Three University of Kentucky softball players have received recognition for their outstanding efforts on the field and in the classroom with selection to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams. Senior Meghan Cooper received first-team all-district IV honors and is automatically nominated to the Academic All-America ballot. Juniors Brooke Marnitz and Ashley Fertic were named to the second team.
Cooper graduated from UK with a degree in history. She was a member of the Dean?s List, SEC Academic Honor Roll, Athletic Director?s Honor Roll and was the 2005 recipient of the State Farm Postgraduate Scholarship Award. She is a member of the Frank G. Ham Society of Character and was named the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the 2006 Catspys.
Cooper set new career highs this season in runs scored, triples, walks and was ranked eighth in the nation in hit by pitch after being plunked a team-high 16 times. The Golden, Colo., native leaves Kentucky ranked among the top 10 in 11 different categories, including five pitching records. Cooper is third in walks (57), third in assists (452), fourth in triples (10), sixth in doubles (26), seventh in home runs (8) and ninth in RBI (58). She also ranks fifth in career appearances (75), fifth in innings pitched (340.2), fifth in games started (51), sixth in career wins (23) and eighth in strikeouts (78).
Marnitz is a double major in management and communications with a minor in international business. The junior shortstop was second on the team with a career-high .309 average in 50 games this season. She led the team with 12 doubles, six home runs and 31 walks. Her 18 RBI were a career-high and ranked her third on the team in that category. Marnitz set a school record with four walks in the Cats? loss to Loyola Marymount and won the Catspy for Female Performance of the Year after she hit for the cycle in a five-inning victory over Indiana State. Marnitz is also making her mark on the career numbers at Kentucky. The Lexington native ranks eighth with four career triples and is sixth with 10 home runs. The Dean?s List and SEC Academic Honor Roll member ranks second all-time at UK with 59 bases on balls.
Fertic is an accounting major at Kentucky. This season, Fertic set new career highs in batting average (.222), runs scored (20), home runs (2) and RBI (21). She was second on the team with 21 runs batted in and was third on the team with 20 runs scored. The Valrico, Fla., native was recently named to the Southeastern Conference Good Works Team for her community service efforts. Fertic has been a member of the ean?s List, SEC Academic Honor Roll, Athletic Director?s Honor Roll and is a 2006 inductee into the Frank G. Ham Society of Character. Fertic is also a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and was recently elected as the President of the UK Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The Academic All-America and All-District squads are selected by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America. Kentucky is a member of District IV which includes Division I schools in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.
