On a Classroom Crusade

SELINSGROVE, Pa. - Susquehanna University junior Shelly Zimmerman has been selected to the Verizon Academic All-District II College Division Softball first team in voting conducted by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Zimmerman (Denver, Pa./Garden Spot H.S.) is a biology major with a 3.75 cumulative grade-point average, and will join 10 other student-athletes from District II on the national ballot. The Verizon Academic All-America College Division Softball Team will be announced on June 7.

Zimmerman, who was named as a Commonwealth Conference first-team All-Star at third base, hit .381 while starting all 29 games this season. She led the Crusaders in doubles (six), triples (three), home runs (three), runs batted in (18), total bases (58) and slugging percentage (.598) and ranked second on the team in hits with 37.

Zimmerman, who becomes the third Crusader softball player to earn Academic All-District honors in the last five years, posted the team's longest hitting streak of the season by hitting safely in 19 consecutive games from March 24 to May 4.

In the classroom, Zimmerman is a member of the Biology Department Student Activities Committee, the Pre-Health Professionals Club and the Biology Club. She was inducted into both the Beta Beta Beta biology honor society and the Sigma Tau Delta English honor society, and has earned Dean's List honors five times. Away from the field, Zimmerman is a sportswriter for the student newspaper The Crusader.

Zimmerman has done volunteer work at the Companion Animal Hospital in Selinsgrove and worked as a veterinary assistant at the Conestoga Animal Hospital in Ephrata.

The District II College Division consists of all non-NCAA Division I colleges and universities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

To be nominated for the Verizon Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 or higher cumulative grade-point average and a starter or significant reserve on his or her team.