LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fifty-six student-athletes from 35 different schools have been voted to one of three 2023 NFCA Division III All-America teams, the Association revealed on Wednesday evening at the NCAA Division III Championship banquet at the Bear Creek Smokehouse in Marshall, Texas.
Five of the eight teams who advanced to the NCAA Division III Finals had players earn All-America status, including Linfield, which tied Super Regional team Tufts for the most by any institution, with four selections. Berry (three players), Salisbury and Trine (two each), and Rowan (one) were the other finalists with honorees.
NFCA D3 All-America Videos (First Team
| Second Team | Third Team)
Championship host school East Texas Baptist and Texas Lutheran also had three selections, while seven others joined Salisbury and Trine with two players chosen. Twenty teams like Rowan had one player on the list.
Region X had the most selections of any region with 12, followed by Region VI with eight, Region VIII with seven, and Regions I and III with six. Region VII had five of its players chosen, Region IX had four, Regions II and IV had three each, while Region V placed two.
Concordia Wisconsin graduate pitcher Gina Followell, Texas Lutheran junior hurler Ashlyn Strother and Salisbury senior outfielder Abby Mace all earned their third-straight All-America honor, with Mace being a first-team selection all three seasons.
Eleven others were recognized for a second time, including Belhaven junior third baseman Allie Gordon, Berry junior first baseman Morgan Frye, Bethel (Minn.) junior pitcher Kayla Simacek, Concordia Wisconsin senior catcher Claudia Utz, East Texas Baptist’s Tristen Maddox (junior shortstop) and Courtney White (junior second baseman), Linfield’s Tayah Kelley (senior pitcher) and Katie Phillips (graduate outfielder), Randolph-Macon sophomore pitcher Gracie Ellis, Saint Benedict senior outfielder Gabby Spencer and Salisbury senior utility/pitcher Lindsey Windsor.
In total, there are 18 seniors on the All-America squad, 14 juniors, 11 sophomores, eight freshmen and five graduate students.
New in 2023 is the renaming of the first-team Utility/Pitcher award to honor the late Joan Joyce, an NFCA Hall of Famer and pioneer of women’s sports. Trine freshman Debbie Hill, who was just named the 2023 TUCCI/NFCA Division III Freshman of the Year on Tuesday, is also the first player to earn that distinction.
Luther junior Abby Spore is the 2023 Diamond Sports/NFCA Division III Catcher of the Year as the first team player at that position. She boasted a .987 fielding average with just four errors in 311 defensive chances for the Norse this season. Spore also hit a team-leading .474, with 25 runs, 64 hits, 15 doubles, six home runs, 32 RBI, a .719 slugging average and a .551 on-base percentage.
Texas Lutheran freshman second baseman Caelee Clark earned the New Balance/NFCA Golden Shoe award as Division III’s most prolific base stealer this season. Clark swiped 66 bases in 67 attempts (1st in NCAA), and also led the country in stolen bases per game (1.38) and success rate (.985).
The NFCA All-America teams are voted on by the Association’s All-America Committees. In Division III, the committee is comprised of one member head coach from each of the NCAA’s 10 regions. All student-athletes who were nominated by a member head coach and voted to the first, second or third team All-Region squads were eligible for All-America consideration.
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