Greenwood, Ind. - University of Findlay senior swimmer Emily Mears-Bentley has been named as the 2025-26 Academic All-America Team Member of the Year following one of the most historic seasons in program history. Along with Mears-Bentley, senior Katie Susi was also named Academic All-American, earning second team this year.

The Academic All-America Team Member of the Year is chosen from amongst the list of first team academic all-Americans, voted on by the nations College Sports Communicators (CSC) members. The award is given to just one male and one female from each division.

Mears-Bentley, a senior from Leicester, England, is now a three-time academic all-American. This year, she became the first female at Findlay to win an NCAA DII National Championship in an event, the 200 butterfly. At the national meet, she earned seven first team all-American honors, four of which were individual honors, on her way to leading the Oilers to a seventh-place finish at the meet, the highest finish in program history.

She concludes her career in the pool with 24 all-American honors, 17 of which were first team. She won 26 conference titles and is a four-time Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Swimmer of the Year.

In the classroom, Mears-Bentley was just as impressive, maintaining a 3.95 cumulative GPA while majoring in Psychology. 

 

Katie Susi, a native of Amherst, Ohio, kept a 3.97 GPA in her career while majoring in Exercise Science for Health Professions. This year at the National Championship, Susi earned first team all-American in the 200 breaststroke and second team in the 100 breaststroke. In her career, Susi earned nine all-American honors including seven first team honors. 

The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist the College Sports Communicators with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2025-26 Division II Academic All-America® program.