Hull Named Capital One Academic All-America First Team
May 23, 2013
|
||
 |
||
|
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Already highly-decorated, Kansas senior Maggie Hull added arguably the most prestigious honor to her resume when she was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I First Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday morning.
Hull becomes the third softball player in Kansas history to don Academic All-America First Team recognition and the first since Stephani Williams was a four-time honoree from 1991-94. Former Jayhawk Sheila Connolly was the program’s initial first-team recipient in 1987.
“What an honor,” head coach Megan Smith said. “We strive to compete at the highest level on the softball field, but this is very much about getting an education, too. This recognizes Maggie for being the best at both of those. It’s such an honor and we’re so proud of her. We hope that all of our players strive to be just as good off the field as they are on the field.”
A three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team (2011-2013) award winner, Hull was named to the Academic All-America Third Team in 2012. Last Sunday, Hull graduated with a Bachelor of Science in journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, posting a 3.8 cumulative GPA.
A Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society member, awarded to the top-five percent of her class, Hull also earned her Spanish degree with distinction, finishing in the top-10 percent. The additional combination of her character and top-10 percent earned Hull a position on the Kappa Alpha Tau Journalism Honor Society.
“I’ve said about Maggie many times that I know her name will be in the softball record books for what she’s done on the field, but she’s an even better person and student,” Smith said. “She’s so well-rounded. It’s an honor to coach her and she deserves every award and honor that she gets.”
Earlier this month, Hull was bestowed the inaugural Big 12 Softball Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year award after finishing the regular season as the league’s batting champ for the second-straight year. Her .456 batting average broke her own single-season record at Kansas is the third-best in Big 12 history.
Thanks in large part to her academic strengths, Hull was selected by Kansas Athletics to receive the Marlene Mawson Exemplary Student-Athlete Award in January and made the top-30 candidate list for the Senior CLASS Award the following month. Hull was also a contributing writer to FCA during her senior season, spent last summer interning in the KU Athletics Communications office and has even served in the translator role for Spanish-speaking student-athletes.
At the conclusion of the 2013 regular season, Hull covered nearly every offensive category in the Big 12 rankings: batting average (.456, 1st), hits (73, 1st), doubles (18, 1st), triples (4, 2nd), total bases (120, 4th), on-base percentage (.532, 4th), slugging percentage (.750, 5th), runs scored (45, T-8th) and RBIs (45, 9th).
In 210-consecutive starts for the Jayhawks, Hull completed her time at Kansas as the program’s leader in career batting average at .368, which sits one spot away from the Big 12’s all-time top-10 list.
Not just a power at the plate, Hull was the only Jayhawk to take the field in all 50 games this season and not record an error. The senior outfielder caught 71 of 71 chances hit at her in left this season. Her offensive and defensive dominance helped the Jayhawks’ break the program record for batting average (.345) as well as fielding percentage (.976).
Following graduation, Hull will head to Chicago to begin her National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) career as a member of the Chicago Bandits. Hull was drafted 11th overall in April, the highest draft selection of a KU softball player in program history.
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 18,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
ABOUT CAPITAL ONE
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., and ING Bank, fsb, had $216.5 billion in deposits and $294.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of March 31, 2012. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One and ING Direct offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels.
Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF” and is included in the S&P 100 index.
Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot team, Capital One Academic All-America® Program, and supports all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
