SALT LAKE CITY-Thursday, the University of Utah athletic department announced six of its softball players excel academically as well as athletically.
Joining star pitcher Katie Donovan, the Pac-12’s scholar athlete of the year on the first team is junior Ally Dickman, an outfielder of Mission Viejo, Calif. Dickman also becomes the seventh Ute to earn Pac-12 all-first team accolades.
Senior Heather Bowen, a third base out of Las Vegas, earned honorable mention all-conference academic honors for the second straight season becoming only the eighth Ute in program history to pull off this feat.
Other Utes to receive honorable mention status academically were first-time selections Alyssa Barrera, a sophomore outfielder out of Chino Hills, Calif., sophomore utility player Breonna Castaneda of Rio Rancho, N.M., and pitcher/utility Hailey Hilburn, a junior out of Orange, Calif.
Since joining the Pac-12 in 2012, Ute athletes have earned 36 all-academic conference honors.
To be eligible for the Pac-12’s all-academic softball teams, athletes must have an overall minimum 3.0 GPA and compete in at leas 50 percent of their team’s games.
