COMPLETE CSC ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Lesley University softball team saw four student-athletes earn spots on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Team announced by the organization this afternoon. Emma Hodgkins (Raymond, N.H.), Lauren Martin (Lexington, Mass.), Kari Sorensen (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), and Leah St. John (New Ipswich, N.H.) all earned their first career CSC Academic All-District honors.
To be nominated, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at her current institution. Field players must have appeared in at least 90 percent of the team's games or have started at least 66 percent of the games. For pitchers, a student-athlete must have made at least 17 appearances or pitched 35 innings.
Hodgkins graduated this past May with a degree in Psychology/Health Science while posting a 3.86 cumulative GPA. Hodgkins had a strong final season for Lesley by appearing in 29 games while posting 18 hits, two doubles, a home run, six RBIs, and 11 walks. She had a .243 batting average to go along with a career-high .364 on-base percentage and .311 slugging percentage. On the mound, she tossed 71.0 IP while allowing career-lows in hits (108), runs (82), earned runs (66), walks (38), and home runs (two). Hodgkins struck out 65 batters on the year highlighted by striking out a career-high nine batters twice this year (Elms-March 11 and VTSU Johnson-April 18).
In her second year with the Lynx, Martin played in 32 games and set numerous offensive career-highs including: hits (27), doubles (seven), RBIs (19), batting average (.278), on-base percentage (.314), and slugging (.351). She finished with five multi-RBI games including a season-high four in a 13-2 win against VTSU Johnson (April 18). The Lexington, Mass. natvie is currently majoring in Business with a 3.62 cumulative GPA.
Sorensen appeared in 25 games and finished with 12 hits, two doubles, three RBIs, nine walks on a .312 on-base percentage and .219 slugging percentage. She also drew nine walks and swiped four bases as well. Behind the plate, she posted a .946 fielding percentage and caught two runners stealing. Sorensen is working towards a degree in Animation while having a 3.86 cumulative GPA.
Finally, St. John was the squad's top hitter as she led the Lynx in hits (29), doubles (11), batting average (.315), slugging percentage (.500), and home runs (two). All those marks for St. John marked a new career-high for the sophomore. St. John finished with six multi-hit games on the year highlighted by a career-high three hits in a game where she went 3-3 versus Wisconsin-Superior (March 12). She belted her first career homer in a 6-2 victory over UMPI on April 14.
About College Sports Communicators
College Sports Communicators (CSC) was founded in 1957 and is a 4,400+ member national association for strategic, creative and digital communicators across intercollegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. The current name of the organization was adopted following a membership-wide vote on August 31, 2022.
From its found in 1957 until the 2022 name change, the organization was known as College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The name change signaled a major step in a larger strategic plan to highlight the association's evolution and expansion. The move better aligns with the association's membership makeup and further positions the organization to support and advocate for its members who serve in the communications, digital and creative college sports industry, regardless of position or title.
The organization, which celebrated its 65th year during the 2021-22 academic year, is the second oldest management association in all of intercollegiate athletics. College Sports Communicators became an affiliated partner with NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) in December of 2008.
CSC's membership first reached the 3,000 mark during the 2013-14 school year and has topped that threshold each year since with the exception of the 2020-21 Covid-19 pandemic year. The membership base reached 4,000 for the first time in 2022-23.
Prior to the formation of the organization as CoSIDA in the mid-1950s, sports information directors as a group were a part of the American College Public Relations Association. Most SIDs at those ACPRA meetings eventually felt that a separate organization was needed and that led to CoSIDA's formation. There were 102 members at the original meeting/convention in 1957.