Albany, NY–Senior catcher Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) has been named to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® Softball Second Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. She becomes the College's first three time Academic All-American, an honor she also earned in 2013 and 2014.

She batted .397 this spring with eight doubles, two triples, and three home runs, while combining for a .578 slugging percentage in 2015. She was also a perfect 12-12 on stolen bases with 34 starts this year. She earned Skyline Conference Second Team Honors as a catcher and was named to the 2015 NFCA All-Region Third Team. She is the program's only four-time Skyline Conference all-star. She was also named the 2014-2015 Sage Female Co-Athlete of the Year after earning a selection as the 2015 team's Gator of the Year as the squad's Most Valuable Player.

Head softball coach Jamie Brown Said of Beikirch, "There isn't anything Kristen wouldn't have done to help her team win." Brown continued, "She works extremely hard and has been such a tremendous player for us. Kristen has been such a consistent, remarkable player for four years. This year, like the others, she was one of the best players in our conference. She is ending her career with several school records broken, which alone is amazing. She is an outstanding student-athlete that will definitely be hard to replace."

She helped to rewrite the Sage softball record book during her outstanding career. She is the program's career stolen base leader with 65, while also leading the Gators with her 166 runs scored. She also became the all-time career hit leader this past spring and finishes with 221 hits. She played in a program-best 158 games with 158 starts. She ranks first at Sage in most at-bats (534) as well as total bases (327), while standing No. 2 in doubles (37), No. 4 in triples (9), No. 2 in home runs (17), and No. 3 in RBI's (85). She owns a .414 career batting average as well in her time as a Gator with a .612 career slugging percentage. She was honored in the fall of 2014 as the 2013-2014 ECAC Division III Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Sage softball player honored with the award.

A biology and pre-medicine major at Sage, she graduated on May 16 with Summa Cum Laude honors after attaining a 3.95 grade point average. A Deans' List student every semester, she is a four-time Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete and was a Kellas Scholar at Sage. She majored in biology at Sage with minors in Chemistry, Psychology, and Spanish, and earned an Honors Degree. She was also named to the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the TriBeta Honor Society, the Psi Chi Honor Society, and the Athenian Honor Society for academic achievement at Russell Sage College. She also earned the McMorran Biology Award at graduation. She will be attending Albany Medical College in the fall to obtain a medical degree with intentions to go into pediatrics, potentially primary care pediatrics.

Also a two-time member of Sage's Athletic Honor Society and is also a candidate for the 2014-2015 NCAA Woman of the Year. The 2012-2013 Sage Female Athlete of the Year as a sophomore, she earned the award again this year as the 2014-2015 Sage Co-Female Athlete of the Year, while also earning her second citation as the softball team's Gator of the Year as the Most Valuable Player.

Please visit the Capital One Academic All-America® website http://www.capitaloneacademicallamerica.com/

AUSTIN, Texas–Senior infielder Sam Curran of Wentworth Institute of Technology headlines the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Softball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

A biomedical engineering major with a 3.99 grade-point average, Curran was selected as the winner of the Capital One Division III Academic All-America® of the Year award for softball.

The Capital One Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2013-14 Division III Academic All-America® teams program.

A senior from Quincy, Massachusetts, Curran earned Academic All-America® honors for the third time in her career, after earning second-team honors for softball last season and first-team honors for volleyball this past fall.

A first-team All-Commonwealth Coast Conference selection in the utility position this season, the shortstop hit .424 (36-for-85) with a .479 on-base percentage and .635 slugging percentage. She accumulated eight doubles, two triples, two home runs, 14 RBI and 10 stolen bases this season. A starter in all 128 games she played in her career, she hit .358 in her four seasons with a .442 on-base percentage and .545 slugging percentage. She ranks in the top four in Leopards' history in 11 career categories, including second with 98 runs scored, 32 doubles and eight triples.

Academically, she was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year and is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma, a national student-athlete honor society. She earned the school's Wentworth Bowl, the highest honor a student can receive for participation in activities, and earned the 2015 President's Award in Biomedical Engineering.

