Lawrence’s Burris earns top league honor for second consecutive seasonLawrence University softball star Jenny Burris leads a trio of Vikings who have been named to the All-Midwest Conference North Division team.
Burris, a junior shortstop from Gurnee, Ill., was chosen as the North Division Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Junior second baseman Shannon Arendt and freshman center fielder Becca Reason were also named to the team.
Burris, a former standout at Warren Township High School, hit a blistering .494 on the season with nine doubles, three homers, 26 runs batted in, and 19 stolen bases. In conference play, Burris batted .488 with five doubles, a homer, and 13 RBIs in 13 games.
Burris is now a three-time all-conference selection and earned first-team All-Great Lakes Region honors in 2002 and 2003.
Lawrence has now taken Player of the Year honors six times since 1997. Pitcher Sara Schye won the award three times between 1997-99, and outfielder Mindy Rueden was the recipient in 2000.
Arendt, a Hortonville native, earned all-conference honors for the first time. She got off to a slow start this past season but turned it on during Midwest Conference play. The former Hortonville High School star hit .419 in the conference with six doubles and six RBIs while batting in the No. 2 spot. An all-region selection as a freshman, Arendt hit .296 for the season with 11 RBIs.
Reason, a freshman from Minnetonka, Minn., became a fixture in the lead-off spot for the Vikings. She batted a healthy .405 during conference play and swiped 10 bases in 13 attempts. For the season, the former standout at Minnetonka High School batted .393 with a double, eight RBIs, and 17 stolen bases.
Lawrence won the North Division championship for the second consecutive season, putting together a record of 15-11-1, 8-5 in the conference.
Burris, Reason named to All-Great Lakes Region softball squad
Lawrence University softball players Jenny Burris and Becca Reason have been named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region team.
Burris, a junior shortstop from Gurnee, Ill., was chosen for the first team, and Reason, a freshman center fielder, earned second-team honors.
Burris, who was named the Midwest Conference North Division Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, also earned first-team All-Great Lakes Region honors in 2002 and was a second-team pick in 2001.
Reason, a Minnetonka, Minn., native, became a fixture in the lead-off spot for the Vikings. Reason also gave the Vikings a great defensive presence in the outfield. She made just three errors on the season and made the tough play look routine game in and game out.
Five Lawrence baseball players named to All-Midwest Conference team
Five Lawrence University baseball players have been named to the All-Midwest Conference North Division team.
Leading the selections for Lawrence was freshman pitcher Aaron Sorenson, who was named to the first team. Earning second-team honors were junior utility player Morgan Boltz, senior first baseman Chris McGinley, senior shortstop Jeremy Tollefson, and senior infielder Chad Zutter.
Sorenson, a right-hander from Sheboygan, was the ace of the Lawrence pitching staff. In Midwest Conference play, the former Sheboygan South High School standout put together a 3-1 record with a 4.41 earned run average.
He pitched 34.2 innings during conference play, striking out 15 and walking eight. On the season, Sorenson was 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA in 51 innings. He struck out 24 and walked nine.
Zutter, a Colfax native, led the team by hitting .327 during conference play. An all-conference selection last season, the former Colfax High School standout hit .316 on the season with seven doubles and eight RBIs. Playing the bulk of his time at second base, Zutter compiled a .951 fielding percentage.
McGinley earned all-conference honors for the first time while batting .321 with three doubles, a triple, three homers, and nine RBIs during league play. On the season, the big slugger from Mount Horeb led the team with a .354 batting average, tied for the team lead with four homers, and had 15 RBIs. He also led the team in fielding at .987.
Boltz, a Kewaunee native, batted a healthy .316 in conference play while serving as the designated hitter and seeing spot duty in the infield and outfield. He had three doubles, a triple, three homers, and seven RBIs in the conference. On the season, he batted .315 with 10 RBIs.
Tollefson, a native of Middleton, was named to the all-conference team for the third time in his career. An all-conference selection in 2000 and in 2002, he batted .263 in the league with two doubles, four homers, and 15 RBIs.
He finished the season batting .302 with six doubles, four homers, and a team-high 20 RBIs.
Lawrence finished the season with a 9-21 record and took third place in the North Division with a 6-10 mark.
Lawrence finished the season with a 15-11-1 record and won the Midwest Conference North Division championship for the second consecutive season.
The above articles appear courtesy of Joe Vanden Acker, Sports Information Director. They were originally published on the Lawrence web site.