AUSTIN, Texas – Michigan State women’s soccer senior Justina Gaynor earned First Team Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Communicators (CSC), as announced by the organization Wednesday.
Following a standout season in the Spartan midfield that saw the Shelby Township, Michigan, native earn all-conference, all-region and Big Ten Midfielder of the Year honors, Gaynor becomes the fourth CSC Academic All-American in program history and second in the last two seasons.
Gaynor’s selection to the Academic All-America First Team marks the third overall for the Spartans following MSU Hall of Famer Laura (Heyboer) Heethius in 2011 and Ruby Diodati in 2022. Gabrielle Gauruder earned Third Team honors in 2015. Gaynor was also named Academic All-Big Ten and CSC Academic All-District this season after posting a 4.0 GPA while majoring in kinesiology.
Gaynor played and started in all 22 contests for the Spartans in 2023, totaling six goals and 12 assists to tie for a team-high 24 points. She played the most minutes of any Spartan field player with 1,763 and scored at least a point in all but seven games this season.
With one season still remaining in her Spartan career, Gaynor ranks 19th in the MSU record books in career assists (14), while her 2023 totals in assists (12) and points (24) rank second and 21st, respectively, in MSU single-season totals.
Gaynor played a crucial role in the Spartans’ second-straight Big Ten title and first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament Third Round in 2023. She notched a pair of assists in MSU’s 3-0 win over Iowa in the Spartans’ regular-season finale to clinch the conference title before tallying a goal and assist in MSU’s opening-round victory in the NCAA Tournament over Ohio. The Spartans earned the program’s first second-round win and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 after Gaynor scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win against Harvard.
Gaynor is one of six Big Ten representatives on this year’s CSC Academic All-America teams.
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