Complete list of All-Northern Athletics Conference Awards
MADISON, Wis. – The Northern Athletics Conference has announced its 2009 All-conference softball team and four Eagles were selected to the prestigious group, including Jamie Kurt and Colleen Joyce who were named to the All-NAC first team. Also honored were Leslie Osman and Emily Monson.
Colleen Joyce, who earned a spot on the All-NAC Freshman team two years ago, had a breakout season during her junior year, leading the team in batting average (.495), hits (50), doubles (14), home runs (10), runs batted in (32) and total bases (96). She also led the league and was top-5 in the nation in slugging percentage at .950. Her 10 home runs were second in the NAC and set a new single season school record, one more than Kurt in 2008. Her on base percentage of .563 was second to only KC Blahnik of Lakeland College who claimed league Player of the Year honors.
Joyce hit safely in 29 of the 35 games she played with 12 of those being multi-hit games. Twice she recorded four hits in a game, going 4-for-4 vs. Alverno on April 18 and again on April 28 against Concordia Chicago. She also put together a career-high 15-game hitting streak and followed it up with another 9-game hitting streak later in the season.
Jamie Kurt was an All-NAC First team selection for the second consecutive year. The senior was right on with her career averages across the board, hitting .389 with 37 hits, 13 doubles, eight home runs and 32 RBI. She slugged .842 and also showed patience with a team-high 17 walks while reaching base nearly 50 percent of the time. Kurt, who has nearly done it all at the Division III level, added one more component to her repertoire, stealing a team-best 10 bases and was unsuccessful in her attempts just once.
The native of Dane, Wis. hit for the cycle for the first time in her career on April 28 in a 17-3 rout of Concordia Chicago. After a walk in her first at bat, Kurt went single, double, home run and triple to complete the rare feat. She goes down as one of, if not the most, successful softball player in Edgewood College history, finishing her career as the all-time leader in home runs and doubles while ranking in the top-5 in several other offensive categories.
Leslie Osman received Honorable Mention All-NAC accolades for the second time in her career. She finished eighth in the league in batting average at .430. Her 43 hits this season were second on the team and her 29 runs scored were third. Osman led the team in multi-hit games with 14. Six times she recorded at least three hits in a game and once went 4-for-5 with three runs scored against Benedictine on April 4. Despite playing only three seasons of collegiate softball, Osman raked in a .399 career batting average putting her third all-time among Eagles.
Emily Monson, after a stellar first season at Edgewood College, was named to the All-Freshman team in 2009. She played in a team-high 36 games and started in three different positions from catcher to shortstop to outfield. Monson hit seven doubles, a triple and a home run while driving in 11 runs with a .374 on base percentage. Her .321 batting average was fourth on the team and she tallied the second-most multi-hit games with 12.
The Eagles finished the year 19-18 with a 14-10 mark in the Northern Athletics Conference. Their season ended in dramatic fashion as they won four of the last five games with that one loss coming to Dominican in the last game of the regular season, keeping them one win shy of qualifying for the NAC Tournament.