May 3, 2012

Rachel Smith named to 2012 Capital One Academic All-District First Team, a Sage first!

The Sage Colleges' junior outfielder and pitcher Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane), a member of the softball team was named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District ® Softball Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, have been released to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for her combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

She becomes to the first Sage student-athlete to earn this distinction and will now move onto the national ballot for a chance to become a 2012 Capital One Academic All-America ® Softball Team member.

Smith's accomplishments at Sage this season have been widespread. She was named the recipient of the 2012 Gator of the Year Award as the team Most Valuable Player in softball last week, while also garnering a selection as the Female Athlete of the Year at Sage for her efforts during the 2011-2012 academic year. Earlier this week, she was also named to the 2012 Skyline Conference All-Star First Team in softball, another first-time feat for Sage.

On her 2012 season, she penned her name to Sage single-season records for home runs (8), at-bats (141), and runs scored (41). She is also a record holder as this year's team has played in more games than any other Sage squad with 41 appearances to her credit. For the year, Smith is batting .369 with 52 hits, including 12 doubles and 8 home runs. She has 35 RBIs with a. 638 slugging percentage. She has also turned a strong performance as a Sage pitcher. She is 11-8 with a 2.64 ERA in 98 innings of work with 72 strikeouts. She hit successfully in all but five games this season and had nine games with multiple RBIs, including a personal-best five RBIs in the Gators' 16-2 win over Skidmore. She was named to the 2012 Skyline Conference All-Star First Team and is also a candidate for the ECAC All-Star Team.

The Sage Colleges' softball team is anxiously awaiting the announcement of the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference Metro Softball Tournament field on May 7. The Gators are currently 26-15 on the year after finishing the season as the Skyline Conference Runner-up and earning the No. 2 seed in the league's tournament. Sage is among the teams in contention for the 2012 ECAC Division III Championship Tournament.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 3, 2012

Capital One Academic All-District ® Softball Teams Released

The 2012 Capital One Academic All-District ® Softball Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, have been released to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Capital One became the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA's Academic All-America teams programs in 2011.

The Academic All-District ® teams include the student-athletes listed on the following pages and are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the first year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moves from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non Division I) and doubles the number of scholar-athletes honored. The teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.

The Capital One Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2011-12 DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program.

First-team Academic All-District ® honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $122.2 billion in deposits and $197.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2010. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week. In 2010, Capital One launched the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men's and women's sports. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.

2012 Academic All-District

Softball Team

District 3

NCAA DIVISION III (NY)

FIRST TEAM

Pos. Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major

P Samantha Crose SKIDMORE Sr. Assonet, Mass. 3.77 Exercise Science

P Danielle Leone ST. JOHN FISHER Jr. Manchester, Conn. 3.67 History

C Carol Brown SKIDMORE Jr. Seattle, Wash. 3.99 Mathematics

IF Jessica Harman SUNY CORTLAND Sr. Penfield, N.Y. 3.84 Kinesiology

IF Abby Martin SUNY CORTLAND Sr. Oswego, N.Y. 3.61 Kinesiology

IF Gillian McCarthy RENSSELAER POLY. INST. Jr. Worthington, Ohio 3.92
Business / management