Combining excellence on the softball field with exemplary work in the classroom, senior infielder Jamie Foote (, ) has earned a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America (College Division) Third Team, the first softball player to earn the honor, announced Wednesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Foote becomes the 11th student-athlete to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since 1984. Earlier this academic year, Kate Edstrom, a junior defender on the women’s soccer team, also earned third team Academic All-America honors. Eight of the 11 student-athletes earning Academic All- recognition have done so within the past six years.
Named the Bill Fenton 101 Club Female Athlete of the Year two weeks ago, Foote led with a .381 batting average, nine doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 32 runs batted in, a .732 slugging percentage, and 72 defensive assists at third base. She was second on the squad with 37 hits and 27 runs scored and also drew 17 walks to go along with being hit by a pitch four times for a .492 on-base percentage. Earlier this month Foote was one of three SeattleU players named First Team All-Independent.
Finishing the season with a ten-game hitting streak and by reaching base safely in 17 straight games, Foote was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Division I Independent Softball Tournament after going 9-for-15 (.600) with a double, a triple, a home run, two walks, six runs scored, and seven runs batted in. She scored the tying run in the sixth inning and drove in the winning run in the seventh inning in SeattleU’s 2-1 victory over Cal State Bakersfield in the first round of bracket play at the independent tourney.
Foote is majoring in environmental studies and currently carries a 3.98 grade point average, highest among the ten players on the Academic All-District VIII first team. She was named Featured Student-Athlete of the Week on GoSeattleU.com after batting 6-for-12 (.500) and hitting home runs on three consecutive days during the Husky Softball Classic.
capped off the 2009 season by winning the Independent Softball Tournament, completing an 18-20 season. In its first year at the Division I level, the team posted victories over Illinois-Chicago, Loyola Marymount, , Valley, Saint Mary’s, , , , Houston Baptist, Cal State Bakersfield, and . The softball program will join the Pacific Coast Softball Conference beginning in 2010.
To be eligible for the Academic All-District and All-America awards, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average 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- honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
The Seattle University athletic department is scheduled to begin Year Two of the reclassification process towards Division I status on July 1, when all sports will be expected to follow Division I rules. This change also affects the school’s status within the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, as Seattle University student-athletes will now be eligible for academic awards within the University Division, which encompasses all Division I schools.