Central lands 12 on softball academic squad
PELLA—The Central College softball team is again a leader in the classroom as 12 players were named Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes.
The NFCA announced that 2,369 NCAA Division III student-athletes were honored. The perennially powerful Dutch program has a tradition of academic achievement under NFCA Hall of Fame coach George Wares, ranking in the top 20 in All-America Scholar-Athletes in Division III seven times, including five top-10 academic finishes since 2010. No team was named in 2020 due to the global pandemic and cancelation of the spring championships but Central had a combined 53 honorees in the last five seasons the awards were given.
The award recognizes those student-athletes who have posted a 3.50 grade point average or higher in the previous academic year. Central, which has made a record 31 NCAA Division III tournament appearances with four national championships, has had players receive NFCA Scholar-Athlete honors 139 times since 2010.
Outfielder/pinch runner Makenna Hall (senior, Keokuk) headed Central’s list with a 3.93 grade point average this past year while graduating with a degree in psychology and sociology. Catcher Madison Farrington (senior, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS), third baseman Carson Fisk (senior, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS) and pitcher Sydni Huisman (senior, Treynor) are each three-time recipients of the award.
Hall, outfielder Bailey Anderson (sophomore, Sioux City, North HS), outfielder Emma Johnson (senior, Davenport, Assumption HS) and first baseman Kynser Reed (sophomore, Dallas, Melcher-Dallas HS) were honored for the second time.
Central College’s 2023 NFCA Scholar-Athletes
Name Yr. Hometown ’22-23 GPA Major
Bailey Anderson So. Sioux City, Iowa 3.79 Kinesiology
Haley Bach So. Council Bluffs, Iowa 3.62 Business management
Madison Farrington Sr. Marshalltown, Iowa 3.78 Biology
Carson Fisk Sr. Searsboro, Iowa 3.72 Elementary education
Makenna Hall Sr. Keokuk, Iowa 3.93 Psychology/sociology
Hannah Higgins Fr. Macomb, Ill. 3.64 Undeclared
Sydni Huisman Sr. Treynor, Iowa 3.92 Actuarial science/computer
science
Emma Johnson Sr. Davenport, Iowa 3.58 Kinesiology
Mariah Parton Fr. Ankeny, Iowa 3.55 Kinesiology
Kynser Reed So. Dallas, Iowa 3.62 Undeclared
Morgan Schaben Sr. Portsmouth, Iowa 3.80 Business management
Taylor Wyeth Jr. Aurora, Ill. 3.72 Art education
