SouthtownStar Athletes on Campus: Brittany Wolski paces Benedictine feats
By Mike Walsh For Sun-Times Media August 17, 2012 11:54PM
Brittany Wolski. Benedictine University softball.
Updated: September 20, 2012 10:08AM
Sandburg graduate Brittany Wolski was one of four Benedictine University softball players to be named to the All-Northern Athletics Conference First Team in women’s softball for the 2012 season.
In 44 games, the senior shortstop batted .486 with 47 runs, seven doubles, four triples and two home runs.
The Orland Park resident also drove in 33 runs and was 35-of-41 in stolen bases.
Wolski led Benedictine in batting average, runs, triples, RBI and stolen bases. Wolski paced the Eagles in slugging percentage (.630) and on-base percentage (.519). She also established a new Northern Athletics Conference record in hits with 244.
She shared the team lead in home runs and was second in doubles.
Wolski also was recognized for her efforts by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association as she was named to the NFCA’s Division III All-Region First Team.
Teammate Kara Walsh (Marian Catholic) was chosen to the All-NAC Second Team as a catcher. The Oak Forest native batted .316 with 31 runs, four doubles, two homers and 32 RBI. The senior also was 13-of-17 in stolen bases.
Another Benedictine softball player honored by the NAC in 2012 was freshman second baseman Chelsea White (Crete-Monee). White was named to the NAC’s All-Freshman team after batting .318 with 29 runs, three doubles, three triples, two homers and 22 RBI. White was 9-of-11 in stolen bases.
In addition, three Southland residents were named to the 2012 All-NAC Sportsmanship Team. Recognized were Benedictine junior outfielder Ashley Parrott (Homewood-Flossmoor), Concordia Chicago junior outfielder Caitlin Richards (Mother McAuley) and Milwaukee School of Engineering senior pitcher Jessica Iversen (Lincoln-Way East).
Best and brightest
Thirteen Moraine Valley Community College student-athletes were recipients of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Academic Student-Athlete Award for the 2011-12 school year.
To merit recognition, student-athletes must have a grade-point average of 3.6 or better (on a 4.0 scale) after 45 course credit hours and have participated in their respective sports for at least one season.
Southland residents recognized were women’s tennis players Nicole Baffin (Reavis), Sophie Baxter (Stagg) and Veronica Canseco (Argo); women’s soccer player Natalie Maka (Richards); baseball player David Loomis (Shepard); men’s tennis players Josh Rodig (Lincoln-Way Central) and Dale Van Witzenberg (Shepard); men’s golfer Brendan Ryan (Shepard); men’s soccer players Lukasz and Marek Szczesniak (Reavis) and women’s basketball player Rebecca Theriault (Sandburg).
Maka and Marek Szczesniak also received the Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence for maintaining 4.0 GPAs.
In addition to the aforementioned student-athletes, Moraine Valley also had 12 other student-athletes from the Southland named to the 2012 Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Academic Team.
Honored were Joe Rigg (Sandburg); Mike Giordano (Oak Lawn); Jon Altman (Sandburg); Stephanie Ruvalcaba (Argo); Theresa Urchell (Evergreen Park); Molly Duckwall (Bremen); Bianca Hull (Bremen); Brittany Bixman (Stagg); Valerie Zulevic (Mother McAuley); Nagieh Omer (Reavis); Isabela Pinedo (Richards); and Jessica Schiesl (Oak Lawn).
