Knapton Claims CoSIDA All-District Honor

Nebraska diver Abigail Knapton added another award to her senior season hardware haul, when the Omahan was voted a first-team Academic All-America All-District 7 selection by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday, July 8.

Knapton, a six-time All-American and Nebraska’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year in 2021, will advance to the national ballot for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in the At-Large division. The 2021 Big Ten Conference Diver of the Meet after winning conference titles on both the one-meter springboard and the platform events, was also Nebraska’s Best Female Athlete award winner across all sports as a fifth-year senior.

A four-time first-team CSCAA Scholar All-American and a four-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Knapton was an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 2021. Nebraska’s Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient, Knapton was also the only woman to advance to the final eight in both the three-meter springboard and the platform events at the U.S. Olympic Diving Team Trials in Indianapolis this summer.

Knapton, who graduated in May with a 3.93 grade-point average as a psychology major, will have a chance to become just the third women’s swimmer or diver in Husker history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, joining 2000 first-teamer Courtney Jensen (diver) and 2019 second-team Lindsay Helferich (swimmer).

The most decorated diver in Nebraska history, Knapton was a four-time first-team All-American on platform – the only four-time first-team All-American in any single event in Husker women’s swimming and diving history. The Omaha Marian graduate added first-team honors on the three-meter springboard in 2021 and an honorable-mention All-America award on the three-meter in 2019. 

Knapton was joined on the CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 At-Large team by Husker women’s golfer Kate Smith. Also a May 2021 Husker graduate, Smith was the 2021 Big Ten Conference individual champion, leading Nebraska to a conference runner-up finish. After leading the Huskers to their best conference team finish since 1984, Smith helped power the United States to a team victory in the annual the Arnold Palmer Cup in June. In addition to being the first Husker in history to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup, Smith was also the first Husker to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship. 

A two-time WGCA Scholar All-American and two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Smith was the Big Ten’s Mary Fossum Award winner in 2020 and a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America first, second and third teams in the At-Large division will be announced in early August.