2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America Teams

For the second time on Wednesday (May 24), GVSU senior Jenna Lenza received a prestigious honor. After being named to the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) All-America First Team earlier in the day, the slugging second baseman earned CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors for her performances not only on the softball field, but also in the classroom.

CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) releases the Academic All-America Teams every year throughout all divisions and the awards honor excellence both on and off the field. Student-athletes must have a minimum of a 3.30 cumulative grade point average and have spent at least one calendar year at their current institution.

Not only did Lenza have a tremendous career on the field, the senior from Orland Hills, Ill. posted a 3.81 cumulative GPA as a nursing major. She graduated from GVSU on April 29, one day after setting the GLIAC single-season record for doubles (23) in a doubleheader sweep over Ferris State and just hours before totaling four walks and scoring four times, as the Lakers captured the regular season conference championship at #22 Saginaw Valley State.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honor joins a long list of on-field accomplishments for the Lakers' starting second baseman in 198 of the last 199 games. Lenza has been named to the All-Midwest Region Team four times in her career (three times from the D2CCA and formerly Daktronics organization, once from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association) and was an All-GLIAC First Team selection three times.

The last Grand Valley State player to receive CoSIDA Academic All-America honors was Lenza's teammate across the field as a freshman in power-hitting third baseman Miranda Cleary, who was a Second Team honoree in 2014. 

A three-time member of the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team, Lenza is one of just 34 Division II players to receive such prestigious honors, as there are 11 players on both the First and Second Teams and a dozen honorees on the Third Team. There are only three players from the GLIAC to receive CoSIDA All-America honors, as both Wayne State pitcher Lyndsay Butler and Ashland outfielder Ally Farrah join Lenza on the All-America First Team.

Lenza hit .456 over 51 games this year, posting 73 hits, 45 runs scored, five homers, and 31 RBI. She also walked 24 times and finished the season with the top on-base percentage (.529), second-best batting average, and fourth-best slugging percentage (.694) of any GLIAC player throughout the year. In conference-only games, Lenza led the league in batting average (.522), on-base percentage (.616), slugging percentage (.821), runs (28), doubles (11), walks (17) and total bases (55).

Her name can be found throughout the Laker record book, as Lenza ranks in the top-10 in nine offensive categories, including top-five marks in doubles (2nd; 58), walks (3rd; 88), total bases (5th; 364), on-base percentage (5th; .454), and runs (T-5th; 158). Lenza is also sixth in hits (244) and slugging percentage (.570), seventh in batting average (.382), and ninth in home runs (18).

Lenza has a chance to be a consensus All-American, as the NFCA will release its All-America Teams on Wednesday night. She was named an NFCA First Team All-Midwest Region selection in early May and thus advanced to the All-America ballot.

The 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year award recipient was Southern Arkansas senior first baseman Maddie Dow.