WALTHAM, Mass. – Following a standout career on the track and in the classroom, recent Bentley University graduate Stephanie Mattson (Smithfield, R.I./Smithfield HS) has earned one of college athletics' premier honors with selection by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) to the 2019 Google Cloud NCAA Division II Academic All-America Women's Track and Field/Cross Country second team.

Mattson is the third Falcon to receive Academic All-America honors during the 2018-19 academic year, following in the footsteps of Jack Hansbury (football) and Ryan Richmond (men's basketball). Not surprisingly, the three were the recipients of Bentley's year-end senior athlete awards.

Mattson, Bentley's Outstanding Female Senior Athlete and the university's nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year, concluded her career as the Falcons' school record holder in 13 events, including eight indoors. She made a change to the record book 36 times during her four seasons, with 14 of those coming during her senior year.

"For four years, Steph was the model of consistent excellence," said Bentley track coach Kevin Curtin. "She was a conference champ who rewrote our school record book in the jumps, short sprints and long sprints while achieving a near-perfect GPA in a double major. This award is richly deserved as the culmination of a stellar career here at Bentley."

Mattson, an 11-time USTFCCCA Division II All-East Region performer, captured her first Northeast-10 championship this spring with a distance of 18 feet, 4.5 inches (5.60m) in the long jump. Her resume also includes four NE10 second-place finishes and five All-New England awards.

Mattson graduated Summa Cum Laude with a spectacular 3.98 grade point average. An eight-time member of the President's List, she majored in both actuarial science and business studies.

Mattson, the first Falcon women's track athlete to earn Academic All-America honors since 2014 (Amy Varsell, Tara Dooley), is the 80th AAA in Bentley history.

CoSIDA Release