LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The NFCA revealed its 2026 NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Top 25 list on Thursday afternoon. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 26, prior to the start of the 2026 NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

This year’s finalists hail from 22 different universities and represent 11 NCAA Division I conferences from across the nation.

The Southeastern Conference led the way with seven honorees, while the Big Ten Conference followed with six representatives. The Big 12, Coastal Athletic Association and Conference USA garnered two plaudits apiece. One student-athlete achieved top-25 status from the American Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big West Conference, Ivy League, Mountain West Conference and Western Athletic Conference.

Alabama, Oklahoma and UCLA each had two honorees. With inclusion of those student-athletes, Oklahoma continues to lead all programs with 14 named all-time to the Top 25, quickly followed by UCLA at 12 and Alabama at 11.Next on the all-time list with a 2026 honoree is Virginia Tech, bringing its total to seven. Arkansas and Missouri have had five student-athletes recognized followed by Ole Miss, Utah and Northwestern with three. Five more programs - Kansas, UNCW, Penn State, UC Santa Barbara and Wichita State - earned their second accolade.

Eight programs – California Baptist, College of Charleston, Cornell, Jacksonville State, Nebraska, Nevada, Purdue and Sam Houston – are represented for the first time. It is the second time a CBU freshman has been recognized by the NFCA, as Caitlyn Lloyd was a Division II finalist in 2017.

On May 7, the list will be trimmed to the top 10 and the three finalists will be released on May 20.

The list of 25 was selected by the NFCA. The top 10, top three and winner are voted by the NFCA Division I All-America Committee. To be eligible, student-athletes must be nominated by their member head coach and in their first year of NCAA Division I collegiate competition as a true or redshirt freshman. Nominated student-athletes remain in consideration for Top-10 selection. 

The NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award was created in 2014 to honor outstanding athletic achievement among Division I freshmen softball student-athletes. The NFCA awards Freshman of the Year plaudits to a student-athlete from NCAA DI, NCAA DII, NCAA DIII and NAIA. For more information about all NFCA Awards, visit nfca.org.

Bri Alejandre
UCLA

Brinli Bain
Arkansas

Ella Boyer
Kansas

Abby Carr
Missouri

Bree Carrico
Virginia Tech

Bronwyn Conroy
College of Charleston

Kenzie Pilon-Farrier
California Baptist

Tarisa Frans
Cornell

Aleena Garcia
UCLA

Madi George
Ole Miss

Mia Gomez
Utah

Camille Hamilton
UNCW

Alexis Jensen
Nebraska

Sophia Lundstrom
Sam Houston

Marina Mason
Northwestern

Kai Minor
Oklahoma

Anna Moore
Purdue

Makenna Moore
Jacksonville State

Vic Moten
Alabama

Allison Oneacre
Penn State

Kaitlyn Pallozzi
Alabama

Dani Rauscher
UC Santa Barbara

Kendall Wells
Oklahoma

Katelyn Wetteland
Nevada

Kinzey Woody
Wichita State

NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Winners

2025 - Taylor Shumaker, Florida; 2024 – Jaysoni Beachum, Florida State; 2023 – NiJaree Canady, Stanford; 2022 – Jordy Bahl, Oklahoma; 2021 – Tiare Jennings, Oklahoma; 2019 – Danielle Williams, Northwestern; 2018 – Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma; 2017 – Rachel Garcia, UCLA; 2016 – Amanda Lorenz, Florida; 2015 – Paige Parker, Oklahoma; 2014 – Annie Aldrete, Tennessee & Kasey Cooper, Auburn

The NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded TUCCI/NFCA Freshman of the Year Awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to a comprehensive drills database, to in-person events and National Convention. 

Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining over 7,000 coaches today!

NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year