CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced its 2017 Softball Academic All-MAC team Wednesday, May 31. Western Michigan and Northern Illinois tied with a league-best 11 recognitions. Eastern Michigan and Kent State followed with 10 apiece. In total 89 softball student-athletes were honored.

All 11 Broncos will now be eligible to be voted as Distinguished Scholar-Athletes by the league, an award which began in 2015. Distinguished Scholar-Athletes will be announced later this year.

The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport and are not of freshman or first-year transfer status. All student-athletes that meet this criteria earn Academic All-MAC honors, a change from in years past when only a select few were named Academic All-MAC but all eligible student-athletes were named honorable mentions. Voting for the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete team will follow the old criteria used to select Academic All-MAC.

Of those on Western Michigan's roster who met the minimum grade-eligibility status, 78.5 percent of the team was named Academic All-MAC. As an entire team, Western Michigan had a 3.53 grade-point average for the spring semester and a 3.5 overall GPA for the entire 2016-17 academic year.

WMU ACADEMIC ALL-MAC SELECTIONS
Erin Binkowski, Western Michigan, Senior, 3.39, Sport Management
Kelsea Cichocki, Western Michigan, Senior, 3.73, University Studies
Geordin Craun, Western Michigan, Junior, 3.43, Paper Engineering
Jenna Faultersack, Western Michigan, Sophomore, 3.54, Sport Management
Jordan Kurth, Western Michigan, Sophomore, 3.92 Finance
Anissa Sanchez, Western Michigan, Junior, 3.65, Accountancy
Ivy Schaaf, Western Michigan, Senior, 3.56, Marketing
Courtney Sleeman, Western Michigan, Sophomore, 3.21, Sport Management
Aspen Williams, Western Michigan, Junior, 3.24, Exercise Science
Marlee Wilson, Western Michigan, Redshirt Junior, 3.96, Graphic Design
Brooke Wyman, Western Michigan, Sophomore, 3.65, Sales and Business Marketing