Hull Completes Career with All-America Honors
May 29, 2013
2013 NFCA Division I All-America Softball Team
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Nearly every Kansas record lists her name near the top, but Maggie Hull added the only award not yet bestowed on the Jayhawk icon as the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) named Hull a Third Team All-American, Wednesday afternoon.
Just six days ago, Hull excitedly learned of her Capital One Academic All-America® Division I First Team status, claiming it to be one of the most rewarding honors the recently graduated Jayhawk has ever received. Earning the 16th All-America accolade in Kansas softball history, however, is likely a close second.
“At the beginning of the year, we said that talent was never enough and we each set goals for ourselves – no matter how unreachable they may have seemed – and I put down to become an All-American,” Hull said. “Being an Academic All-American is a huge honor because it also represents what you do in the classroom, but from the day you start playing you dream of being an All-American. It is one of the coolest feelings I’ve ever experienced, truly a dream come true.”
After three-straight seasons of recognition on the NFCA All-Region Team, this is the first All-America selection of Hull’s storied career. Eleven Jayhawk softball players have earned the distinction before her for a total of 16 times, but Hull becomes the first Kansas honoree since Serena Settlemier earned Second Team All-America honors in 2006.
“That’s the elite, that’s the best in the country,” head coach Megan Smith said. “That’s a testament to how hard she’s worked throughout her entire career. For her to end that way, that is something special.”
Hull was one of 54 total players honored, with 18 players selected for each of the first, second and third teams. Only players that earned first or second team All-Region are considered in the NFCA’s All-America voting procedure and 2013 marked the third-consecutive year Hull claimed All-Region honors and the second-straight season she’s been a first team member. KU had not seen a player named to the All-Region Team for three-straight seasons since All-American Camille Spitaleri did so from 1990-92.
As for Smith, who completed her fourth year at Kansas in 2013, Hull represents the first All-American she has guided as a head coach.
“I’ve coached All-Americans before as an assistant, but certainly she’s my first as a head coach,” Smith said. “I think it makes it even more special because it’s Maggie and the type of person she is. I know that she plays and pushes herself to be the best softball player she can be, but she does that with the goal with to make Kansas better. That’s very special, not many players are like that. For her to be my first All-American at Kansas, I don’t think it could be any better.”
A three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team (2011-13) award winner as well as a three-time All-Big 12 honoree (2011-13), Hull is also a two-time Academic All-American (2012, 2013). Revered for her work on the field and in the classroom, Hull was bestowed the inaugural Big 12 Softball Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in 2013 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 and ranks third-best in Big 12 history. 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).
On May 18, Hull graduated with a Bachelor of Science in journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Less than a week later, Hull headed 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.
Wrapping up her third day of practice with the Bandits on Wednesday afternoon, Hull commented on the award from Chicago and took a moment to reflect on the impact she had on the program she leaves behind.
“It makes me proud,” Hull said. “I’m up here practicing with teammates who all were All-Americans at their respective schools. It makes me so proud that I get to be one from Kansas. It’s so fun for me to represent Kansas in that way. I’ve been wearing my KU gear (around Chicago), and I’ve never been prouder to be a Jayhawk.”
