May 13, 2022

Six Trojans Earn CoSIDA Academic All-District Honors

UPLAND, Ind. - The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) has announced the Academic All-District Teams for softball across the three divisions of NCAA and the NAIA, with six Taylor women being honored on the list.

Maddi Evans, Ashton Whitman, Alexi Clay Aleyah Rastetter, Jersey Tannehill and Emma West were the six Trojans awarded, providing Taylor with the most selections among all NAIA and NCAA divisions.

Furthermore, the six selections make up almost half of the NAIA District 2 list, which contains 13 players in all, from schools in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Evans, the righty senior collected her second CoSIDA Academic All-District award in her career, after receiving the nod last year as well. Evans posted a 3.78 grade-point average while completing her studies with a major in biology. Evans also excelled on the field, compiling 16 victories and 173 strikeouts in the circle and blasting seven home runs and 12 doubles at the plate.

Behind the plate, Whitman collected her second-career CoSIDA hardware by posting a phenomenal 3.96 GPA as she graduates with a degree in sport management. Whitman had her best season on the field as well, being honored on the First-Team All Crossroads League Team and posting career-highs in almost every offensive category.

The Trojans garnered three infield selections with Clay, West and Tannehill making up half of the total infield nods for First-Team Academic All-District. Clay is another graduating senior posting an impressive GPA of 3.87 while majoring in social work. The great work in the classroom continued, as Tannehill posted a 4.00 in accounting and West, while studying public relations earned a 3.68.

All three of the aforementioned Trojans were starters in the infield for NAIA Opening Round bound Taylor this season. West batted leadoff and collected team-highs in both hits (61) and runs scored (43). Tannehill earned the starting spot at first early in the year and held it throughout, posting 17 runs batted in. Clay started at second and posted career-highs across the board offensively in her final year at Taylor.

Rounding out the award winners, Aleyah Rastetter gathered one of the three available outfield positions to take Taylor's total to six team awards. Rastetter, a sophomore politics and law major, earned her first CoSIDA hardware with a 3.91 GPA. The righty continued to be a productive bat in the lineup, belting 11 extra-base hits and picking up 23 runs scored. Rastetter also helped in the circle, making 10 appearances after injuries hit the team, collecting a win and 11 strikeouts in 32.1 innings pitched.

The CoSIDA Academic All-District award is designed to recognize student-athletes for outstanding achievements, both in the classroom and on the field. In order to be eligible for the honor, an athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have achieved sophomore status academically with at least one full-year at their current institution, and have participated in over half of the team's competitions as a key contributor during the current season.

Student-athletes are nominated for the award by their institution's Sports Information Department and voted on by CoSIDA members from around the nation.

Taylor's six all-district award winners will now advance to the ballot for CoSIDA All-American honors, which will be announced on June 7th, 2022.