Whitman Named CoSIDA Academic All-American

CoSIDA Release | TU Honors Page

AUSTIN, Texas – Ashton Whitman of the Taylor University softball team was recognized recently with CoSIDA NAIA Softball Second-Team Academic All-American honors, as voted on and announced by College Sports Information Directors of America.

The highly competitive list of First and Second-Team Academic All-Americans included just two catchers from around the NAIA, with Whitman and Georgia Gwinnett's Sydney Pelaez being the only backstops in the nation to make the cut.

Whitman was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American for the first time, following a pair of CoSIDA Academic All-District nods. The senior graduated from TU with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.96 in sport management and will also collect the second Academic All-Crossroads League and NAIA Scholar-Athlete awards of her career later this summer.

On the diamond, Whitman was a force for Taylor this season, topping the lineup with a .379 average and .557 slugging percentage, as well as with 13 doubles and 43 runs batted in. Whitman also added 26 runs scored, six dingers, and reached base at a robust .423 clip.

Whitman is the 12th Taylor student-athlete to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American during the 2021-2022 year. The honor is the 110th such award for Taylor in school history, with 108 of those coming since 2010.

Whitman's honor is the seventh CoSIDA Academic All-American nod for TU softball in program history, with five of those coming since 2015.

The CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America awards are designed to showcase student-athletes for outstanding achievements in the classroom, as well as on the court or field of play. In order to be eligible for the honors, an athlete must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30, must have reached sophomore status academically with at least one full year at their current institution and must have participated in over half of the team's competitions as a key contributor during the current season.

Student-athletes are nominated for the awards by their institution's Sports Information Department and are selected via a vote by CoSIDA members from around the nation. To be eligible for All-American honors, a student-athlete must be selected as a First-Team Academic All-District performer.