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Kelly Jurden named Academic All-American for third time, on First Team for second straight year
Posted: Jul 27, 2021

Kelly Jurden named Academic All-American for third time, on First Team for second straight year

SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran Softball standout Kelly Jurden is a First Team Academic All-American® for the second time and an Academic All-American for the third time overall.
 
Jurden was named to the 2021 Academic All-America® Softball First Team for NCAA Division III. Jurden's First Team honor in 2021 goes with her First Team All-America® award in 2020 and her Second Team Academic All-America® award in 2019.
 
Jurden is the second student-athlete in TLU Athletics history to be a three-time Academic All-American®. Jurden joins Natalie Jones (Women's Cross Country and Track & Field) in TLU's three-time Academic All-America® club.
 
Jurden is the second Bulldog to be a two-time First Team Academic All-American®, joining Allen Cain of Football in the two-time First Team club.
 
Jurden and TLU Baseball stand-out Tyler Cauley each were named First Team Academic All-Americans® on Tuesday. Jurden and Cauley give the Bulldogs 50 all-time Academic All-America® honors and 16 all-time First Team Academic All-America® awards.
 
So far in 2021, the Bulldogs have produced four First Team Academic All-Americans® (Mitchell Long of Men's Soccer, Juan Ocampo of Football, Cauley, and Jurden) and five overall Academic All-Americans® (Luis Green of Men's Soccer, Long, Ocampo, Cauley, and Jurden).
 
TLU has produced 18 Academic All-Americans® in the last five years.
 
Since 2000, TLU has produced the most Academic All-Americans® of any NCAA Division III college or university in Texas. TLU ranks in the top 40 nationally among the 435 NCAA Division III colleges and universities for number of Academic All-Americans® since 2000.
 
Jurden advanced to the Academic All-America® national ballot for a third consecutive year. A two-time playing All-American® and two-time SCAC Offensive Player of the Year, Jurden led the Bulldogs to the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championship and within one victory in 2021 of repeating the national title run.

Jurden is in the graduate school portion of her concurrent degree at TLU. She has a 3.97 grade point average as an undergrad and a 4.0 GPA as a graduate student. Jurden's undergraduate majors are mathematics and computer science, and she is pursuing her master's degree in data analytics.

On the field in 2021, Jurden hit .472 and stole 56 bases. She is the all-time steals leader in TLU and Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference history. In 151 career games, she has stolen 169 bases in 177 attempts. Jurden is a career .432 hitter with a career on-base percentage of .513. In 2021, she reached base at a school-record mark of .579.

Fifteen of the 33 members of the 2021 Academic All-America® Division III Softball Teams have at least a 3.90 GPA, with the 11 First Team honorees averaging an undergraduate GPA of 3.82. 

The Division III Academic All-America® program is financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 Division III Academic All-America® teams.

For more information on the Academic All-America® program, go to https://academicallamerica.com .

 

2021 Academic All-America ®

Softball Team

NCAA Division III

 

FIRST TEAM

Pos.   Name                                   School                                                           GPA              Yr.       Major

P        Cami Henry                         DePauw University                                         3.74              Jr.          Communication/Hispanic Studies

P        Hanna Hull (3)                     Virginia Wesleyan University                         3.65/3.85     Gr.      Mathematics (UG)/MBA (G)

C       Brooke Wehr                       Moravian College                                          3.36              Sr.       Biology

IF       Hannah Garcia                    East Texas Baptist University                          3.89              Sr.       Criminal Justice

IF       Brooke Matyasovsky           Eastern Connecticut State University              3.82              Jr.          Communication

IF       Sarah Miller                         Case Western Reserve University                  3.98              Sr.       Biology & Environmental Studies

IF       Sarah Reinert                      Alvernia University                                        3.94              Sr.       Athletic Training

OF     Kelly Jurden (4)                   Texas Lutheran University                       3.97/4.00     Gr.          Mathematics/Computer Science/Data Analytics

OF     Kelly O'Gorman                  SUNY Cortland                                              3.91/4.00     Gr.      Inclusive Childhood Edu. (UG)/Literacy Edu. (G)

OF     Samantha Schattin               Stevens Institute of Technology                       3.95/3.97     Gr.      Mechanical Engineering

DP     Emily Trotman                      St. John Fisher College                                   3.80              Sr.       Marketing

 

SECOND TEAM

Pos.   Name                                   School                                                           GPA              Yr.       Major

P        Kierstin Anderson-Glass (5)  Univ. of St. Thomas                                        3.54              Sr.       Exercise Science

P        Julie Graf (2)                      St. Olaf College                                            3.57              Sr.       Exercise Science/Psychology

C       Ashley Tinsman                     University of Southern Maine                        3.78              Sr.       Nursing

IF       Kelsey Bollon                       Concordia University Wisconsin                     4.00              Sr.       Secondary Education/Mathematics

IF       Adrianna Favreau                Endicott College                                            3.83              Sr.       Biology & Biotechnology

IF       Kaleigh O'Brien                   University of Wisconsin-Whitewater               3.63              Sr.       Secondary Education (Mathematics)

