NORMAL, Ill. – A group of seven talented Illinois State student-athletes were selected to the 2025-26 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's At-Large teams by College Sports Communicators on Tuesday. Redbird gymnasts Leah Davis, Jaly Jones and Courtney Woods joined women's golfers Elise Fennell, Reagan Kennedy and Dani Grace Schrock on the team while men's golfer Pietro Pontiggia was the lone Redbird male on the list.
The 2025-26 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's At-Large teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in competition and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes at-large honorees in five divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, and the College Division.
Davis, a four-year letterwinner for the Redbirds, competed in 10 events during the 2026 campaign. Competing mostly on beam, floor and vault, Davis earned All-MIC honors on floor and tied for the conference individual title on the event with teammate Jones and TWU's Sophia Isbell and Kylie Minard with a score of 9.850. A 2024 First-Team All-MIC performer on beam and multiple-time Scholastic All-America team selection, she has helped lead the Redbirds to a pair of team championships her career at ISU.
Jones was a multiple time USAG All-American and MIC individual champion at Lindenwood, before transferring to Illinois State prior to the 2025 season when she helped lead the Redbirds to a MIC Championship. In her final season in 2026, Jones was co-MIC individual champion on the floor and competed in 12 meets for ISU, mostly on vault, beam and floor.
Woods also made an immediate impact for the Redbirds in her first season on campus, following a transfer from Missouri. She competed in 12 meets on beam and floor and tied for fifth place with a score of 9.800 to take home All-MIC Second-Team honors on floor at the MIC Championships. She also posted season-highs of 9.825 on beam and 9.825 on floor during the season.
Davis, Jones and Woods were all named MIC Scholar-Athletes prior to the 2026 MIC Championship meet in Normal, Ill.
Fennell ended 2025-26 with a 74.9 stroke average per round, with nine rounds at or under par and three top-10 finishes in 11 events. Her rounds at or under par is tied for the eighth-most in a season in school history, while her stroke average is ninth-best in a season. For her ISU career, she has the third-most rounds at or under par (23), and the second-lowest career scoring average (74.2) in program history.
Schrock, a four-year member of the Redbird women's golf team, has the 13th-most career rounds at or under par, and the 14th-lowest career scoring average in Redbird women's golf history. This season she played in 33 rounds and had two of those at or under par with a season scoring average of 79.3, and one top-10 finish.
Kennedy had the team's second-lowest scoring average on the season at 77.2 strokes per round, as she had three rounds at or under par over 11 tournaments. Her three rounds at or under par is tied for the fifth-most in a season by a Redbird junior in program history, while her stroke average is the eighth-lowest by a junior in program history.
Fennell, Schrock, and Kennedy were all named to the MVC Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete Team following the 2026 Championship.
Pontiggia closed his Redbird career with the 10th-most rounds at or under par, the 14th-lowest career scoring average in the 17th-most rounds in program history. This past season he averaged 73.3 strokes per round in 13 tournaments, with 13 rounds at or under par. He was ISU's top individual finisher at the 2026 NCAA Columbus Regional, placing in a tie of 17th place, the Redbirds' second-ever top-20 finish at a Regional in program history. He was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team following the conclusion of the 2026 Championship.
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