Just one day after receiving College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America honors, Illinois State senior Tiffany DeClark was named a Valley Scholar-Athlete in womens soccer for the third year in a row. She carries a 3.95 GPA in Public Relations.
Tiffanys had a great career on and off the field, head coach Pete Kowall said. Shes worked hard academically and Im sure shell be successful when she graduates in May. Well be sorry to see her go, shes one of the reasons weve been so successful these past few years.
In 2003, DeClark was part of an ISU defense that ranked among the NCAA leaders in shutouts (12), shutout percentage (0.60) and goals against average (0.716). DeClark led the team in minutes played (1481), while helping her team to its first ever NCAA College Cup appearance.
Her accolades in 2003 include earning Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors on October 9, 2003, being named to the All-Valley Second Team and receiving Valley All-Tournament Team honors for the second year in a row. DeClark, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete selection, was also the Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Game for the Valley Championship in 2002 and 2003.
Student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve with a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in order to qualify for this honor. In addition, the student-athlete must have participated in at least 75% of the regular season matches, be at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.
Tiffany is one of the pieces of the puzzle that we needed, Kowall added. She helped us get to the next level and were happy that she chose Illinois State. Its great that people are starting to recognize her for what she does in the classroom. Im excited for her and for our program.
The senior defender, who has been a staple in the Redbirds back line in recent years after starting out as a forward, has her name peppered throughout the Illinois State soccer record book. She holds the record for career assists (11) and assists in a game (3), in addition to tying the records for assists in a season (6 in 2000), career games played (75), consecutive games played (75) and games started in a season (20 in 2003). DeClark is also one of only three Redbirds to record more than one multiple goal game. After playing in every Redbird contest since 2000, she is also No. 4 in career points with 33.
