Tracy Jordan and Danielle Flores Named to 2005 LSC South All-Academic Team

PORTALES, N.M. — The Eastern New Mexico University softball team placed two players on the 2005 Lone Star Conference South Division All-Academic Team. The Zias placed an additional three players on the LSC South Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Tracy Jordan (Jr., 2B, Rosamond, CA/Desert HS) and Danielle Flores (So., DP, Loving, NM/Loving HS) were selected to the All-Academic Team by the LSC sports information directors, who voted on the basis of academic and athletic achievement. Eligibility for LSC academic honors requires a student-athlete to maintain at least a 3.20 grade point average with a minimum of 24 semester hours at the nominating institution.

All qualifying student-athletes who were not chosen for the All-Academic Team were named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll. The Zias had three redshirt freshmen qualify for the Honor Roll this year: Krystal Echavarria (1B, Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad HS), Kristin MacRunnels (IF, Canyon Country, CA/Saugus HS) and Shannon Saltclah (RHP, Farmington, NM/Piedra Vista HS).

This is Jordan’s second selection to the LSC South All-Academic Team. In 2004, she was voted to the All-Academic Team in addition to receiving Honorable Mention All-LSC South and First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District VI recognition.

Jordan has made 139 career starts at second base for the Zias. In her three years at ENMU, she has earned a .279 career batting average to go with 59 RBIs and 23 doubles. This year, she started 47 games and hit .261, with nine doubles, two homers and 25 RBIs. Jordan is majoring in Physical Education and has maintained a 4.0 cumulative GPA.

Flores’ 2005 season was hampered by a shoulder injury that limited her to 27 games played. Even so, she batted .276 and scored 11 runs for the Zias.

Flores had a strong freshman season in 2004, as she ranked second on the team with a .311 batting average, and played in 40 games (37 starts). She has achieved a 3.88 GPA while majoring in Communicative Disorders.

Echavarria saw action in 19 games in 2005, including 12 starts. She earned a .270 batting average while playing in various fielding positions. Echavarria is an Elementary Education major with a 3.48 GPA.

MacRunnels started 33 games in 2005, seeing action mostly at first base and right field. She drove in 11 runs and hit three doubles for the season. She is majoring in Computer Information Systems and has a 3.38 GPA. Saltclah was limited to one appearance in 2005. She has attained a 3.78 GPA while majoring in Biology.

Academic Success for the Zia Softball Team

The Zias have succeeded academically as a team, earning a 3.35 team GPA in 2003-04 to rank 13th best in NCAA Division II, according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). Academic results for 2004-05 are not yet available.

On the field, the 2005 Zias improved by nine wins over their record in 2004, as they moved from 11-36 overall and 1-19 in the LSC South to 20-29 overall and 3-17 in the LSC South. ENMU lost seven LSC South games by one run this spring.