April 13, 2011
Vote For Jenn - Lowe's Senior CLASS Award OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced the Top 25 Finalists for the 2011 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, which will be announced at the opening of the 2011 NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City. After being named to the Top 50 Watch List at the beginning of the season, senior Jenn Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) and junior Niki Williams (Mission Viejo, Calif.) have advanced to the next round. This award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women's collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. In its 10th year, past winners of this award include UCLA's Stacey Nuveman, Florida State's Jessica Van der Linden, three-time winner Texas pitcher Cat Osterman, Tennessee's Monica Abbott, Virginia Tech's Angela Tincher and two-time winner Washington's Danielle Lawrie. The Top 25 list represents 17 schools and six different NCAA Division I Conferences. The list is comprised of nine seniors, six juniors, nine sophomores and one freshman. The 2011 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be chosen from the 25 finalists. Salling was a top 25 finalist for this very award last season. She was a pre-season 2011 ESPN Second-Team All-American, the third pick in the NPF Senior Draft (USSSA Pride) and she is a Top 10 Finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. This season, she is fourth on the team, hitting .404 with a team-high 13 doubles and three triples. In 2010, she was a First-Team NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-American, All-Pacific Region and All-Pac-10 selection. She led the Huskies her junior year in runs scored (51), walks (41), triples (40), sac bunts (5), on base percentage (.481) and stolen base percentage (1.00). Williams was also a First-Team NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-American in 2010. She also earned All-Pacific Region and Second-Team All-Pac-10 honors while being named the NFCA National Player of the Week on March 2 and being a member of the USA Softball Futures team. As a sophomore, she led the team in batting average (.357) and total bases (103). So far in 2011, Williams has been named the Gohuskies.com Student-Athlete of the Week and is third on the team, hitting .441, leads the team with 40 RBIs and is tied for a team-best 10 home runs.
2011 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalists *Was not on Top 50 Watch list Just days before the start of post-season play, a list of 10 finalists will be named and released on May 11. The three finalists will be announced May 25th while the winner of the 2011 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award will be announced on May 32st prior to the start of the 2011 NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City. |
