Softball players earn athletic, academic honors

Portland State softball players Laura Freels, Megumi Hackett and Monica Martell were named to the All-Western Athletic Conference second team this week.

The group of first-time postseason honorees was among the league leaders in batting, led by Freels’ team-high .395 average.

Freels, a sophomore, had 15 hits in 15 league games and ranked third in the league in batting average. A converted catcher, Freels played left field this season, her first at Portland State.

Second baseman Hackett, a junior, was PSU’s best hitter down the stretch and finished the 2002 season with a .328 average (eighth in the WAC) and 11 RBIs in Conference play.

Martell concluded her final season at Portland State batting .300 in Conference games to rank 11th in the WAC batting race. The senior right fielder had her best offensive season and led the Viks with 49 hits. She leaves PSU ranked in the top ten in all-time games played (186) and stolen bases (29).

Megan Herscher received another top honor last week: the Verizon Academic All-American District VIII Second-Team.

The junior history major with a 3.90 GPA started 17 games for the Vikings and pitched in relief in four others. She was 4-13 on the mound with a 2.23 ERA.

The Verizon Academic All-District team is selected by voting among members of the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA). District VIII consists of Division I schools in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. To be eligible for consideration for the team, a student-athlete must carry a GPA of 3.20 or higher and be a top squad contributor.