ST. PAUL, Minn. – Macalester College junior Jess Palmer-Sammons (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) of the water polo team was named to the At-Large Division III Academic All-America third team, the College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced today. This is the first Academic All-American award for Palmer-Sammons, who made the CSC Academic All-District team in both 2024 and 2025.

The CWPA 2025 Most Valuable Player, Palmer-Sammons led the Scots with 49 goals, 16 assists, 65 points and 43 steals en route to receiving All-America honorable mention from the ACWPC for the second year in a row. In a 17-8 victory over Carthage on Mar. 16, Palmer-Sammons registered nine goals to tie the program's record for goals in a match. She also tallied six goals in a 20-10 win over Grove City on Mar. 28. At the CWPA Championships April 11-13 at Augustana College, Palmer-Sammons tallied eight goals and three assists, including four goals and an assist in the Scots' 9-8 victory over Austin College in the third-place game, to earn a spot on the All-Tournament first team. In 56 career matches at Macalester, she has 105 goals and 38 assists for 143 points.

A a biology and Spanish double-major at Macalester, Palmer-Sammons has earned the ACWPC All-Academic Award twice while helping the Scots post the second-highest team grade point average among all women's collegiate water polo programs last year. Outside of the pool, she volunteers at La Clinica, a Minnesota Community Care clinic that provides medical care to public insured or uninsured patients, in a Spanish-speaking community.

Palmer-Sammons is the fourth Macalester water polo student-athlete to earn Academic All-America honors, joining Kate Larson '05, Lucille Moran '19 and Eleanor Michaud '23.

The CSC Academic All-America and All-District program honors student-athletes for excellence in both academics and athletics. Student-athletes must be a sophomore, junior or senior, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 or higher and have competed in 90 percent of the team's total games played or have started 66 percent of the team's total games to be considered for Academic All-District and All-American accolades.

The Scots, coached by Scott Reed, were 12-9 overall (7-1 CWPA) and took third at the CWPA Championships for the third straight season.

Click here to view the CSC release.