SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State’s Teresa Toscano was named Summit League Women’s Golfer of the Month for September.
The sophomore from Huelva, Spain, leads the Jackrabbits and is third in league with a 73.78 stroke average. She won the season-opening UNO Invitational by six strokes with a three-round 216. The two-time Summit League Golfer of the Week followed that up by tying for 14th at the 15-team, 84-player Minnesota Invitational.
SDSU soccer earns academic team honors
KANSAS CITY – South Dakota State women’s soccer posted a 3.64 combined grade point average to earn the United Soccer Coaches’ Team Academic Award for the 2017-18 season, announced this week by the organization.
The Jackrabbits finished with the 15th highest GPA among Division I teams and were 29th in the country between NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA programs
“Our players work extremely hard at being their very best in all aspects of their lives,” SDSU coach Brock Thompson said. “Having our 2017-18 team GPA rank as 15th in the country is a testament to our players, our culture and their character.”
A total of 487 women’s soccer teams posted a team GPA of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the 2017-18 academic year.
South Dakota State has been honored by the organization (previously known as the NSCAA) for 10 straight years. The Jacks have won the team academic award 11 times overall in their Division I history.
Softball squad garners Easton/NFCA academic honors
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – South Dakota State was one of 107 Division I softball programs to earn a spot on the 2018 Easton/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Academic Teams award list, announced this week by the organization.
The rankings recognize the academic prowess of softball teams across seven membership divisions within the NFCA.
The Jackrabbits had a 2017-18 team grade point average of 3.478 with 17 team members boasting GPAs above the 3.00 mark, finishing 39th nationally in team GPA. Julia Andersen, Taylor Compton, Lyndsey Crist, Olivia Douglas, Ali Herdliska, Madison Hope, Mallory McQuistan, Erin Mullen, Abbey Murphy, Danielle Steffo and Kerigan Torres earned 3.50 or above GPAs and were honored as NFCA scholar-athletes in the same release.
Herdliska, Mullen, Murphy and Steffo are repeat selections from the 2017 team.
Those 11 Jackrabbits were among 1,311 Division I honorees and 6,280 total scholar-athletes across seven membership divisions.
“I am proud of the efforts of the efforts and dedication our student-athletes put into the classroom,” SDSU coach Krista Wood said. “We set a very high bar for our academic expectations as a program, and it’s exciting to see our student-athletes reach those goals while having that hard work acknowledged.”
