From Washington University Athletics
Washington University in St. Louis junior shortstop Taylor Arends was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Division III Softball First Team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Arends, a third-team selection in 2017, is the third player in the 19-year history of the program to earn multiple Academic All-America citations joining Liz Swary (2003-05) and Kelsey Neal (2012-14).
"What an incredible honor for Taylor to be recognized as a first-team Academic All-American," said head coach Michelle Venturella. "She is someone in our program that leads on and off the field. She truly encompasses what being a student-athlete is all about at WashU! We are all so proud of what she does for our university and for our program. She is truly one of the best."
Arends, a first-team all-University Athletic Association (UAA) selection, started all 30 games and hit .366 with one homerun and 21 runs batted in. She ranked in the top-10 in the UAA in six categories: fourth in triples (2), sixth in on-base percentage (.438), seventh in runs (27), eighth in walks (9) and batting average, and 10thin RBI.
Arends hit safely in 10 of the last 11 games played, and was named the UAA Hitter of the Week on April 2 and May 7. She enters her senior year making 118-straight starts at shortstop, and has a career .388 batting average with four homeruns and 93 RBI.
A two-time Academic All-District and Academic All-UAA selection, Arends has a 3.96 grade point average while majoring in psychological and brain sciences with a minor in healthcare management.
In order to be selected to the Academic All-America team, a student-athlete must possess at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA, and be at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing.