Oct. 1, 2013
CHICAGO - Ten members of the 2013 Loyola University Chicago softball team have been named National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athletes, it was announced this week. The total represents the Ramblers' highest number of honorees in program history, nearly doubling their number from last year when six student-athletes earned spots on the NFCA Scholar-Athlete Team.
Brooke Andresen (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South), Emily Bentley (Midland, Mich./Midland), Hannah Berris (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North), Keali Engelkens (Milledgeville, Ill./Milledgeville), Brittany Gardner (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), Hannah Jenkins (Chicago Ridge, Ill./Richards), Lauren Moore (Antioch, Ill./Antioch), Ashley Rogers (Evergreen Park, Ill./Mother McAuley), Kat Widup (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley), and Lauren Zaworski (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) all received NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete recognition for their academic achievements in 2012-13.
"Our program strives for exellence on the field, in the community and in the classroom and I couldn't be more proud of this group of young women," Loyola head coach Missy Beseres said. "Our number one goal is to graduate our student-athletes and to see them excelling in the classroom at such a high level is very rewarding. To have the highest number of NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes in program history in the same year that we also won the Horizon League's Community Outreach Award and won a regular-season league title shows what a well-rounded program and talented bunch of ladies we have here at Loyola."
Presented to any player submitted who achieved a 3.50 grade-point average or higher during the 2012-13 academic year, NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes represent the best and the brightest in collegiate softball. This is the third time that both Andresen and Engelkens have been named to the NFCA Scholar-Athlete Team, while Bentley, Berris and Zaworski are two-time honorees.
The Ramblers closed out an eight-game fall schedule on September 28 and open up the 2014 campaign in February.
