Kinsella, Rapinoe Named UP Student-Athletes of the Year

The University of Portland has selected men’s cross country runner David Kinsella and women’s soccer standout Megan Rapinoe as its 2008-09 Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year. Kinsella, who also won the award during the 2006-07 season, set a school record with a fourth-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Rapinoe, who graduated in December, recovered from a two-year absence from knee injuries to earn All-America honors and was picked No. 2 overall in the January Women’s Professional Soccer draft.

Kinsella is the fifth male athlete in school history to be named the Student-Athlete of the Year two times and will go down as the greatest cross country runner in University of Portland history, no small feat considering the program has had four previous individual All-Americans and 10 NCAA team qualifiers. A three-time Academic All-American, Kinsella earned first team honors this year for the second consecutive season. His fourth-place finish at the NCAA meet bettered his own school record of eighth place, established in the fall of 2007. He also won the 2008 WCC Championship and the highly competitive Bill Dellinger Invitational, which featured four nationally ranked teams including eventual national champion Oregon.

A native of Redmond, Wash., Kinsella has been a proven winner both in competition and in the classroom. He graduated with a 3.96 GPA with a major in biology and minors in economics and philosophy. He will be attending Law School at Stanford University this Fall after earning both NCAA and West Coast Conference post-graduate scholarship awards.

Rapinoe missed nearly all of the previous two soccer seasons with multiple torn ACL’s, but had a stellar senior campaign on the pitch. The Redding, Calif. native earned WCC Player of the Year honors and was a unanimous All-America selection after tallying five goals and 13 assists and leading the shorthanded Pilots to the NCAA quarterfinals. Rapinoe finished her career in the top 10 list at Portland in both points (88) and assists (28) and is one of just eight players in school history with 30 goals and 25 assists.

Rapinoe graduated in December with a degree in sociology and a 3.27 cumulative GPA. She was drafted by the Chicago Red Stars with the second overall pick in the January WPS Draft and is a starting midfielder for the team. Rapinoe has also re-established herself with the USA Women’s National Team appearing in all five Team USA matches in 2009 and leading the squad in scoring with two goals and an assist.

Rapinoe becomes the ninth consecutive soccer player to win the award on the women’s side, while Kinsella is the sixth consecutive runner to take the men’s award.

The University of Portland Male and Female Athletes of the Year are selected by a vote of athletic administrators and head coaches.