William Smith College senior Sarah Benyo was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America At-Large first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Benyo is the 46th HWS student-athlete to earn Academic All-America honors since the awards program began in 1952.
 
Benyo is the third William Smith lacrosse player to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American, and the first to since Geneva Calder '16 was voted to the third team in 2016.
 
In May, Benyo earned a bachelor's degree in biology. She plans to attend Penn State College of Medicine in the fall.
 
On the lacrosse field, she played in all 20 games in her senior season, posting career-highs of 30 goals and eight assists for 38 points. She also notched a career-high 20 ground balls and caused five turnovers this year. Benyo tallied a season-high six goals in a 14-9 victory over RIT. She added three goals and two assists in an 11-3 win over Nazareth. She logged four hat tricks this spring and notched at least a point in 14 games.
 
Benyo helped the Herons to a 15-5 overall record and a 9-1 mark in the Liberty League this spring. William Smith captured its third straight Liberty League regular season and tournament titles. The Herons made their third straight appearance in the NCAA tournament, advancing to the second round.
 
In 63 career games, Benyo posted 40 goals and 12 assists for 52 points and added 33 ground balls, nine draws and nine caused turnovers.
 
Benyo also excelled in the classroom. A Dean's List student, she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and earned a spot on the Liberty League All-Academic team three years in a row. Benyo was a Blackwell Scholar, a Seeley Performing Arts Scholar and a Reeves Art Scholar. She was presented with the Cynthia Olyer '93 Award at this year's Heron Awards Dinner which is given annually to a senior William Smith student-athlete with an excellent academic record who is planning to continue her education at the postgraduate level.
 
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00 and have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at her current institution.