Seven Earn Academic All-Big 12 Honors

Oklahoma City, Okla. ? Seven Nebraska softball players earned first- or second-team academic All-Big 12 honors, announced by the conference office. Senior Kira Boerkircher and juniors KoKo Tacha, Trisha Tannahill and Jessica Yoachim were each named to the first team, while seniors Sheena Lawrick and Anne Steffan and junior Katie Linke each earned second-team accolades.

 

Tacha, Tannahill, Steffan and Yoachim were each honored for the second time in their careers, while Boerkircher, Lawrick and Linke were each honored for the first time.

 

Boerkircher, a dance major, has started a career-high 15 games this season. She has more than doubled career RBIs with five and has produced one game-winning RBI. Boerkircher has drawn a career-best four walks and four stolen bases in her final season as a Husker.

 

Tacha is a business administration major who carries a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in the classroom and has started a career-high 19 games this season. Tacha, a team captain, is one of six Huskers to homer this year and posted a career-high hitting streak of five games earlier in the season.

 

Tannahill, who also earned second-team All-Big 12 honors, has been one of the Huskers’ best clutch hitters this season. She ranks second on the team with five game-winning RBIs and her three home runs are a career high and rank third on the team. A native of Overland Park, Kan., Tannahill is hitting .276 this season. A communication studies major, Tannahill has now earned four All-Big 12 awards in her first three years at Nebraska, including two in the classroom and two on the field.

 

Yoachim, the Huskers’ lone first-team All-Big 12 selection on the field, is hitting .352 this season with 26 stolen bases and 17 sacrifices. She ranks in the top 30 in the nation in sacrifices and stolen bases. A communication studies major, Yoachim ranks in the top 10 in single-season school history in two categories.

 

Lawrick was the 2004 recipient of the Richard Raimondi Memorial Scholarship. She leads the team with six home runs, 31 walks and 45 RBIs. A native of Calgary, Alberta, Lawrick broke the school record with four walks in a single game against Texas-San Antonio. She has set career highs in nearly every offensive category, while posting a .331 average. Lawrick is majoring in Child Development ? Pre School Lab.

 

Steffan earned her second straight academic All-Big 12 award. Also a second-team All-Big 12 selection this season, Steffan leads the team with a .414 average. Her 30 stolen bases are also a team high and rank second in school history, just one shy of the school record. Steffan’s 75 hits also lead the team, and her 26-game hitting streak earlier this season eclipsed the previous school record by seven games. A native of Mankato, Minn., Steffan is a psychology major.

 

Linke, the 2004 Julie Geis Memorial Scholarship recipient, has started a career-high 27 games. A psychology, pre-dentistry major from Lincoln, Linke has a .322 on-base percentage. She has driven in nine runs this season, one shy of her career high. Linke has also added one game-winning RBI this season.