GREENWOOD, Ind. – On Tuesday morning, the College Sports Communicators (CSC) named four Lewis & Clark College basketball players, one from the men's squad and three from the women 's team, to the 2023-24 Academic All-District Basketball teams.
Junior
Nate Berg was selected to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Academic All-District Team, while seniors
Natalie Elstone,
Karli Mukai, and
Jamison Richards were named to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Academic All-District Team.
Berg is only the second Lewis & Clark men's basketball player to earn Academic All-District and the first since Tyson Papenfuss in 2009.
Women's basketball has had two previous selections to the Academic All-District team with Tori Eichten in 2018 and Sarah Moon in 2007. This is the first time in program history that multiple players were honored in the same year.
To be eligible for the CSC Academic All-District honor, the student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, and must have competed in 90 percent or started in at least 66 percent of the games played by the team for the winter season.
The four Lewis & Clark basketball student-athletes were nominated based on their outstanding achievement in the classroom and on the court.
Berg is a Rhetoric and Media Studies major from Sandy, Utah. The 6-7 forward played in all 25 games for the Pioneers and started in 13 of them. Berg led the team with 128 total rebounds and 23 blocks and was second with 5.1 rebounds per game, 25.4 minutes per game.
Elstone is a Rhetoric and Media Studies major from Eugene, Oregon. This winter, she played in all 24 games for Lewis & Clark and started in all but one of them. Elstone led the team with 53 assists, was second with 30 steals, and was third with 14 blocks. She ends her career with the Pioneers with 319 career points and 236 career rebounds.
Mukai, from San Jose, California, is a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major with a minor in Health Studies. This winter, she started all 24 games and was named Northwest Conference All-Conference Honorable Mention for the second consecutive season. Mukai averaged 9.6 points per game and led the team with 32.7 minutes per game. She ends her time with Lewis & Clark with 717 career points.
Richards is a Rhetoric and Media Studies major with a minor in Entrepreneurship from Bellevue, Washington. They played and started in 23 games for Lewis & Clark and led the team with 11.4 points per game, 96 field goals, and 41 three-pointers. Richards was second on the team with a 73.2% free throw percentage and 50 assists. They end their career with the Pioneers with 773 points.
