Softball's LeJune Named to Conference USA All-Academic Team
5/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 10, 2011
IRVING, Texas - One graduate student and five seniors are joined by six juniors on the 2011 Conference USA Softball All-Academic team as selected by the sports information contacts at each of the nine softball schools. In order to be eligible for the recognition, student-athletes must hold a 3.2 cumulative grade point average, be of at least sophomore academic standing and have competed in at least 60 percent of games this season as a starter or key reserve
Southern Miss' Leslie LeJune, who claims a 3.68 GPA as a kinesiotherapy major, earns her first All-Academic team honor. LeJune has twice been named to the President's List while receiving Conference USA Academic Medal honors. She was named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll for the past three seasons. With 13 doubles on the season, she leads the league and is a perfect 9-for-9 on stolen-base attempts.
UCF's Abby McClain led the way as she earned her third-consecutive All-Academic honor. The senior has posted a 3.804 GPA during her time as a Knight and is pursuing a degree in biology. McClain earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 first team honors this season and is a four-time C-USA Academic Medal recipient. On the diamond, she has collected eight home runs and earned 24 walks, which ranks fifth in the league. During her tenure at UCF, McClain has moved into the program's top-10 in 23 different categories.
Also representing the Knights on the list is junior Natalie Land, who repeats on the All-Academic team. An athletic training major with a 3.678 mark, Land has twice been awarded the C-USA Academic Medal and is a three-time Honor Roll member. She was named to the 2010 All-Conference USA first team and currently leads the league in triples with five, ranks third with a .353 batting average and seventh in slugging with a .527 mark.
East Carolina's Toni Paisley was named to the honorary team for the second-straight year as the pitcher sports a 3.55 GPA in the classroom. She graduated in May of 2010 with a degree in social work and has interned as a case manager with Pitt Country Schools. In the circle, she is a Top 25 finalist for the ASA Player of the Year award and was selected as the No. 10 overall pick in the NPF Draft. This season, she has tallied a league-best 344 strikeouts and 27 wins.
A pair of Houston Cougars repeat as All-Academic honorees in Jennifer Klinkert and Katy Beth Sherman. Klinkert owns a 3.83 GPA as a nutrition major and has earned four C-USA Academic Medals. The redshirt-junior ranks within the league's top-10 in six different categories: slugging percentage (.523/9th), runs scored (32/7th), home runs (9/8th), walks (23/6th), sacrifice flies (3/4th) and fielding double plays (7/7th).
Sherman earns her spot with a 3.66 mark as a graduate student working toward a Master's degree in human resource development. The only grad student on the All-Academic list, Sherman has scored 21 runs in C-USA games, a count that ranks second in the league.
Mandy Lowman was selected for the second year in a row as she has created a 3.86 GPA while pursuing a degree in math at UAB. The junior catcher has caught a league-high 15 runners attempting to steal and leads the Blazers with 29 walks.
She is joined by teammates Catherine Douglass and Sallie Van Kirk on the team. Douglass checks in with a 3.90 as a psychology major. A three-time recipient of the league's Academic Medal, the junior has twice earned UAB Presidential Honors. She has stolen seven bases this season on eight attempts.
Van Kirk was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 first team as she majors in nursing with a 3.88 academic tally. A three-time Conference USA Academic Medal recipient, she is second on the Blazers' squad with her .289 batting average and has scored 20 runs for the team.
Marshall's Rebecca Gamby, who has been named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll every season, makes her debut on the All-Academic squad. The junior holds a 3.69 GPA and is studying toward a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology. Gamby owns a .594 slugging percentage, good for fifth in the league, and has tallied 31 RBIs, with 12 coming from home runs.
A pair of Memphis student-athletes was selected for the honor as seniors Heather Mott and Janelle Valle claim their spots. Mott, an exercise and sport science major, touts a 3.46 GPA in the classroom and is a five-time member of the Commissioner's Honor Roll. On the field, the shortstop owns the league's second-best batting average (.372), slugging percentage (.686) and on-base percentage (.456), while ranking third in runs scored (36).
Valle earns her honor as she has worked toward a 3.91 GPA as a biology major, while also pursuing a minor in criminal justice. A three-time recipient of the C-USA Academic Medal, she was named to the 2009 Arthur Ashe Scholar first team. Valle, whose 1.61 ERA ranks as the sixth-best in the conference, holds the most saves and appearances in Memphis program history.
A complete list of the All-Academic honorees is below.
2011 Conference USA Softball All-Academic Team
| Name | School | Year | GPA | Major |
| *Toni Paisley | East Carolina | Senior | 3.55 | Social Work |
| *Jennifer Klinkert | Houston | R-Junior | 3.83 | Nutrition |
| *Katy Beth Sherman | Houston | Grad | 3.66 | Masters in Human Resource Development |
| Rebecca Gamby | Marshall | Junior | 3.69 | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
| Heather Mott | Memphis | Senior | 3.46 | Exercise and Sport Science |
| Janelle Valle | Memphis | Senior | 3.91 | Biology (Minor: Criminal Justice) |
| Leslie LeJune | Southern Miss | Junior | 3.68 | Kinesiotherapy |
| Catherine Douglass | UAB | Junior | 3.90 | Psychology |
| *Mandy Lowman | UAB | Junior | 3.86 | Math |
| Sallie Van Kirk | UAB | Senior | 3.88 | Nursing |
| *Natalie Land | UCF | Junior | 3.678 | Athletic Training |
| **Abby McClain | UCF | Senior | 3.804 | Biology |
*Repeat selection