Katie Reed Named Senior CLASS Award Finalist

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior Kentucky softball player Katie Reed was named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, it was announced on Thursday.
 
Thirty of the top NCAA softball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates today for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate softball.
 
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
 
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
 
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2019 Women’s College World Series.
 
Reed’s Senior CLASS Bio:
Classroom
Katie Reed has maintained a 4.0 GPA in her seven semesters at Kentucky. She is majoring in health human sciences with a dental track. She has already been accepted into the University of Pittsburgh and will begin dental school there in the fall of 2019. She is a 2018 CoSIDA Academic All-American (first player to receive first-team honors in program history) and the 2018 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Character
Reed is the president of the UK Athletics Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and has been selected as a team captain by her teammates and coaches for her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. She is one of the most respected players in the locker room. In 2017, Reed was inducted into the Frank G. Ham Society of Character. She was hand-picked by UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart to speak on behalf of student-athletes at the opening of the new UK Science Building on campus because of her wonderful academic and personal success.
 
Community
Reed took a trip to Ethiopia and logged over 100 community service hours in the Central American region helping to assist the needy, and she also bonded with the local residents and played pick-up soccer and baseball. She has worked with the Special Olympics and the Miracle League. As the president of SAAC, Reed has developed a relationship with the Special Olympics to make them a partner in community outreach, and she has helped set up activities with them such as bowling outings. She has also has helped with the Salvation Army and God’s Pantry by making lunches available for underprivileged kids in the Lexington area.
 
Competition
In 2017, Reed became the second NFCA All-American in program history, earning third-team honors, and also was selected to the All-SEC First Team. In 2018 she was selected to the All-SEC Second Team and the SEC All-Defensive Team. Her other honors include the 2016 SEC All-Freshman Team, 2017 NFCA All-Southeast District Team and 2019 SEC All-Preseason Team. She started her career on an 18-game hitting streak, breaking Kara Dill’s school-record 15-game hitting streak set in 2013. In 2017, she finished second in the SEC in batting average for league games only (.380). She was the SEC Freshman of the Week in 2016 (2/22) and has appeared on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays two times.
 
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