COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Five Skyhawks from the Fort Lewis College softball team were named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic teams, headlined by First Team Academic All-Conference selection Amiee Shanks, the conference office announced Thursday morning.
To be eligible for honor roll consideration, a student-athlete must carry a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (GPA) and must have been an active student at the institution for at least two consecutive semesters or three consecutive quarters. First Team All-Academic members were voted on by the conference's sports information directors for meeting those criteria as well as demonstrating outstanding performance on the court.
"We are proud of girls for not only excelling on the field but also shinning in the classroom," head coach Dwight Sanders shared. "To build the program we want here the classroom piece is essential. We want our student-athletes to continue building our program by dominating in the classroom first and letting that transition over onto the field."
Leading the pack of Skyhawks was sophomore Amiee Shanks who earned First Team Academic All-Conference honors; the first of her career. Shanks, an Exercise Physiology major, owns a 3.97 GPA while also leading Fort Lewis in the circle out on the diamond. Boasting a 3.50 earned run average, Shanks leads the roster with a 16-6 overall record, 15 complete games, and a single save.
Cara Daugherty captured her second-straight Honor Roll selection this season. Daugherty, an Environmental Studies major with a Geographic Information Systems Certificate and a 3.82 GPA, has been a household name in the Fort Lewis outfield all season. The junior from Aztec, New Mexico, is currently hitting at a .286 clip on the season and ended last weekend's series with a hot 5-for-6 performance at the plate.
Also capturing her second-straight Honor Roll selection is Hannah Rutherford. A native of Roanoke, Texas, Rutherford owns a 3.76 GPA while majoring in Public Health. Rutherford is one of the Skyhawks fastest on the base paths and is currently 6-for-8 in stolen bases on the season.
The second of three Skyhawks to earn her first Honor Roll selection is junior Catheryn Rodman. From Tulsa, Oklahoma, Rodman is currently majoring in Nutrition and owns a 3.53 GPA. Rodman stands alongside Daugherty as one of the three household names in Fort Lewis' outfield. Repping a .314 batting average, Rodman leads the Skyhawks with nine home runs and 35 runs batted in.
Katie Pippel rounds out the first-year Honor Roll selections for Fort Lewis. Pippel, a senior and two-year veteran of the Skyhawks squad, is set to graduate in the spring with a 3.58 GPA in Psychology.
Colorado Christian University's Logan Menzies was named The RMAC Softball Academic Player of the Year (Psychology, 3.96 GPA).
Fort Lewis continues its 2023 campaign with a final regular-season conference series at Colorado Christian. Slated to play a pair of doubleheaders this Friday and Saturday, Apr. 28-29, the Skyhawks will look to compete for the final spot in the conference tournament.
