Southwestern University Pirates women's tennis player Mary Cardone earned 2019-20 Academic All-District First Team honors with an at-large bid that includes athletes from tennis, lacrosse, golf, and swimming. 

Cardone was one of 12 women from NCAA Division III District 8 to receive the honor, which is awarded by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in athletic competition and the classroom. 

This season, Cardone finished nationally-ranked in women's singles tennis for a fourth consecutive season at No. 33 with a 4-1 record playing exclusively in the No. 1 spot. 

Cardone finished her career at Southwestern University as one of the most decorated student-athletes in school history, earning All-American status in tennis and leading the women's soccer team to its first SCAC championship. She also swept the SCAC Elite 19 award, which recognizes the top athletic and academic performer in each sport in both soccer and tennis for the past two years, finishing with a cumulative GPA of 3.881 in Business and Data Science. 

As an All-District First Team honoree, Cardone advances to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot. The Academic All-American teams will be announced from June 16-19.