Seventeen of the 34 members of the Capital One Academic All-America® softball teams have a 3.90 or better grade-point average, with three achieving a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. – Thiel College (Pa.) senior catcher Danielle Massengill (first team), Widener (Pa.) University junior infielder Alie Alkins (second team) and Hamline (Minn.) University sophomore infielder Mary-Clare Couillard (third team).

The 11 members of the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III softball first team maintain an average G.P.A of 3.92.

Four individuals are repeat selections on the Capital One Academic All-America® softball teams, including Curran and Massengill, three-time selection Kristen Beikirch, a senior catcher for The Sage Colleges (N.Y.), and Salisbury (Md.) University senior pitcher Rachel Johnson.

A second-team selection last season, Massengill earned first-team Capital One Academic All-America® honors in 2015. A criminal justice, psychology and sociology major with a 4.00 G.P.A. from North Bend, Washington, Massengill hit a team-best .375 (36-of-96) and scored a team-high 21 runs this season, along with a home run and 18 RBI. She had a .410 on-base percentage and .490 slugging percentage this season. She has earned All-Presidents' Athletic Conference first-team honors all four seasons, along with earning National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honors three times.

A third-team Capital One Academic All-America® selection in 2013, Beikirch was named to the second team in both 2014 and 2015, as the lone three-time selection on this year's elite squad. A catcher from Brockport, New York, Beikirch is a biology and pre-medicine major with a 3.94 G.P.A. She hit .393 (44-of-112) this season, while also generating a .418 on-base percentage and .581 slugging percentage. She had seven doubles, two triples and three home runs, driving in 13 runs, while going 12-for-12 in stolen bases. Beikirch was an All-Skyline Conference second-team selection this season.

A second-team Capital One Academic All-America® honoree in 2013, Johnson was also selected as a second-team honoree this season. A native of Preston, Maryland, Johnson is an elementary education major with a 3.72 G.P.A. A three-time NFCA All-America first-team selection and four-time All-Capital Athletic Conference honoree, Johnson is one of the leaders of a Sea Gulls squad that qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships. In the team's regular-season finale, Johnson became the 18th pitcher in Division III history to reach the 1,000-strikeout plateau. Johnson finished with a 28-6 record, with 276 strikeouts against just 41 walks and a .156 opponent batting average, this season.

Other members of the Academic All-America® first team include: pitchers Kendra Bowe of St. Thomas (Minn.) University and Vanessa Hartzell of Aurora (Ill.) University; infielders Paige Biles of Washington (Mo.) University, Katie Bumila of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Cassi Glixman of Fontbonne (Mo.) University; outfielders Courtney Allen of Messiah College (Pa.), Michelle Mongiello of Farmingdale State College (N.Y.) and Kelsey Rose of Luther College (Iowa); and designated player Julie Sobieski of Hope College (Mich.).

Joining Johnson, Beikirch and Alkins on the Capital One Academic All-America® second team are: pitcher Emily Berardi of Wheaton (Mass.); infielders Taylor Dix of Averett (Va.) University, Joanne Jablonski of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Julie Rooney of Denison University (Ohio); outfielders Shannon Fitzpatrick of Fontbonne, Simone Frank of Williams College (Mass.) and Emma Hart of Wheaton College (Mass.); and designated player Megan John of Whitworth (Wash.) University.

Joining Couillard on the Capital One Academic All-America®  third team are: pitchers Taylor Grissom of Texas Lutheran University and Courtney Yard of Kean (N.J.) Unversity; catcher Morgan Brandt of Adrian (Mich.) College; infielders Amanda Fischer of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Abby Smith of Piedmont (Ga.) College, Shilah Snead of Rowan (N.J.) University and Nina Wojtkiewicz of Western Connecticut State; outfielders Jacquelyn Brown of Texas Lutheran, Meg Griffin of Elmhurst (Ill.) College and Samantha Hall of Averett; and designated player Jessica Shotwell of Arcadia University (Pa.).

About Capital One

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To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. 

