Corey Harris and Cutie Taylor, key players on the Illinois State softball team were elected to the Verison Academic All-District V University Division first-team. In addition, Abbie Scott was elected to the second-team.
A junior chemistry major with a 3.91 cumulative grade point average, Harris was selected as a designated player/pitcher with a .282 batting average. The Dickinson, Tex., native is a three-time NFCA All-American scholar-athlete, a two-time recipient of the Missouri Valley Commissioners award and a 2001 Valley Academic Team selection. Harris has been a member of the AFNI Honor Roll for every semester of her academic career at Illinois State and has received a 4.0 GPA for four of six semesters.
Taylor, a senior finance major with a 3.21 cumulative grade point average and a Mount Zion, Ill., native, was a unanimous selection to the 2002 all-conference softball team as an outfielder, repeating her membership from the 2001 all-conference team. A second-team selection of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Scholar Award, Taylor led the Redbirds in the 2002 season with a .404 batting average, 12 homeruns, and 41 RBIs. She was a member of the 2001 NCAA Regional all-tournament team and a member of the AFNI Honor Roll.
Scott, a junior psychology major carries a cumulative grade point average of 3.96, the highest on the softball team. She was a 2001 first-team Missouri Valley all-conference academic team member, a member of the deans list, an NFCA All-America scholar-athlete and a member of the AFNI honor roll.
The Verizon Academic All-America program is conducted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). District V consists of the Division I schools from Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Harris and Taylor will join players at their positions from seven other districts on the Verizon Academic All-America team ballot, with that election to take place later this month.
