four men – swimmers Anton McKee, Connor Oslin, Pavel Romanov and Luke Kaliszak – on the at-large team, giving the Crimson Tide six overall honorees, the most in the nation this year. Over the last four years, the Tide’s men and women have earned at-large honors an NCAA-best 21 times with the next closest school tallying 13 honors.

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at her current institution.