FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Friday, April 22, 2016 Yellowjackets place 7 on academic all-GNAC team in softball
Seven Yellowjackets earn academic all-conference honors in softball, holding GPAs of 3.20 or higher for the 2015-16 year. PORTLAND, Ore. – Seven members of the Montana State University Billings softball team earned academic all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors announced Friday by the conference office. Amanda Barham, Cori Gammon, Myrissa Prince, Jordyn Roark, Haley Rowe, Katlyn Stringari, and Alyssa Yaeger were each honored by the conference for holding a grade point average of at least 3.20 while competing in a varsity sport. “We are very proud to have seven student-athletes achieve academic all-conference this season,” said MSUB head coach Rebekah Gasner. “Our team has set high academic standards for itself and our players have been working hard to achieve their goal of a 3.25 team GPA. As a coaching staff, our biggest priority is to help our student-athletes leave our program with a degree in hand. We are also very thankful to all of our faculty members here at MSUB who have taken the time to mentor our student-athletes throughout the year.” Gammon led the way as she was selected for the third year in-a-row, one of just four players in the entire conference to hold that claim. Gammon was the lone repeat winner, and was the only honoree from MSUB in her second year of eligibility for the award (an athlete must be in her second year of competition at her school to be eligible).
Putting together the best season of her career to date, Gammon is batting .305 with 46 hits and 27 runs scored while playing in all 46 of the team’s games. She is the only player on the team to start every game of the season, and the senior left fielder has the second-most stolen bases on the squad with five. Gammon will graduate this spring with a degree in business management, and holds a cumulative GPA of 3.24. Rowe, another senior for the ‘Jackets, is batting .255 with six doubles, two home runs, and 12 RBIs. The starting catcher in 42 games this year, Rowe has caught 13 runners stealing bases and has handled MSUB’s pitching staff all season. Rowe holds a 3.44 GPA and will graduate this spring with a degree in human services. Prince has had a standout sophomore year for MSUB, batting .319 with four home runs and a team-second best 28 RBIs in her first year as a starter. Holding a .966 fielding percentage at second base, Prince is also slugging .487 and ranks fourth on the team with 38 hits. Prince has a 3.46 GPA and is working towards a degree in health and human performance.
Sophomore Jordyn Roark holds the highest GPA on the softball team with a 3.55 in elementary education.
Stringari, Roark, Barham, and Yaeger are all sophomores being honored for their academics for the first time in their careers. Stringari and Roark have split time at shortstop this season, while Barham and Yaeger have slotted into the outfield for the Yellowjackets. Roark (elementary education) and Yaeger (accounting) have the top-two GPAs on the team at 3.55 and 3.53, respectively. Barham holds a 3.47 GPA in marketing and Stringari has a
3.42 GPA in history. The Yellowjackets close their 2016 season at home with a four-game series against Northwest Nazarene University on Friday and Saturday. Rowe, Gammon, and fellow senior Amanda Roark will be honored in a pregame ceremony on Saturday at Avitus Group Stadium. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--