Softball
Softball
SOFTBALL: Seven Huskies Land on NFCA Academic All-American Team
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Seven Husky softball players land on NFCA Academic All-American team. |
St. Cloud, Minn. – The National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association recently released its 2009 NFCA Academic All-American squad, and seven St. Cloud State softball players earned the prestigious award.
SCSU’s Nicole Brandenberg (Grafton, Wis.), Lizzy Dwyer (Kalispell, Mont.), Rachel Haines (Pepin, Wis.), Katie Hendrickson (Verona, Wis.), Sarah Stalker (Hudson, Wis.), Kaity Strever (Laurel, Mont.) and Melanie Upchurch (Waterloo, Iowa) all gained the NFCA Academic All-American nod.
“We as a coaching staff are very proud of these young women for their outstanding effort in the classroom!” stated SCSU’s head coach Paula U’Ren. “They all have challenging majors and have risen to the top in their class.”
Brandenburg and Dwyer are both nursing majors, Stalker is majoring in meteorology, Strever is pursuing a major in business while Hendrickson is working towards a biomedical science major. Upchurch is double majoring is biomedical science and graphic arts and Haines graduated in the spring of 2009 with a biomedical science major.
The Huskies as a team finished 54th in the nation academically with a 3.115 grade point average. Ouachita Baptist University finished the season at the top of the nation with a 3.663 GPA.
“The team's grade point average of 3.115 is a combination of many things within our softball program: 1.) the philosophy of the student-athletes to be as good as they can be in the classroom as well as on the ball field, 2.) the entire coaching staff working with the student-athletes as mentors and 3.) all the great resources we have at St. Cloud State with our department tutors and Shawn Kukuk and his staff in the Greenhouse,” said U’Ren.
To earn a spot on the NFCA Academic All-American team, individuals must have a 3.5 grade point average or higher for the academic year.
Of note, the St. Cloud State softball program has a 100% graduation rate of any student-athlete who has played within the program two or more years over the past 13 years.
For complete Husky softball information, click here.
Free E-Mail Updates
If you would like FREE e-mail updates about SCSU athletics, visit our Husky Sports Updates page for information on how to sign up to be on the listserv.
