May 6, 2009

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . Twenty-two Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) softball players were named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Midwest Region Team announced by the Association Wednesday. The IIAC honorees include eight First Team selections, eight Second Team selections and six Third Team selections.

Central College sophomore Kiley Lythberg (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect) and freshman designated player Rachael Everingham (Georgetown, Ill./Ridge Farm), Coe College senior shortstop Ashley Leonard (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy), Luther College junior second baseman Anna Simonson (Galesville, Wis./Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau) and senior outfielder Kim Hess (Paynesville, Minn./Paynesville), and Wartburg College senior pitcher Angela Hartwig (Long Grove, Iowa/North Scott), senior third baseman Amy Daniels (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) and sophomore utility player Lexy Determan (Terril, Iowa/Graettinger-Terril) were named to the First Team. All were chosen at their position except Lythberg and Leonard, who were at-large selections.

Earning Second Team All-Region honors were Central College senior pitcher Megan Swingen (Woden, Iowa/Woden-Crystal Lake) and senior outfielder Alysha Overturf (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley), Coe College senior pitcher/outfielder Sonja Schwenker (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) and freshman pitcher Ashlee Simon (Riverside, Iowa/Highland), Luther College senior first baseman Danielle Armbruster (West Branch, Iowa/West Branch), junior catcher Tiffany Kruse (Greeley, Iowa/Edgewood-Colesburg), and freshman designated player Abby Christian (Altoona, Iowa/Southeast Polk), and Wartburg College sophomore outfielder Tina Vande Hoef (Ocheyedan, Iowa/Sibley-Ocheyedan). All were selected at their respective positions except Schwenker, who was tabbed as a utility player, and Armbruster, who was an at-large selection.

All Third-Team selections were chosen at-large and representing the Iowa Conference were: Central College junior third baseman Afton Nelson (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley), Coe College sophomore infielder Chelsea Zaugg (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier), Cornell College sophomore outfielder Nicole Duncan (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton) and senior designated player Sara Blaser (Davenport, Iowa/North), Luther College junior outfielder Kelsey Hake (Radcliffe, Iowa/South Hamilton), and Simpson College junior pitcher Whitney Oviatt (Carnation, Wash./Cedarcrest).

Nine of the All-Region honorees have previously received similar recognition, including one three-time and one four-time All-Region selection. Leonard was a Third Team selection in 2006 and a Second Team selection in 2007 before moving up to the First Team in 2008 and this season. Hartwig was also an NFCA All-Region player in 2007 and 2008. Overturf and Daniels were All-Region selections in 2006, while Hess, Kruse, Schwenker, Oviatt, and Duncan earned All-Region honors in 2008.

Complete Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Region Teams can be found here.

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