Wednesday, May 25, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – The long list of awards for Concordia outfielder Meghan Luebbert continues to grow as the junior has been selected as a Division II First Team Softball Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

It is the second time that Luebbert has been named an Academic All-American, having earned Second Team College Division Academic All-America honors in 2015, Concordia’s last as a full member of the NAIA. Luebbert made the team after having compiled a 3.86 cumulative grade point average as a nursing major.

Luebbert becomes the 37th First Team Academic All-American in the history of the conference and the second this academic year, joining men’s soccer First Team Academic All-American Erik Anderson of Northwest Nazarene. She is the first GNAC softball athlete to earn Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA.

The award tops a laundry list of honors for Luebbert, who was named the GNAC Softball Player of the Year in the Cavaliers’ first season in the league. A unanimous First Team All-GNAC selection, Luebbert was also named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s All-West Region Team and was three times named as the GNAC Player of the Week. She was also selected as Concordia’s Female Athlete of the Year, the first softball player to win the award.

Luebbert finished the season leading the GNAC with a .447 batitng average, four triples and 17 home runs and finished second in the league in hits (84), runs scored (58) and RBI (50). With a year of eligibility remaining, Luebbert already owns the school record in career runs scored, stolen bases and triples and is ranked second in team history in career batting average, slugging percentage, hits, doubles home runs and RBI.

Nominated by and voted upon by the athletic communications professionals of CoSIDA, the Academic All-District and All-America program recognizes nearly 1,000 student-athletes annually at every level of college athletics. To be eligible for nomination, a student-athlete must be of sophomore standing with a minimum 3.30 cumulative grade point average, must be a starter or important reserve for a team and have been at their nominating institution for at least one year.