Three student-athletes from the NESCAC were honored with CSC Academic All-America recognition from the College Sports Communicators organization. Tufts' Lauryn Horita garnered a spot on the first team while teammate Haley Leimbach was a third team selection along with Middlebury outfielder Kristyn Carroll. The award recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.
Eligible nominees must have competed in 90 percent of the institution's games played or
must start in at least 66 percent of the institution's games. For pitchers, a student-athlete must have made at least 17 appearances or
pitched 35 innings.
This past season, Horita and Leimbach helped lead Tufts to a 31-12 record and a tie for the No. 25 spot in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Poll. The Jumbos earned the top seed in the NESCAC Tournatment after finihsing the regular season with a 14-4 mark and hosted an NCAA Regional at Spicer Field.
The 2026 graduates earned summa cum laude honors from Tufts. Horita, a biology major, earned a 3.92 grade point average, while Leimbach achieved a 3.90 GPA as a mechanical engineering graduate. Both were three-year NESCAC All-Academic Team members for carrying grade point averages over 3.50 throughout their careers.
Horita earned NFCA All-Region second team and NESCAC All-Conference first team awards for 2026. A DP and outfielder, she batted leadoff for most of the season and hit .343 with a team-high 39 runs scored, 12 doubles, three home runs and 35 runs batted in while playing in all 43 games. She earned the NESCAC Player of the Week honor on April 13.
Leimbach capped her career as one of the best defensive players in the nation. She won her second Rawlings Gold Glove Award for her play at first base and was also the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year. An NFCA All-Region first team selection, she hit .333 with 33 runs scored, eight doubles, two home runs and 22 rbis in 43 games. She was also a NESCAC Player of the Week award on March 9.
Both players were two-time NFCA All-Region selections who started for Tufts teams that won the NESCAC title in 2025 and advanced to the College World Series in 2024.
Carroll is an Academic All-American for the second straight season and is the first player in program history to receive the honor twice. She helped lead Middlebury to a banner season that included a program-record 35 victories, a second conference title and two victories in the NCAA Regionals.
Carroll graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in earth and climate science and had a 3.78 grade point average. A National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American and an all-region first-team selection for the fourth year in a row, Carroll became the third Middlebury player to earn NESCAC Player of the Year. She also earned an All-NESCAC First Team selection, making her the first athlete in team history to claim the honor in four consecutive campaigns.
The outfielder rewrote the record books in her final campaign, breaking single-season marks for at-bats (158), hits (79), runs scored (53) and triples (11). She paced the Panthers in multiple categories, including a .500 batting average, a 1.271 on-base plus slugging percentage and 116 total bases, knocking out a hit in 42 of 45 contests. The senior left her mark on the Middlebury program, departing as the program leader in batting average (.484), at-bats (500), hits (242), runs scored (182), stolen bases (100) and walks (79).
She was a three-time NESCAC All-Academic team member alongside college scholar and dean's list honors. Additionally, Carroll completed a two-semester senior thesis on petrology and geochemistry of the Abbott Mountain Complex in Maine. She served as an earth and climate sciences mineralogy lab teacher's assistant during her final semester.
| FIRST TEAM |
| Pos |
Name |
School |
GPA |
Yr. |
Major |
| C |
Ashlyn Aven |
Linfield University |
3.70 |
Sr. |
Exercise Science & Secondary Physical Education |
| DP |
Lauryn Horita |
Tufts University |
3.92 |
Sr. |
Biology |
| IF |
Laci Campbell (3) |
Virginia Wesleyan University |
3.75 |
Sr. |
Sociology & Criminal Justice |
| IF |
Megan Heidelbauer (1) |
Simpson College |
3.93 |
Sr. |
Environmental Science |
| IF |
Makayla Menchue |
East Texas Baptist University |
3.96 |
Jr. |
Kinesiology |
| IF |
Karen Potts |
Case Western Reserve University |
3.97 |
Jr. |
Psychology |
| OF |
Emma Lee (2) |
Trine University |
4.00 |
Sr. |
Elementary Education & Special Education |
| OF |
Meara Sain |
Linfield University |
4.00 |
Jr. |
Exercise Science |
| OF |
Ashlyn Steen (1) |
Simpson College |
3.97 |
Sr. |
Political Science |
| P |
Emma Adams |
Virginia Wesleyan University |
3.94 |
Sr. |
Sports & Recreation Management |
| P |
Avery Holland |
East Texas Baptist University |
3.87 |
Jr. |
Speech Language Pathology |
| SECOND TEAM |
| Pos |
Name |
School |
GPA |
Yr. |
Major |
| C |
Taylor Vannett |
Texas Lutheran University |
3.96 |
Sr. |
Kinesiology |
| DP |
Serena Gonzalez (2) |
Texas Lutheran University |
3.61 |
Sr. |
Kinesiology |
| IF |
Madison DeCota |
Norwich University |
3.99 |
Jr. |
Exercise Science |
| IF |
Melissa Dietz |
University of Wisconsin-Platteville |
3.96 |
Sr. |
Health & Human Performance |
| IF |
Sarah Hough |
Westfield State University |
3.69 |
Sr. |
Psychology |
| IF |
Kaia Mismash |
Lake Forest College |
3.52 |
Jr. |
Neuroscience |
| OF |
Clare Rettler |
Carthage College |
3.96 |
Sr. |
Exercise & Sport Science & Psychology |
| OF |
Landry Stewart |
Pfeiffer University |
3.57 |
Sr. |
Health & Physical Education |
| OF |
Cara Taylor |
Muskingum University |
3.94 |
Sr. |
General Engineering |
| P |
Piper Kinney |
Simmons University |
3.99 |
Sr. |
Neuroscience & Behavior |
| P |
Emily McCutcheon |
Rowan University |
3.70 |
Sr. |
Psychology |
| THIRD TEAM |
| Pos |
Name |
School |
GPA |
Yr. |
Major |
| C |
Mady Lyons |
Johnson & Wales |
4.00 |
Jr. |
Exercise & Sports Science |
| DP |
Emma Coldsnow |
Stockton University |
3.98 |
Sr. |
Chemistry |
| IF |
Jordan Anderson |
John Carroll University |
3.98/4.00 |
Gr. |
Clinical Mental Health Counseling (G) |
| IF |
Maddie Flanery |
LeTourneau University |
4.00 |
Sr. |
Kinesiology |
| IF |
Haley Leimbach |
Tufts University |
3.90 |
Sr. |
Mechanical Engineering |
| IF |
Megan McGinnis |
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota |
3.72/3.97 |
Jr. |
Psychology & Public Relations & Digital Media |
| OF |
Kristyn Carroll (3) |
Middlebury College |
3.72 |
Sr. |
Earth & Climate Sciences |
| OF |
Ashley Chu (3) |
Emory University |
3.94 |
Sr. |
Nursing |
| OF |
Sarah Prosser |
Virginia Wesleyan University |
3.76/4.00 |
Sr. |
Business Administration (G) |
| P |
Katelyn Howard |
Texas Lutheran University |
3.63 |
Sr. |
Kinesiology |
| P |
Maya Knasiak |
The College of New Jersey |
3.79 |
Jr. |
Mechanical Engineering |
(1) – 1st team Academic All-America® in 2025
(2) – 2nd team Academic All-America® in 2025
(3) – 3rd team Academic All-America® in 2025