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America® honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

FIRST TEAM

Pos.  Name                               School           Yr.    Hometown                   GPA     Major

P       Kendra Bowe       St. Thomas (Minn.)    Sr.   Chippewa Falls, Wis.    3.91      Science health promotion

P       Vanessa Hartzell              Aurora          Jr.     Highland, Ind.               3.95      Criminal justice

C       Danielle Massengill (2)     Thiel      Sr.     N. Bend, Wash.       4.00      Criminal justice/psych./sociology

IF      Paige Biles        Washington (Mo.)    Sr.     House Springs, Mo.      3.94          Psychology

IF      Katie Bumila    Worcester Polytechnic   Sr.     Raynham, Mass.  3.97      Chemical engineering

IF      Sam Curran (2)  Wentworth Inst. of Tech.   Sr.  Quincy, Mass.    3.99          Biomedical engineering

IF      Cassi Glixman                  Fontbonne         Sr.     St. Louis, Mo.               3.92      Dietetics

OF    Courtney Allen                 Messiah            Jr.     Lancaster, Pa.              3.93          Accounting

OF    Michelle Mongiello      Farmingdale State    Sr.     Elmont, N.Y.   3.87      Business management

OF    Kelsey Rose                     Luther    Sr.     Bettendorf, Iowa   3.77    Management / accounting

DP    Julie Sobieski                   Hope           Sr.     St. Charles, Ill.              3.93      Public accounting

SECOND TEAM

Pos.  Name                               School                Yr.    Hometown                   GPA     Major

P       Emily Berardi                   Wheaton (Mass.)   Sr.     Boston, Mass.         3.85      Classics

P       Rachel Johnson (#)          Salisbury      Sr.     Preston, Md.   3.72      Elementary education

C       Kristen Beikirch (%)   The Sage Colleges   Sr.  Brockport, N.Y.    3.94  Biology & pre-medicine

IF      Alie Alkins            Widener    Jr.     Aston, Pa.    4.00      Early childhood / special education

IF      Taylor Dix                         Averett          Jr.     Danville, Va.                 3.63          Psychology

IF      Joanne Jablonski    Wisconsin-Whitewater   Sr.  Palatine, Ill.   3.86   Elementary education BSE

IF      Julie Rooney       Denison       Sr.     Munroe Falls, Ohio  3.75   Philosophy/international studies

OF    Shannon Fitzpatrick         Fontbonne          Sr.     Hazelwood, Mo.           3.97      English

OF    Simone Frank                  Williams      Sr.     Amherst, Mass.            3.70      Biology & anthropology

OF    Emma Hart                      Wheaton (Mass.)   Jr.     Lincoln, R.I.                  3.56      Biology

DP    Megan John                     Whitworth      Sr.     Beaverton, Ore.            3.97      Health science

THIRD TEAM

Pos.  Name                               School                 Yr.    Hometown                   GPA     Major

P       Taylor Grissom                Texas Lutheran       Jr.     Spring, Texas               3.86      Education

P       Courtney Yard            Kean       Sr.     Stockton, N.J.   3.76   Mathematics / special education

C       Morgan Brandt                 Adrian        Jr.     Eastlake, Ohio              3.95      Exercise science

IF      Mary-Clare Couillard     Hamline     So.    Fridley, Minn.    4.00   Public health science / psychology

IF      Amanda Fischer        Wisconsin-Eau Claire     Sr.     Wausau, Wis.      3.43          Kinesiology

IF      Abby Smith                      Piedmont          Jr.     Washington, Ga.           3.93      Nursing

IF      Shilah Snead                    Rowan      Jr.     Malaga, N.J.    3.61      Health & physical education

IF      Nina Wojtkiewicz     W. Connecticut St.   Sr.  Griswold, CT   3.69   Justice & law administration

OF    Jacquelyn Brown             Texas Lutheran     Jr.     Vidor, Texas                 3.87          Accounting

OF    Meg Griffin                       Elmhurst           Sr.     Naperville, Ill.                3.95      Nursing

OF    Samantha Hall                 Averett         So.    Stoneville, N.C.            3.82      Nursing

DP    Jessica Shotwell              Arcadia             Sr.     Winsted, Conn.             3.56          Psychology

Academic All-America® of the Year:  Sam Curran, Wentworth Inst. of Tech.

(2)   Capital One Academic All-America® Division III 2nd team selection in 2014

(#)   Capital One Academic All-America® Division III 2nd team selection in 2013

(%)   Capital One Academic All-America® Division III 2nd team selection in 2014 and 3rd team selection in 2013