For the third consecutive year, William Smith lacrosse goalie Maura Smeader has been named to the Academic All-America NCAA Division III Women's At-Large teams selected by College Sports Communicators. She rose to the first team this season after receiving second team honors in 2024 and third team recognition in 2023.
 
Smeader graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in history in May. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she was a three-time Liberty League All-Academic honoree.
 
On the lacrosse field, Smeader's All-American career saw her eclipse the William Smith career record for wins, compiling a four-year record of 71-12 (.855). She was a four-time USA Lacrosse Magazine All-American, including first team honors in 2024, and garnered third team IWLCA All-America recognition in 2025. Smeader's 533 career saves are third most by a Heron, while her 7.38 GAA is the eighth lowest in program history.
 
This past season, Smeader started all 19 games, producing a 14-5 record with 133 saves, a .487 save percentage and a 7.47 GAA. She also led the Herons with 38 ground balls. Smeader made a season-high 12 saves in a 13-4 win over St. Lawrence on April 4. It was one of four double-digit save performances she had this season.
 
On March 18, 2023, Smeader made a career-high 13 saves as William Smith beat No. 5 Salisbury 12-9. That season, she was 20-1 with a career-high .500 save percentage and a career-low 6.90 GAA. Her 20 wins matched the Herons' single season record.
 
Smeader and her classmates led the Herons to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, advancing to the national semifinals in 2023 and 2024. The won a pair of Liberty League Tournament championships (2022, 2023) and three Liberty League regular season titles (2022, 2023, 2025).
 
Smeader is the fourth student-athlete in HWS history to earn three Academic All-America awards, joining William Smith soccer's Katherine Campbell '18 (2015-17), Hobart tennis' Walker Anderson '21 (2019-21) and Hobart soccer's Charlie Widing '22 (2019-21).
 
Smeader is the fifth William Smith lacrosse player to be named an Academic All-American and the only one to earn the award more than once.
 
Since Shawn Fazio became HWS' first Academic All-American in 1979, the Herons and Statesmen have combined to earn 74 Academic All-America awards.
 
Academic All-America teams recognize student-athletes who are starters or significant contributors to their team, have maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and have completed at least one full year at their institution. CSC names Academic All-America teams in 14 NCAA Championship sports (baseball, m/w basketball, football, m/w soccer, softball, m/w swimming & diving, m/w tennis, m/w track & field/cross country, women's volleyball) and an at-large team for student-athletes competing in other NCAA Championship sports.