To polish off her career in maroon and gold, senior defender Claire O’Keeffe was named to the third-team 2012 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Women’s University Division Scholar All-South Region Team on Friday, Dec. 14.
To be nominated for the honor, an athlete must meet requirements such as holding a 3.30 or better cumulative GPA throughout his or her career. The player must also start more than 50 percent of all games throughout his or her career and has to be a significant contributor to the team.
O’Keeffe more than fits the bill for all three of the criteria. As a political science major, she has a 3.94 GPA through her three and a half years at Elon.
Not only did O’Keeffe start more than 50 percent of games during her Elon career, she started all 82 games in the last four years, placing her at the top of the list in program history for career starts.
As for being a significant contributor, that wasn’t a problem either, as she helped the Phoenix to seven shutouts this season, moving the four-year total with her at the back to 27.
O'Keeffe played a total of 2,101 minutes throughout the season in 2012, which led the team. Fellow senior Shannon Foley followed closely behind O'Keeffe with 2,063 of her own.