Softball Seniors Earn Academic All-District Honors

MADISON, N.J. - A pair of Landmark Conference softball seniors have earned distinction for their play in the field and their work in the classroom with selection to the first-team District 4 for NCAA Division III student-athletes from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

University of Scranton senior Kelly Zaccheo and Susquehanna University Lisa Finizio were both selected for the honor.

Zaccheo and Finizio are now one step away from becoming Academic all-Americans.  Their names will now appear on the national ballot, which is selected by a committee of CoSIDA members.

Zaccheo maintains a 3.8 grade point average while working towards degrees in biomathematics and philosophy.  She is a member of the Special Jesuit Libert Arts Honors Program and has been inducted into three academic honor societies.  In addition, she president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and is a member of the President’s Student Cabinet, Scranton Emerging Leaders, Health Professions Organization, and 2012 Class Committee. On the baseball diamond, Zaccheo is a four-year starter who is in the midst of the most productive season of her career.  She has started 32 games and is batting .393, with a team-high 14 doubles, three home runs, and 20 RBI. She earned All-Conference honors after her senior season.

This marks the second time in her career that Finizio has received this honor, as she was also a member of the All-Academic team in 2010. Finizio, an elementary and early childhood education major with a grade-point average of 3.673, etched her name at the top of SU's career record books. She is the all-time leader in at-bats, runs, total bases and hits and is second all-time in triples and surpassed the 200-hit milestone earlier this spring. This season she started 39 games and finished with team-highs in hits (55), runs (32) and stolen bases (14). Her 55 hits are sixth all-time in single season history. She also added two doubles, five triples, one home run and 21 RBIs. She also struck out just seven times in 125 at-bats. She was voted the Landmark Player of the Year after her senior season.

In order to qualify for this prestigious program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore and have a cumulative grade points average of at least 3.3.  The district teams are voted upon by CoSIDA members.

Story provided by Scranton & Susquehanna Sports Information