Allison Blanton Named To Verizon Academic All-District First Team – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
May 20, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Allison Blanton (Newton, N.J./Kittatiny Regional), a senior goalkeeper on the Ohio State field hockey and lacrosse teams, was named to the Verizon Academic All-District IV University Division Women’s At-Large First Team. Blanton is one of 10 First Team selections who will represent District IV as a candidate for the national team. A national ballot will be compiled and sent to members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America selection committee to determine the national Verizon Academic All-America Teams.
The district team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. To be nominated, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher. Team members are selected by a vote of CoSIDA members within the district.
Blanton, who recently was announced as field hockey’s team MVP and the winner of the team academic award with a 3.64 GPA in agriculture and animal science, capped off an outstanding career this season. She is a two-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Regional All-American, a 2001 NFHCA National Academic Squad selection, the 2001 Big Ten Tournament co-MVP, a two-time All-Big Ten and three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a four-time OSU Scholar-Athlete. Her 10.5 career shutouts is third most in OSU history.
In 2001, she started all 20 games at goalkeeper, playing all but seven minutes for the 15-5 Buckeyes. As a captain, Blanton helped lead Ohio State to a No. 5 national ranking, the first Big Ten regular season and tournament championship in the 30-year history of the program and an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Blanton ended the season with 63 saves, 29 goals against, a 1.41 goals-against average (20th in nation), .685 save percentage and 5.0 shutouts (second in Big Ten, fourth all-time at Ohio State). She is a four-year recipient of the Buckeye Plus Scholarship and the Baxter Scholarship. Blanton received the Kellogg Scholarship in 2001 and is an honors student at Ohio State. She has been a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board and in addition to playing goalkeeper for the nationally-ranked Ohio State lacrosse team, Blanton volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and the Ohio Wildlife Center. Blanton’s love of animals has led her to pursue a major in animal science and a minor in life science. She plans to continue her studies at Tufts University Veterinary School.