IF       Kaci Sherwood                    Wartburg College                                         3.80              Sr.       Business Administration

OF     Grace Heath                        University of Mount Union                              3.94              So.       Accounting & Finance

OF     Abby Mace                         Salisbury University                                       3.62              So.       Psychology

OF     Megan Zinn (3)                    The University of Scranton                             3.93/3.94     Gr.      Special Education

DP     Lauren King (1)                    Rhodes College                                             3.93              Sr.       International Studies & History

 

THIRD TEAM

Pos.   Name                                   School                                                           GPA              Yr.       Major

P        Riley Shields                        Alvernia University                                        3.67              Sr.       Occupational Therapy

P        Hannah Tomasko                 Aurora University                                          3.74              Sr.       Accounting & Finance

C       Korie Hague                        Rowan University                                           3.94              Jr.        Health & Physical Education

IF       Sadie Erickson                     UW-Eau Claire                                              3.78              So.       Rehabilitation Science

IF       Alexis Pope                         University of Rochester                                  3.79              Sr.       Biochemistry

IF       Aly Teixeira                          Aurora University                                          3.97              Sr.       Sport Management & Marketing

IF       Katrina Wierzbicki               Otterbein University                                      3.97              Sr.       Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

OF     Abby Burroughs                   Webster University                                        3.71/3.79     Gr.      Biology (UG)/Biomedical Studies (G)

OF     Lauren Misiaszek                  Endicott College                                            3.95              Jr.        Finance & Business Management

OF     Cassie Woods                      Eastern Connecticut State University              3.95/3.91     Gr.      Accounting

DP     Natalie Dillon                       University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh                    3.99              Sr.       Journalism & English

 

CoSIDA Academic All-America® of the Year: Hanna Hull, Virginia Wesleyan University

 

(1) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 2nd team selection in 2020

(2) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 3rd team selection in 2020

(3) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 1st team selection in 2020 & 1st team selection in 2019

(4) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 1st team selection in 2020 & 2nd team selection in 2019

(5) CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III 2nd team selection in 2020 & 3rd team selection in 2019

 

Texas Lutheran University
Academic All-America® Selections
2000 Women's Basketball Chantel Mize 1 Guard
2001 Men's Soccer David Stahl 2 Defender
2002 Men's Soccer David Stahl 3 Defender
2003 Softball Amy Behlen 3 Designated Player
  Women's Volleyball Tracy Heathcock 3 Middle Blocker
2004 Men's Basketball Tommy Stolhandske 2 Forward
  Women's Volleyball Angela Bagwell 3 Outside Hitter
2005 Men's Basketball Tommy Stolhandske 1 Forward
  Women's Track/Cross Country Natalie Wood 3  
2006 Football Matt Alves 2 Linebacker
  Women's At-Large Abby Cochran 2 Golf
  Women's Track/Cross Country Natalie Wood 3  
2007 Football Matt Alves 1 Linebacker
  Women's Track/Cross Country Natalie Wood 3  
2008 Women's Track/Cross Country Amber Lowe 3  
  Women's Track/Cross Country Dana Robbins 3  
2009 Women's Track/Cross Country Amber Lowe 2  
2010 Baseball Ryan Nokelby 3 Outfield
2011 Football Allen Cain 1 Kicker
2012 Football Allen Cain 1 Kicker
2013 Women's Track/Cross Country Ashley Meadows 3  
2014 Baseball Derek Kanas 1 Designated Hitter
  Softball Ashley Jacobsen 3 Infielder
  Women's Track/Cross Country Ashley Meadows 1  
2015 Softball Jacquelyn Brown 3 Outfielder
  Softball Taylor Grissom 3 Pitcher
  Women's At-Large Sofia Vega 3 Tennis
2016 Football Tyler Howlett 2 Offensive Lineman
  Softball Taylor Grissom 1 Pitcher
  Softball Amanda Lochte 2 Pitcher
  Softball Nicole Snow 1 Designated Player
  Women's At-Large Sofia Vega 2 Tennis
2017 Baseball Riley Schaefer 3 Outfielder
  Softball Amanda Lochte 1 Pitcher
  Women's Basketball Kristen Lye 2 Forward
2018 Baseball Dylan Drgac 3 Pitcher
  Baseball Riley Schaefer 1 Outfielder
  Football Manny Longoria 2 Defensive Lineman
  Men's Track/Cross Country Marquis Brown 3  
2019 Football Manny Longoria 2 Defensive Lineman
  Men's Soccer Mitchell Long 3 Defender
  Softball Kelly Jurden 2 Outfielder
2020 Baseball Tyler Cauley 2 Outfielder
  Softball Kelly Jurden 1 Outfielder
  Softball Chassety Raines 3 Pitcher
2021 Men's Soccer Mitchell Long 1 Defender
  Men's Soccer Luis Green 2 Forward
  Football Juan Ocampo 1 Kicker
  Softball Kelly Jurden 1 Outfielder
  Baseball Tyler Cauley 1 Outfielder
                         
    16 Total First Team Academic All-Americans        
                         
    14 Total Second Team Academic All-Americans        
                         
    20 Total Third Team Academic All-Americans        
                         
    50 Total Academic All-Americans