Spartan Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District

AURORA, Ill. May 12, 2005 - Aurora University senior women’s softball pitcher/first baseman Taylor Petersen (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) was named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V College Division Women’s Softball Team, which is selected by the district’s Sports Information Directors.

Petersen, a First-Team selection, is a senior biology with secondary education major at Aurora University. As a First-Team member, Petersen will represent District V on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America national ballot. In addition to her excellence in the classroom, Petersen is a standout on the women’s softball field at AU. She was named Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC) Player of the Year for the second consecutive season; she led the Spartans to back-to-back NIIC championships, their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1995, and she rewrote the Spartan record book. She has established new marks in career strikeouts (422), career shutouts pitched (26), season strikeouts (246), season wins (25), and season shutouts (15), all while leading the Spartans to a school record 38 wins and a 38-4-1 overall record.

In her final season as a Spartan, Petersen has a 25-0 record with a 0.18 earned run average (leads Division III), one save, one perfect game, 21 complete games, 15 shutouts, and 246 strikeouts in 159-1/3 innings pitched. She allowed only 10 walks, and opponents hit .119 against her. At the plate, Petersen is hitting .406 with 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 22 runs batted in, and 39 runs scored. She has a .625 slugging percentage with a .438 on-base percentage.

AU’s softball team is currently 38-4-1 on the season and 14-1 in the NIIC, while capturing their second consecutive Conference Championship and the tournament championships which carried the NIIC automatic bid into the 2005 NCAA Division III softball championships, AU’s first NCAA softball tournament appearance since 1995.

The AU softball team is in action in the NCAA tournament on Friday, May 13, 2005 in Alma Michigan. The Spartans are the No 1 seed in the five team regional and will take on the winner of the game between No 4 seed Edgewood College and No 5 seed Allegheny College. Game time for AU is set for 2:30 p.m. EST, in Alma, Michigan.

The Academic All-District teams are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America members within the district based on the student-athletes’ academic prowess while being a steady influence on their respective athletic fields.

-END-