CLEVELAND – Five Huskies on the Northern Illinois University softball team brought home Academic All Mid-American Conference honors, the league office announced Wednesday.
 
Seniors Kelly Walinski (Worth, Ill./Marist) and Sam Mallinder (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North), who both graduated this spring, finish their time at NIU as three-time Academic All-MAC honorees. Walinski, a first team All-MAC selection and the league's Nan Harvey Award winner in 2023, graduated with a 3.92 GPA as a pre-physical therapy major. Mallinder, who earned NFCA All-Region third team honors this season, graduated with a 3.71 GPA in biological sciences.
 
Senior Delaney Ostrowski (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo), who will return to the NIU softball program in 2024, holds a 3.73 GPA as a kinesiology major. This is also Ostrowski's third time earning the award.
Juniors Caitlyn Shumaker (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) and Courtney James (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) repeat on the Academic All-MAC Team after being honored in 2022. James studies special education and carries a 3.48 GPA; Shumaker is a business administration major with a 3.51 GPA.
 
To qualify for the Academic All-MAC Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests scheduled or completed in the sport. First-year students and ANY transfer in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
 
Mallinder, Walkinski and Shumaker were also named to the CSC Academic All-District Team earlier this month.   
 
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