Photo: Jess Rheinheimer, a senior nursing major at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., has been named NCAA Division III Academic All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America. She has a 3.95 GPA and is in the Honors Program. (EMU photos)

Jess Rheinheimer, of Manheim, Pa., a senior student-athlete at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., was recently named the Academic All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America. She was on the five-member First Team as a junior before being named the top scholar in all of Division III women’s basketball this year.

This is the first time an EMU athlete has been named the Academic All-American of the Year, but the 11th time an EMU student-athlete has been named to an Academic All-America Team, including last year when both Rheinheimer and women’s cross country/track & field runner Hannah Chappell-Dick, Bluffton, Ohio, earned spots.

Rheinheimer has once again been named a finalist for the prestigious Jostens Trophy. One award will be given to each a women’s and men’s NCAA Division III basketball player who excels on the floor, in the classroom and in the community.

Rheinheimer was the second-ever junior to win the trophy last year. She is back among the pool of 10 women’s finalists.

The senior was already named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Player of the Year and ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete, becoming the first woman in conference history to win both awards twice.

A versatile 5-10 forward, Rheinheimer averaged 19.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game this year. She was among ODAC shooting percentage leaders in all three categories: field goals, three point field goals and free throws. She scored a season high 35 points in a win over rival Bridgewater on Jan. 5.

Rheinheimer finishes her career as the No. 3 scorer in Eastern Mennonite history, finishing with 1,567 points. She is also No. 11 all-time in rebounding, with 646 rebounds, and finished just outside of the top 15 in career assists and steals.

She helped the Royals to some of the best seasons in program history, including a run of three straight NCAA National Tournament appearances.

In the classroom, the nursing major holds a 3.95 GPA despite the rigors of her academic program and athletic commitments. Rheinheimer is an EMU Honors student and a member of the EMU Student Nurses Association.

In the local community, she is working with the Gemeinschaft Home, a post-incarceration transition home. She studied in Honduras in the summer of 2013 as part of EMU’s cross cultural program, and has been a volunteer with various organizations in Honduras, Kentucky, New York and her home state of Pennsylvania.