ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Two Lobos earned academic honors as Miracle McKenzie and Gabrielle Briones were named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® on Tuesday.
To qualify, a student-athlete must compete in 90 percent of the games or start in at least 66 percent of the games. For pitchers, a student-athlete must have made at least 17 appearances or pitched 35 innings. Academically, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore and have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale.
Both Briones and McKenzie have been named Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes, but this is their first CSC Academic All-District® award.
Briones recently graduated with a degree in criminology and psychology with a 3.789 GPA and on the field, started all 55 games with 53 games at shortstop and two at second base. The Texas native was named Mountain West Honorable Mention and finished the season tied for second on the team in hits (53) and batting average (.346). She was third in runs scored (35) and on-base percentage (.425), fourth in RBI (25), total bases (78) and home runs (six) and improved her hits, doubles, batting average, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, walks, on-base percentage, sac flies and sac bunts between freshman and redshirt sophomore seasons.
A business administration major with a 3.537 GPA, McKenzie started all 55 games with 54 starts at first and one game as the designated player. The California native was named to the Mountain West First Team and finished her sophomore season with a team-best .716 slugging percentage, .438 on-base percentage, 49 RBI, 111 total bases and 16 home runs. The Lobo infielder was also second on the team in walks (25) and doubles (11) and improved her hits, runs scored, batting average, doubles, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, walks and on-base percentage between her freshman and sophomore season.