Four WAC softball players earned 2002 Verizon Academic District honors. Fresno State's Lindsay Fossatti and Tiffany Whipple were named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-America District VIII Softball team. Hawai`i's Kate Judd and Stacie Hirano were also named to the District VIII first team.
Fossatti and Whipple were both selected to the 10-member first team. This is the second consecutive honor for Fossatti, who was a Third Team Verizon Academic All-American last year, and a first for Whipple.
Hirano, a senior, carries a cumulative 3.65 grade point average while majoring in business. The native of Hilo has started every game for UH in 2002 in left field. She is batting .282 overall with seven doubles, one triple, one home run, 15 RBI, and scored 30 times.
Judd, a junior, has a 3.22 cumulative grade point average majoring in Health Education. The Canberra, Australia-native is the Western Athletic Conference's incumbent player-of-the-year in 2001 and is having another banner season in 2002. She leads the team batting .357 overall with 13 doubles, 11 home runs, 33 RBI, and scored 30 runs.
The 2002 Verizon Academic All-District VIII softball team was selected by CoSIDA (College of Sports Information Directors of America). Ten student-athletes representing seven different NCAA Division I schools were honored. Each member of the team will now represent the district, which is comprised of schools in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and British Columbia, on the national ballot. The 10 first-team student-athletes will now be placed on the national ballot where a first, second and third team Verizon Academic All-America selections will be announced on June 6.
In order to be eligible for academic All-America honors, a student-athletes must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale), must be a starter or an important reserve and be in at least their second season at their current school.