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Four Softball Student-Athletes Named All-America Scholar Athletes
11/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Nov. 3, 2011
HOUSTON - Four softball student-athletes were named All-America Scholar Athletes by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association this week. The Houston honorees are Amanda Crabtree, Jennifer Klinkert, Haley Outon and Katy Beth Sherman.
Last year was a banner season for the Cougar softball program as they advanced to the Super Regionals and were Conference USA champions. In addition to the numerous athletic achievements the Cougars accomplished, head coach Kyla Holas was even more proud of her squad for what they were able to accomplish in the classroom.
"It's a credit to what total students and athletes our girls are," said Holas. "It takes a special person to balance both sides of being a student-athlete. Sometimes the athletic world doesn't put enough praise into celebrating these academic achievements. This is a very significant feat for our girls and I'm very proud of them."
"This award should have been delivered to Lori Selzer's office. Lori has been with our program a very long time and she is the lifeline to our kids and the academic world. She does a tremendous job keeping the kids in line and helping them with all of their academic inquiries. She along with her the entire ACE (Academic Center for Excellence) staff deserve a lot of credit for anything we as a team accomplish."
Selzer, who is in her 11th year at the University of Houston as an assistant ACE Director, couldn't take too much credit for the studious student-athletes.
"I have to give the credit to the student-athletes and the coaching staff," Selzer said. "The working arrangement we have together makes their lives so much easier. We have a very family-like environment here and those four (Crabtree, Klinkert, Outon and Sherman) were all amazing to work with - I never have any issues with them. They come in do their work and take care of it way ahead of time. They are all so proactive, the entire team really is."
Crabtree, who graduated with a degree in elementary education, led the nation in strikeouts (12.0) and hits allowed (2.85) per seven innings last season. Along with the rest of the pitching staff, Houston led the nation in team ERA last season (1.35).
Sherman graduated summa cum laude with a bachelors in corporate communication the previous year. The Waller, Texas native was named to the All-America Scholar Athletes team while completing his first year of graduate school with a master's in human resources and interning for NASA. Sherman was also one of 12 C-USA recipients of the Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship award following the 2011 season.
Klinkert, along with Sherman, were repeat selections to the C-USA All-Academic Team in 2011. The nutrition major owns a 3.83 GPA and aspires to be a nutritionist following her college career. This past season Klinkert interned UH sports dietician Tara Boening's inside the UH athletics department. Boening is the only full-time nutritionists in C-USA.
Outon, the lone freshman selection for Houston, is majoring in health with a minor in psychology. She was named to the C-USA All-Freshman and All-Tournament teams following her stellar freshman campaign. She started 56 of 60 games behind the dish and had the game-winning home run in the NCAA Regional Championship game over Louisiana-Lafayette to propel Houston to the Super Regional.
The Cougars finished ranked No. 16 in the NFCA poll.
