Kelly Jurden Named SCAC Woman of the Year Finalist

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA -- Texas Lutheran softball's Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham) has been named one of seven finalists for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Woman of the Year Award.

The award recognizes the conference's senior female student-athlete who has best distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence and service and leadership. Past Winners

Member schools were permitted to submit two nominations if at least one of the nominees was a woman of color or international student-athlete.

To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2022 spring season, received her undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2022 term and had a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale) with the noted exception due to COVID-19 pandemic. A student-athlete who received an extension waiver or a season of competition/participation waiver in her primary sport due to cancellation of a 2020 and/or 2021 athletics season or championship may be nominated for the 2022 Woman of the Year, provided she otherwise satisfies nomination criteria.

Kelly Jurden graduated this spring with a Master's degree in Data Analytics and 4.0 GPA. Jurden finished her athletic career as one of the most decorated athletes in Texas Lutheran history. She put together yet another staggering statistical season in 2022, breaking the NCAA single-season stolen base record (77) and all-time individual career stolen bases record (246) while spearheading a TLU offense that would break the single-season team stolen base record with 231 stolen bases on the season.

The native of Brenham, Texas, is departing Texas Lutheran as the school's all-time leader in at-bats (621), runs (234), hits (260), stolen bases (242), walks (106), and on-base percentage (.503). Jurden is also the SCAC's all-time leader in career hits, walks, runs, and stolen bases. In 2021, she was named to the SCAC 30th Anniversary softball team.

Jurden is a three-time NFCA All-American for her performance on the field. Jurden is TLU's all-time winningest player, finishing with a record of 179-24 over the course of five seasons with the Bulldogs winning a 2019 National Championship - the first in TLU softball history, claiming NCAA Runner-Up in 2021, and claiming four SCAC Championships.

Off the field, Jurden is a rare four-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and the first in TLU softball history, including CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American and Academic All-America Team Member of the Year in 2022. She also served on the Texas Lutheran Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (2018-21) including in the role of Secretary and Treasurer from 2020-21. In her spare time, Jurden served as a Waggin Tailz Rescue Training Volunteer and a Collaborative Learning Assistant Tutor.

Information on all seven nominees can be found here.

For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Facebook (@txlutheransoftball), Twitter (@TLUsoftball), and Instagram (@tlu_softball) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on Twitter, @tlubulldogs on Instagram and Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on TikTok).