DeKALB, Illinois – Northern Illinois University senior catcher Katie Keller (Geneva, Ill./Geneva HS) capped off a stellar academic and athletic career for NIU softball with first team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors as the organization released its 2022 softball teams Tuesday.
 
Keller, who graduated this spring with a perfect 4.0 grade point average in biological sciences while leading the Mid-American Conference in batting average with a career high .443 mark, is the first Huskie to earn first team Academic All-America honors in softball since Emily Naegele in 2016, and the seventh all-time. She was named to the CoSIDA third team as a junior.
 
"Katie finishing her stellar career at NIU with this prestigious award is icing on the cake for her," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "For four years, Keller had a passion for both her medical studies and her playing career. She made countless sacrifices in both areas to become an elite student-athlete. We are proud of all her success both now and in the future."
 
Just the second player in NIU history to earn first team All-MAC honors at least three times, Keller ranked in the top five in the MAC in 12 offensive categories in 2022. In addition to the seventh-best batting average in the country, she led the league and ranked sixth in Division I in doubles (20) and second in doubles per game (0.44). Her 72 career doubles set a MAC and NIU record. She was a second team All-Region selection by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and was named to three All-Region teams during her Huskie career.
 
In 2022, 29 of Keller's 62 hits went for extra bases (20 doubles, two triples, seven home runs) as she posted a career best .764 slugging percentage while striking out just nine times in 140 at bats. She led NIU with 18 multi-hit games, including a pair of four-hit games, and had 14 games with two-or-more RBI. In the field, she did not commit an error in 217 chances with 27 games at catcher and 18 at first base. Keller started 169 of 170 games for NIU over the last four seasons.
 
NIU softball has had 21 players collect CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition since 1986, which is tied for seventh all-time among all NCAA softball programs. Keller, whose future aspirations include medical school, was actively involved in medical research on campus during her time at NIU, focusing on knee joint anatomy and physiology. She also studied mutations and cancer development in the biology lab.
 
"Katie Keller is a coach's dream," Sutcliffe said as the honors continued to roll in for the Geneva native. "She brings a discipline and a focus to everything she does that is unique in a student-athlete. She led us in the classroom with a 4.0 throughout her career and being able to do that while pursuing a pre-med course of study is a testament to her time management, her discipline and the way she strives for excellence in all that she does."
 
Keller is the second Huskie to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2021-22, joining fellow 2022 MAC Medal of Excellence recipient Enrique Banuelos, who was named to the men's soccer third team in November. The Huskies have had at least two student-athletes honored in three of the last four years.  The last Huskie to earn first team honors was Jan Maertins of NIU men's soccer in 2019.
 
To be eligible to Academic All-American honors, a student-athlete must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games, have completed at least one full calendar year at their current institution, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00 and have been selected to their respective Academic All-District Team by a vote of CoSIDA members.
 
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