AUSTIN, Texas – Taylor Holmes of the Suffolk softball team has made history as the first-ever Academic All-American in the program's 34-year history as the senior earned a spot on the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Division III Third-team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the organization announced Tuesday afternoon.
Holmes, who hails from Ashford, Connecticut, recently completed her undergraduate studies as a double major in accounting and big data and business analytics with an impressive 3.95 GPA. The Ashford, Connecticut native claimed a spot on the NFCA All-Northeast Region Third Team and All-GNAC First Team after leading the Rams inside the circle with a 1.91 ERA and 58 strikeouts over 66.0 innings of action in 13 appearances and 12 starts.
The RHP went unbeaten in the regular season, helping Suffolk to its third GNAC regular season crown in the last four seasons and aided in a conference championship run in the league's postseason tournament.
Holmes is the first-ever Suffolk softball player to earn Academic All-America status after becoming the second-ever student-athlete to earn all-district laurels in the program history behind Angela Belanger, who achieved the feat in 2006.
Additionally, Holmes is the first-ever female student-athlete in Suffolk history to claim Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA. Men's basketball's Brian Small is the Rams' only male student-athlete to garner the nod, earning such laurels in 2006-07, and was the lone blue-and-gold competitor to hold such status until Holmes.
Of the 33 members of the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Division III Softball Team, 25 have at least a 3.90 GPA with 11 student-athletes maintaining a 4.00 GPA (or better) as either undergraduate or graduate students. Holmes is one of two GNAC student-athletes to earn a spot on the prestigious team with Johnson & Wale's Katie Rufo representing the league on the first team.
2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Softball Team Division III
FIRST TEAM
| POS. | NAME | SCHOOOL | YR | GPA | MAJOR | |||||
| P | Kassie Howard (2) | Berry College | Sr. | 3.81 | Exercise Science | |||||
| P | Sam Platt | TCNJ | Sr. | 4.00 | Biology | |||||
| C | Hayley Reitsma | Hope College | Sr. | 3.90 | Biology | |||||
| IF | Hannah Anderson | Ithaca College | Jr. | 3.99 | Clinical Health Studies | |||||
| IF | Taylor Arends (3) | Washington University in St. Louis | Jr. | 3.96 | Psychological & Brain Studies | |||||
| IF | Maddie Flasco (#) | Otterbein University | Sr. | 3.97 | Biology | |||||
| IF | Alyson Shaw | Otterbein University | Jr. | 4.00 | Early Childhood Education | |||||
| OF | Makenzie Duncan | Saint Mary's College (Ind.) | Sr. | 4.00 | Integrative Biology | |||||
| OF | Katie Shade | MIT | Sr. | 4.00 | Electrical Engineering & Computer Science | |||||
| OF | Katie Wede | Case Western Reserve University | Sr. | 4.00 | Accounting | |||||
| DP | Katie Rufo | Johnson & Wales (R.I.) | Sr. | 4.00 | Sports, Events & Entertainment Management |
SECOND TEAM
| POS. | NAME | SCHOOOL | YR | GPA | MAJOR | |||||
| P | Mackenzie Murphy | Williams College | Jr. | 3.74 | Biology | |||||
| P | Beth Wood | University of Wisconsin-Stout | Sr. | 4.00 | Dietetics | |||||
| C | Ashley Allen | Simpson College | Jr. | 3.90 | Sports Administration | |||||
| IF | Jessica Gott | University of Puget Sound | Sr. | 3.99 | Psyschology | |||||
| IF | Briana Halle | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | Sr. | 3.98 | Science & Management | |||||
| IF | Rachel Johnson | Washington & Jefferson College | Jr. | 3.90 | Neuroscience | |||||
| IF | Anna Strien (2) | Luther College | Sr. | 3.72 | Political Science | |||||
| OF | Laura Finke (2) | Thomas More College | Sr. | 3.95 | Biology | |||||
| OF | Allison Meyer | George Fox University | So. | 4.00 | Elementary Education | |||||
| OF | Brittany Tuttle | Berry College | Sr. | 3.93 | Exercise Science | |||||
| DP | Sarah Von Ahn | MIT | So. | 4.00 | Mathematics & Computer Science |
THIRD TEAM
| POS. | NAME | SCHOOOL | YR | GPA | MAJOR | |||||
| P | Hannah Bibeault | Stockton University | Sr. | 3.97 | Health Science | |||||
| P | Taylor Holmes | Suffolk University | Sr. | 3.95 | Accounting & Big Data & Business Analytics | |||||
| C | Lexi Curt | Williams College | Sr. | 3.64 | History (Pre-Medicine) | |||||
| IF | Brittney Birkhauser | Saint Mary's University (Minn.) | Sr. | 3.97 | Actuarial Science | |||||
| IF | Kirsten Drobiak | Springfield College | Sr. | 3.79 | Physician Assistant | |||||
| IF | Melissa Livermore | University of Texas at Dallas | Jr. | 3.86 | Healthcare Studies | |||||
| IF | Harper Patsko | Rampo College | Jr. | 4.00 | History & Journalism | |||||
| OF | Morgan Arst | East Texas Baptist University | So. | 4.00 | Business | |||||
| OF | Ama Biney (^) | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Sr. | 3.67 | Management Engineering | |||||
| OF | Stefanie Polderman (1) | University of Texas at Dallas | Sr. | 3.90 | Biochemistry | |||||
| DP | Aubree Douglas | Hamline University | Jr. | 3.88 | Psychology |
Google Cloud Academic All-America® of the Year: Makenzie Duncan, Saint Mary's College (Ind.)
(1) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® first-team selection in 2017
(2) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® second-team selection in 2017
(3) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® third-team selection in 2017
(#) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® second-team selection in 2017 and third-team selection in 2016
(^) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® third-team selection in 2016