Merle Bublitz became the sixth Academic All-American in the history of Morningside’s women’s soccer program.

Merle Bublitz, a junior forward from Burgwedel, Germany, was named to the 2017 College Division Academic All-America Women’s Soccer First Team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Bublitz has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with majors in biology and mathematics.

Bublitz is the sixth Academic All-American for the Mustangs’ women’s soccer program since 2006, of which five have been first-team selections.

Bublitz was the Mustangs’ leading scorer this season with 12 goals and eight assists for 32 points. She scored the game winning goal in two of the Mustangs’ eight victories.

She is the ninth leading scorer in Morningside history with 22 career goals and 62 career points. She is 10th in the Mustangs’ record book with 18 career assists.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America College Division Teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.  Athletes must be of at least sophomore academic status, be a starter or significant reserve, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher to be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.

Morningside produced 69 Academic All-Americans between 2010 and 2017 for the fifth highest total in the nation among all divisions of intercollegiate athletics and the Mustangs’ all-time total of 83 Academic All-Americans is the highest figure for any school in the NAIA.

Click here for the complete 2017 College Division Academic All-America Women’s Soccer Team.