Northern Illinois University softball player Katie Keller continues to add to her list of accolades. The Huskie junior from Geneva High School was named to the College Sports Information Directors (SID) of America Academic All-America® Team CoSIDA announced Thursday.
“I think this is something she’s been striving for since she came on campus,” Northern Illinois head coach Christina Sutcliffe said of Keller. “Obviously her grades mean a ton to her for her goal of becoming a surgeon. She takes her academics just as seriously as her athletics. It’s nice to see her get these awards and all her hard work pay off.
“Not only is she pre-med, she’s a fast-tracking pre-med. She’s ahead of the game, which has allowed her to do a little research with some faculty on campus. She’s extremely focused and works hard at both aspects of her collegiate experience.”
A third team selection, Keller is the 11th Huskie all-time to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, and the first since Emily Naegele, who was a first team honoree in 2016. A two-time academic all-district selection, this is the first academic all-America award for Keller and the latest in a long list of awards this year.
Keller, who earned All-Great Lakes Region honors this year and the Mid-American Conference’s Nan Harvey Award, was a first-team All-MAC selection and a member of the 2021 MAC All-Defensive Team.
An Academic All-MAC honoree, Keller boasts a 4.0 grade point average in pursuit of a degree in biology. The Geneva, native made the team as a catcher, and is one of two MAC student-athletes to be named to one of the three academic all-America teams. Toledo infielder Dayna Denner was named to the academic All-America team.
The team leader in 12 offensive categories, Keller ranked in the top five in six in the MAC in 2021, including a school-record 23 doubles, which tied for the most in the Nation. She enters next season needing five doubles to break the school’s career doubles record. The MAC Player of the Week for March 16, Keller batted a team-high .422, which ranked second in the league. She amassed a career and team-high 65 hits, including 31 for extra bases. In addition to her doubles tally, she hit a team-high seven home runs, a career best, and a triple.
The Huskie catcher/utility player recorded 19 multi-hit games and tallied a season-high three hits in a game on five different occasions. She amassed a team and career-high 36 RBIs with 12 multi-RBI games. A talented athlete, Keller is one of two Huskies to start all 56 games for NIU last Spring. She made eight starts in the outfield, 17 at first base and 31 at catcher.
Equally skilled in the field, Keller led the team in putouts with 239 and threw out 10 of the 24 base runners attempting to steal.
—Northern Illinois University