PEMBROKE — Anna Grossheim can do it all.

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke junior is an standout player on the soccer pitch, a model student off of it, and even works in her spare time as an EMT.

Grossheim’s well-rounded nature has been recognized in recent days, as she has been named an All-American player by two organizations, and Tuesday earned first-team Academic All-American honors.

“It’s something that I’ve worked towards and worked very hard for, but it’s also something I couldn’t have done alone,” Grossheim said. “I got here because my teammates were unselfish and allowed me to perform well and always helped me. If I was having a bad game, we didn’t let that fester going to the next. They helped me get better the next day at practice.”

As a midfielder, Grossheim scored 14 goals with 11 assists this season, an encore performance after last year’s 11-goal, eight-assist performance which earned her second-team All-American honors from the NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association. This fall, Grossheim earned first-team All-America status from that organization, plus second-team laurels from the United Soccer Coaches; she is just the second player in UNCP history to earn All-American honors from two organizations in the same season.

“Anna is naturally talented, she has God-given talent that is greater than a lot of players have,” UNCP coach Lars Andersson said. “She’s an amazing athlete, she has a cardiovascular capacity; she has speed and endurance, she has fast-twitch and slow-twitch, a unique combination. But she does put in the work; she’s an incredibly committed student-athlete, as far as putting in the work in the summer, on the weekends, she puts in the extra work and it pays off.”

For Grossheim, earning individual accolades while on a winning team — the Braves are back-to-back Conference Carolinas Tournament champions — makes it all the more gratifying.

“I think it’s a lot more special knowing that the team was successful but I was still able to have individual success — and it wasn’t just me, a lot of my teammates were recognized at the regional level, which is extremely impressive and hard to do because we’re in a very competitive and talented region,” Grossheim said. “Just the fact that I’m being successful but my teammates are also being successful, it’s very gratifying, being able to lead them to that and knowing that we were all part of each other’s journeys.”

That team-first mentality came after Grossheim was “humbled” during her freshman season, delayed to the spring in the 2020-21 academic year due to COVID-19.

“Once we made it clear, ‘Anna, just play. … Relax, let the game come to you, all that other stuff will fall in place,’” Andersson said. “Her growth, from that bizarre COVID year to where we are today has been a pleasure to follow.”

Even while putting together strong enough seasons on the pitch to become a back-to-back All-American, Grossheim has maintained a 3.98 GPA while majoring in sociology, propelling her to the College Sports Communicators’ Academic All-America team. She becomes UNCP’s first CSC Academic All-American since 2017 in any sport, and just the fifth first-team selection in school history.

“I like to think that I do a very good job of working ahead and staying on top of my academics, because it’s something that I value,” Grossheim said. “You’re here to be a student first, not an athlete, so it’s important to make sure your academics are taken care of, because you can’t play soccer if you don’t have your academics in check, that’ll make you ineligible.”

That GPA, however, hasn’t been acquired simply by studying night and day. Grossheim is also involved in the community as an EMT with both Robeson County EMS and the Pembroke Rescue Squad, and she also volunteers with the Red Springs Fire Department. It began as something to make some money through college, but became a passion.

“I ended up falling in love with it,” Grossheim said. “I absolutely love helping people. It’s exciting, you get an adrenaline rush at times, and you never know what you’re going to get here in Robeson County.”

Andersson says there are three prongs of what the Braves want from their student athletes: to be successful on the field, in the classroom, but also in the community. Grossheim excels — and incredibly seamlessly — in all three.

“Here’s someone who’s out here saving lives, literally,” Andersson said. “I couldn’t be more proud of Anna, she exemplifies everything that I want it to mean to be a UNCP student-athlete, and in particular a UNCP women’s soccer player.”

Grossheim plans to get her paramedic certification when she finishes her degree, but ultimately wants to get a master’s degree in social work. On the field, she has at least one more season — plus the possibility of a fifth year after the NCAA granted athletes an extra year of eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How does someone who has already accomplished so much continue to set goals?

“The biggest thing for me is just not getting complacent, not being satisfied, and continuing to want to perform at the level I’ve been performing at,” Grossheim said. “But now my biggest thing is helping my teammates get their goals and helping them the best that I can. That’s the most gratifying thing I could ask for is seeing them succeed and accomplish their goals and being a part of it, that’s the ultimate goal going forward for me.

“I’ve pretty much done everything that I’ve ever wanted to do, I did this season — but it wouldn’t hurt to do it again.”