Senior gymnast Stephanie Kite of the University of Alabama, one of eight repeat selections on the first team, heads the 2003-04 Academic All-America® Women's At-Large team announced today by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The Women's At-Large program for the Academic All-America program includes the sports of bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis and water polo.

"Stephanie has again made the University of Alabama and the Crimson Tide gymnastics family very proud," head gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson said. "It is one thing for her teammates and coaches to know the effort and dedication that went into all she has accomplished, but it is even more gratifying when that effort, and its results, are recognized on a national level."

In addition to being named to the At-Large first-team for the second year in a row, Kite was named the CoSIDA Academic All-American Team Member of the Year, a first for a Crimson Tide athletes.

"Stephanie Kite continues to bring positive recognition and pride to Alabama," Alabama Athletics Director Mal Moore said. "She enjoyed a tremendous career here at the Capstone and we are especially proud of this latest honor since she is the first Crimson Tide student-athlete to be named Academic All-American of the Year."

Kite, the recipient of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, helped lead Alabama to second-place finishes in the Southeastern Conference and NCAA West Regional championships, and third in the NCAA Championships. Owner of a 4.00 grade point average as an international marketing major, she was a 2003 Floor Exercise All-America and a member of Alabama's 2002 national championship team and 2003 SEC Championship squad.

Kite is a four-year NACGC/W Scholastic All-American and was named to the SEC Good Works Team this season. She earned Delta Sigma Pi's Scholarship Key and the School of Commerce and Business Administration Scholar/Athlete Award this year. As a junior the Austin, Texas native earned the Dow Chemical Undergraduate Award, which denotes the business school's top junior. Kite earned Academic All-SEC three times (freshmen are not eligible) and has been inducted into ODK and Gamma Beta Sigma honor societies.

Kite is one of seven Alabama gymnasts to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American At-Large team and the first to repeat as a first-team honoree since Dr. Julie Estin Vaughn did so in 1986 and 1987.

The Academic All-America Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.