LOS ANGELES - Junior Jennifer Nayudu became the ninth LMU student-athlete in the school's history to be awarded ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® status when she earned a place on the second team for softball, the organization announced Wednesday. Nayudu was honored at the designated player position after being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team earlier this month.
The All-American honor caps an award-winning month for Nayudu (Carlsbad, Calif.), who just completed her junior year at LMU and carries a 3.81 grade-point-average as a Business Administration major. On April 26, she was named the LMU Female Most Improved Athlete of the Year at the 5th Annual Iggy Awards. On May 6, Nayudu was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII First Team, which put her in the running for All-America honors. She followed that up on May 17 with a place on the Pacific Coast Softball Conference All-Coastal Division First Team. Off the field, Nayudu has also been named to the 2009 PCSC Commissioner's Honor Roll and is a National Scholar Athlete.
Nayudu entered the 2010 season with a career batting average of .233 but hit almost 100 points above that this year, batting .345 with one home run and nine RBI. She tied for the team lead with four three-hit games while adding nine multi-hit games overall. She hit .361 in conference play.
Nayudu is the first LMU student-athlete to earn Academic All-America honors since Laura Mickelson (Cross Country/Track) and Stacia Peterson (Women's Water Polo) in 2007. She is the second Lion softball player to gain the honor, joining Heather Hollis in 1999. LMU's other Academic All-Americans are Steve Smith (Men's Basketball, 1973), Dean Jelmini (Baseball, 1973), Anthony Napolitano (Baseball, 1994), Sandor Demosthenes (Baseball, 1996), Hollis, Jeff Kovar (Men's Soccer, 2002), Mickelson, and Peterson.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.