Northwestern University Athletics
Three Wildcats Earn All-America Accolades
6/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 2, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic), freshman Stephanie Churchwell (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) and junior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) earned All-America distinctions Thursday as chosen by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
Cooper earned first-team accolades at first base, Churchwell was an at-large pick on the second team and Foster was an at-large selection on the third team.
With its three selections, Northwestern tied with Arizona, California, Oklahoma and Stanford for the second-most picks. Tennessee and Michigan led the way with four selections each.
Northwestern has never before had more than one All-America honoree in a single year, and only three previous Wildcats earned the award. Lisa Ishikawa was a first-team All-American in 1984 and 85 before earning second-team honors in 1987. Sue Hebson was NU's first All-American with a second-team nod in 1982, while Anne Carpenter earned the Wildcats' last All-America accolade with a third-team selection in 1993.
Cooper batted a school record and Big Ten-best .436 while also setting single-season Northwestern records in doubles (16), slugging percentage (.756) and on-base percentage (.533) in being named the nation's best at first base. She also was tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Year.
Churchwell is NU's second-ever freshman All-American along with Ishikawa. She broke Northwestern's single-season hits record by 20, hitting safely 88 times on the year. She also set NU records for runs scored (53) and total bases (132) en route to a first-team All-Big Ten selection at shortstop.
Foster led the Big Ten with a 1.08 ERA in conference play while striking out more than 200 batters for the third-consecutive year. Her 22-7 record gave her the seventh-most wins in a single-season in school history. Foster was also a first-team All-Big Ten honoree.
For the complete 54-player list comprising all three All-America squads, click here.
