FULL RELEASE: 2023-24 EASTON/NFCA ALL-AMERICA SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARDS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced Tuesday, Aug. 6, that over 8,000 collegiate student-athletes earned Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors for the 2023-24 academic year, including nine members of the Regis College softball roster during the past season.
Leading the way for the Pride are recent graduates Jaylene Deslauriers (Taunton, Mass.) and Abby Erickson (Worcester, Mass.). Deslauriers earned her bachelor's degree in dental hygiene and finished the 2024 season batting .400 with 20 hits, including two doubles and one triple. Erickson graduated with her bachelor's degree in nursing and was previously named to both the GNAC Softball All-Sportsmanship Team and the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team.
Rising seniors Bianca Burke (Cambridge, Mass.) and Lexi Nichols (Granby, Conn.) were both selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team. Burke and Nichols both broke the single season school record for triples with six apiece, with Burke, majoring in elementary education and Spanish, batting .393 with 42 hits and Nichols, a nursing major, hitting .302 with four home runs, two of them coming at Johnson and Wales April 8.
Madi Zancan (Cumberland, R.I.), majoring in criminal justice, appeared in seven games during the Florida trip. Four first-year players also earned the academic honor after a strong start to their collegiate careers: Maddy Bradish (Hudson, N.H.), majoring in diagnostic medical sonography; Mya Gaspie (Hooksett, N.H.), majoring in elementary education and humanities; Grace Motto (Wareham, Mass.), a nursing major; and Avery Patles (Derry, N.H.), majoring in secondary education and humanities.
To be eligible for the Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete Award, student-athletes must have earned a 3.5 grade point average or higher in 2023-24. In total, 2,285 NCAA Division III student-athletes received the honor, including 45 honorees from Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) members Elms, Johnson and Wales, Regis, and Simmons.
As a team, Regis College posted a 3.54 GPA in 2023-24, tied for 65th place within NCAA Division III. In total, 118 NCAA Division III programs finished with a grade point average above 3.0 for the 2023-24 academic year, led by Keuka College with a 3.822 GPA.
Regis College sponsors 19 intercollegiate sports, including softball, within NCAA Division III as a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.