Howard Named First Team Academic All-American

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Coming off of a stellar senior season on the field, and recently taking part in the Tokyo Olympics with the Italian national team, University of New Mexico outfielder Andrea Howard has been nationally recognized for her performance in the classroom as she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team.

Howard was one of 11 student-athletes named to the first team, but the only one not from a Power 5 conference.

Thursday’s announcement marked the second career CoSIDA Academic All-American honor for the Albuquerque native, with Howard named Second Team All-American in 2019.

Howard is just the second Lobo to earn multiple academic All-America accolades, joining head coach Paula Congleton (1980, 1981 and honorable mention in 1982) and the fourth all-time. The last time a Lobo was named an All-American was in 2002 with Tiffani Chambers and Cayley Warner.

A 4.0 student majoring in biology and recently added a minor in psychology, Howard was also recently named Mountain West academic all-conference and Mountain West scholar-athlete for the fourth time in her career.

On the field, Howard led the team in batting average (.336), slugging percentage (.728), hits (42), RBI (33), home runs (12), total bases (91), walks (21) and sacrifice flies (three). Among the conference, the Lobo led the Mountain West in home runs, tied for first in slugging percentage and total bases, tied for second in walks and tied for third in RBI, and was named Mountain West Player of the Week on May 18.

The 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Softball Teams feature 18 members with a 4.0 GPA and 22 members with at least a 3.90 GPA as either undergraduate or graduate student-athletes. The 11 members on the first team have an average GPA of 3.94.

FIRST TEAM
Pos.    Name                                             School                                               GPA              Yr.       Major
P         Carrie Eberle                                Oklahoma State University            3.87 / 4.00   Gr.       Forensic Sciences (G)
P         Montana Fouts                             University of Alabama                    3.51              Jr.        Psychology / Sport Management
C         Bailey Hemphill (1) (#) ($)           University of Alabama                    4.00 / 4.00   Gr.       Early Childhood Education / Hospitality Mgmt.
IF         Mackenzie Boesel (1) (#) (@)    University of South Carolina          4.00 / 4.00   Gr.       Sport & Entertainment Management
IF         Jessie Harper (2)                         University of Arizona                       3.74 / 4.00   Gr.       Sociology (UG)
IF         Kaylee Tow (1) (%)                      University of Alabama                    4.00 / 4.00   Gr.       Marketing / MBA
IF         Sami Williams (1) (&) (@)           Iowa State University                      3.94 / 3.93   Gr.       Information Systems & Business Analytics
OF       Renee Abernathy                         University of Kentucky                    4.00              Jr.        Human Health Sciences
OF       Andrea Howard (&)                    University of New Mexico            4.00              Sr.       Biology
OF       Janelle Meoño                             University of Arizona                       3.84              So.      Communication
DP      Kendyl Lindaman (1) (@)           University of Florida                        4.00 / 4.00   Gr.       Sport Management