St. Paul, Minn. -- University of St. Thomas junior outfielder Alison Wright and Gustavus Adolphus College senior shortstop Rachael Click have been selected to the 2009 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Softball Academic All-America First Team.
Wright was also named the 2009 College Division Academic All-America® of the Year as the top achiever of the 35 honorees on the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Team. The College Division includes players from NCAA Division II and III and the NAIA.
St. Thomas junior Alison Wright (Pewaukee, Wis.) is a Business and Financial Management 
major with a 3.91 GPA and was named as a first team All-American outfielder in 2008 and 2009. She ranked among the top hitters in NCAA Division III with a .500 average. Wright led the Tommies to a 40-6 record and the MIAC playoff championship and was named the playoff Most Valuable Player. Wright is on pace to be a four-time All-MIAC honoree and the conference career hits leader. She had a 34-game hitting streak earlier this season -- the third longest in D-III history -- from April 2008-April 2009. That included hits in her first 23 games this season. In all 46 games she had 76 hits, 49 runs, 16 doubles, 10 home runs, 59 RBI, 10 walks and 13 steals. On her three-year career, she's helped UST post a 124-15 record (73-2 vs. conference teams). She's batting .465 on her career with 197 hits, 119 runs, 126 RBI, 23 homers, 44 doubles and two triples in 136 games. Wright made her third straight appearance on the All-MIAC team after leading the conference in runs scored with 31 and finishing third in the conference with a batting average of .500. In 22 conference games she notched 36 hits, 21 runs, seven doubles, three homers, 29 RBI and five walks. In only three seasons, Wright has had 65 multi-hit games. In 2009, she belted 10 home runs and ranked eighth in NCAA Division III with 59 RBI in 46 games. Her .803 slugging percentage ranked her among the national leaders.
Gustavus senior Rachael Click (Rochester, Minn./Mayo) guided the Gusties to the most 
successful season in the program's history as the team won the MIAC title with a record of 21-1 and posted a mark of 42-9 overall winning the NCAA Indianola Regional and finishing third at the NCAA Championships. She led the team in virtually every hitting category including batting average (.456), slugging percentage (.934), on-base percentage (.541), hits (62), RBI (53), and home runs (16). Click was the catalyst for Gustavus in the NCAA Tournament as she hit .416 with 10 hits in 24 at-bats (including two home runs and three doubles), scored 12 runs and drove in 10 runs. She was named to the Indianola Regional All-Tournament Team and the NCAA Championship Finals All-Tournament Team. Click was a four-time All-Conference selection and a three-time All-Region honoree. She holds many Gustavus career records including games played (169), home runs (35), runs batted in (179), and slugging percentage (.835). Her career home run total of 35 ranks third all-time in MIAC history. This is the third consecutive year that Click has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team and second consecutive year she has been a first team selection. Click, the MIAC Player of the Year and a NFCA Second Team All-America honoree, maintains a 3.91 GPA with a major in elementary education.
The CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® program honors male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.
CoSIDA Release