(Story from Texas Lutheran University Athletics)
SEGUIN, Texas – Texas Lutheran student-athletes Kelly Jurden and Chassety Raines received Academic All-America honors Tuesday in the College Sports Information Directors of America national program for NCAA Division III Softball.
Jurden, a junior from Brenham, Texas, was named to the Academic All-America First Team. She repeated as an Academic All-America selection after being named to the Second Team in 2019.
Jurden is the 13th student-athlete in school history to pick up a second Academic All-America in a career.
Raines, a sophomore from Spring, Texas, was named to the Academic All-America Third Team. She is the fo student-athlete in school history to claim Academic All-America honors as a sophomore.
Jurden and Raines are the 43rd and 44th Academic All-Americans in school history.
Both student-athletes were key performers in TLU’s run to the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championship.
Jurden holds a 3.96 grade point average as a mathematics and computer science major. She is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science and her master’s degree in data analytics.
Raines holds a 4.0 GPA as a social innovation and social entrepreneurship major.
Jurden is a three-year starter for the Bulldogs. As the team's left-fielder and center-fielder, Jurden has a career batting average of .416 with 118 runs scored, 142 hits, 46 RBI, 48 walks, and 113 stolen bases.
Jurden is the all-time stolen base leader at TLU, and she led all of NCAA Division III in steals, with 61, in 2019. She was named the 2019 New Balance/NFCA Golden Shoe award winner for leading DIII in stolen bases.
Raines, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2019 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, is 12-0 in her Bulldog pitching career. She has a career ERA of 0.98 with 31 strikeouts in 71-1/3 innings pitched.
Raines has a perfect 4.0 GPA as a social innovation / social entrepreneurship major.
Raines was the winning pitcher in the DIII championship final win over Emory (Ga.). She tossed a complete-game, three-hitter in the championship victory.
Raines also plays in the Bulldog outfield. When not pitching, she starts in center field. She is a .392 career hitter with 13 doubles, five triples, one home run, 30 RBI, 15 stolen bases, and an on-base percentage of .477.
Since the 2020 softball season was halted mid-season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, CoSIDA All-America nominations were submitted using career numbers. TLU was 19-1 and ranked second nationally when its season ended.
Each college and university's sports information director could nominate up to six student-athletes in each sport. Academic All-District First Team selections moved on to the national ballot. TLU had a record four players – Jurden, Raines, Madisyn Cates, and Alyssa Cantu – named to the Academic All-America national ballot.
The 2020 Academic All-America® Softball Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes softball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CoSIDA Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA national office.
To view the complete CoSIDA Release, click here.
