ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Seniors Michelle Koch and Tara Oltman of the Creighton softball team have been named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First-Team as voted on by the league’s sports information directors and announced by the league office Monday. Senior Michelle Graner and sophomore Christa Ruf were named to the honorable mention squad. All four players were also members of the CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII Teams announced earlier this month.
Oltman is one of just 18 players in league history to be voted to the first team all three seasons she has been eligible for the award. The Academic All-American has posted a 3.91 cumulative grade point average in English and secondary education and has also earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District VII honors three times. The record-setting right-hander concluded her career on Saturday as the CU and MVC career leader in wins (118), strikeouts (1,086), appearances (187), starts (143), complete games (128) and innings pitched (1,064), while she owns a school record 44 shutouts. The only three-time MVC Pitcher of the Year in league history set a league record with 32 wins this season and became the first student-athlete in school history to earn first-team all-MVC honors in four seasons.
Koch carries a 3.58 GPA in nursing. CU’s starting second baseman for her first three seasons on campus, she has split time between second base and shortstop this year. A second-team all-MVC honoree this spring, she posted career-highs with 10 doubles and 26 RBI this year and finished her career with a .293 batting average (.333 in MVC play). She is one of only 14 players in school history to score at least 100 career runs, finishing with 106 runs in her 211 career games, of which she started 209. The Beatrice, Neb., native led the MVC in sacrifice bunts for the second straight season this spring and ended her career with a school-record 58 sac bunts.
Graner owns a 3.31 GPA as an accounting and management major. The Omaha Burke graduate has moved from the outfield to start 46 games at third base this season. She is the only Bluejay on the roster to start every game she has played in during her career, starting 204 games over her four seasons. This year she hit eight home runs and had 27 RBI, earning second-team all-MVC honors. Graner set the school record by walking 40 times this season to finish her career with a school-record 111 bases on balls. She was also hit by a school-record 34 pitches during her career and her 27 career home runs rank sixth in school history.
Ruf started 50 games in center field for the Bluejays this season after coming off the bench in all 30 appearances as a freshman last year. The Omaha Westside product owns a 3.84 GPA in nursing. On the season she hit .214 and tied for the team-lead with two triples. The outfielder hit .289 over her final 24 regular-season games and all 11 of her RBI and five extra-base hits came after April 5.
Creighton ended its 2010 season with a 37-23 mark after appearing in its sixth NCAA Tournament in the last eight years after capturing its fifth MVC Tournament title in the past eight seasons.
Oltman is one of just 18 players in league history to be voted to the first team all three seasons she has been eligible for the award. The Academic All-American has posted a 3.91 cumulative grade point average in English and secondary education and has also earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District VII honors three times. The record-setting right-hander concluded her career on Saturday as the CU and MVC career leader in wins (118), strikeouts (1,086), appearances (187), starts (143), complete games (128) and innings pitched (1,064), while she owns a school record 44 shutouts. The only three-time MVC Pitcher of the Year in league history set a league record with 32 wins this season and became the first student-athlete in school history to earn first-team all-MVC honors in four seasons.
Koch carries a 3.58 GPA in nursing. CU’s starting second baseman for her first three seasons on campus, she has split time between second base and shortstop this year. A second-team all-MVC honoree this spring, she posted career-highs with 10 doubles and 26 RBI this year and finished her career with a .293 batting average (.333 in MVC play). She is one of only 14 players in school history to score at least 100 career runs, finishing with 106 runs in her 211 career games, of which she started 209. The Beatrice, Neb., native led the MVC in sacrifice bunts for the second straight season this spring and ended her career with a school-record 58 sac bunts.
Graner owns a 3.31 GPA as an accounting and management major. The Omaha Burke graduate has moved from the outfield to start 46 games at third base this season. She is the only Bluejay on the roster to start every game she has played in during her career, starting 204 games over her four seasons. This year she hit eight home runs and had 27 RBI, earning second-team all-MVC honors. Graner set the school record by walking 40 times this season to finish her career with a school-record 111 bases on balls. She was also hit by a school-record 34 pitches during her career and her 27 career home runs rank sixth in school history.
Ruf started 50 games in center field for the Bluejays this season after coming off the bench in all 30 appearances as a freshman last year. The Omaha Westside product owns a 3.84 GPA in nursing. On the season she hit .214 and tied for the team-lead with two triples. The outfielder hit .289 over her final 24 regular-season games and all 11 of her RBI and five extra-base hits came after April 5.
Creighton ended its 2010 season with a 37-23 mark after appearing in its sixth NCAA Tournament in the last eight years after capturing its fifth MVC Tournament title in the past eight seasons.
