HWS News
8 July 2021 • Athletics Two Named to Academic All-America Soccer Teams
Two Hobart and William Smith students were named to the 2020-21 Academic All-America Soccer teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
William Smith College senior defender Maialen Martinez was named to this year’s Academic All-America Women’s Soccer second team and Hobart College junior defender Charlie Widing earned a spot on the Academic All-America Men’s Soccer second team. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Heron Soccer team has had at least one Academic All-American. Additionally, this will be Widing’s second time as an Academic All-American after being selected for the third team in 2019.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.30 and have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at her current institution. Nominees are voted on by CoSIDA members in each of the nation’s eight districts, selecting 11 student-athletes to each district team. Academic All-District honorees advance to the national Academic All-America ballot.
Martinez graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in history and art history. She is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. The 2019 United Soccer Coaches Scholar Player of the Year is a two-time Liberty League All-Academic selection and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa this spring.
A two-year starter on defense, Martinez was named a first team All-American by D3soccer.com and the United Soccer Coaches in 2019. She was also tabbed the D3Soccer.com Defender of the Year and the Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year. She played a key role in the Herons’ defensive unit that was third in the nation in GAA and fifth in shutout percentage.
In program history, 14 Heron soccer players have secured 19 Academic All-America awards. Julie Perry ’89 was the program’s first Academic All-American, earning third team honors during the 1988 season.
Widing is the first Hobart soccer player to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American twice and is the first to be voted to the second team since Keenan Simons ’09 in 2008. In total three Statesmen soccer players have earned Academic All-America honors. Ricky Klotz ’05 was the first Statesman to earn Academic All-America honors, earning third team recognition in 2004.
A biochemistry and education double major, Widing is a two-time Academic All-District selection. He is also a two-time Liberty League All-Academic selection and is a teaching fellow for introductory chemistry courses, a role he will take on for the biology department next year. Widing is also an athletic study mentor for the soccer team.
A captain, Widing has played in 23 career games, starting 14. In 2019, he played a key role in Hobart’s defensive unit that finished 25th in the nation in shutout percentage (.524) and 34th in goals against average (0.78). The Statesmen defense pitched 10 shutouts on the season. As a sophomore, Widing was presented with the Arnold Memorial Scholar-Athlete Award and won the soccer team’s Geoffrey S. Perselay ’75 Award.
This summer, Widing earned a research internship in science and engineering from the German Academic Exchange Service. Widing was one of only 10 students selected nationwide to the program in Berlin.
Since the program’s inception in 1952, Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ student-athletes have earned 57 Academic All-America Awards.