All-Academic Teams | All-American Scholar-Athletes

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team was recognized for its accomplishments in the classroom recently, as the Cardinals were honored by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association as an All-Academic Team selection for the 2010-2011 school year, while seven Cardinals were named All-American Scholar-Athletes.

The Cardinals boasted a 3.22 team grade-point-average during the 2010-2011 academic school year, ranking No. 64 among the 109 institutions earning a 3.00 or higher GPA.

Julianna Bartosz (Mokena, Ill.), Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.), Leah Fletcher (Shiocton, Wis.), Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.), Laura Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.), Kellie Simons (Richfield, Minn.), and Kristin Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) meanwhile, received All-American Scholar-Athlete status, an honor given to any player submitted by a member coach who achieved a 3.50 grade-point-average or higher a year ago.

Over 4,000 student-athletes representing 707 different academic institutions were named 2011 NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes. This year's total of 4,331 honorees bested last year's total by over 30 student-athletes.

Saint Mary's was one of nine Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference institutions to earn NFCA All-Academic Team honors. St. Thomas, St. Catherine, St. Olaf, Gustavus, Bethel, Carleton, Macalester, and Augsburg were the other eight. All, told, 73 MIAC student-athletes from the nine MIAC schools were named All-American Scholar-Athletes.