Emory's Kardys & Light Earn Softball Academic All-America Honors

Emory's Kardys & Light Earn Softball Academic All-America Honors

Emory University juniors Amanda Kardys (Union, NJ) and Megan Light (Atlanta, GA) have been recognized for their performances both on the field and in the classroom by being named to the 2013 Capital One Softball Academic All-America Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).  Kardys was selected to the first team while Light captured a second-team berth.

Kardys turned in a memorable season as the ace of the Eagles' pitching staff, compiling a 25-5 won-lost mark with her victory total establishing a school record for most wins in a campaign.  A First Team All-University Athletic Association honoree, Kardys hurled a league-high 179 2/3 innings, the second-highest seasonal mark in school annals, and fanned 100 batters while issuing 39 walks.  She crafted a conference-best ERA of 1.60 and recorded 18 complete games in 25 starts. She struck out a season-high eight batters against York College and pocketed both of Emory's wins in NCAA Tournament Regional play.  Through three seasons with the program, she ranks seventh all-time at Emory in ERA (1.65), tied for seventh in career wins (33) and is ninth in strikeouts (155).

Academically, Kardys, a double major in Biology and Psychology, was nominated with a 3.80 grade-point average.   

Light, a starter at first base in all 47 Emory games, posted a team-high .408 hitting mark with that effort good for fourth place on the UAA ladder.  Named the UAA Most Valuable Player, Light led the Eagles and the league in a number of offensive categories including RBIs (59), slugging percentage (.800), total bases (104), on-base percentage (.530) and walks (35).   Her 12 home runs stood second in the conference and established a school record while her RBI total placed second on the Eagles' seasonal chart.  In addition, Light posted team highs in both multi-hit (16) and multi-RBI (17) contests.    During the course of the year, she became the school's all-time leader in homers (28) and RBIs (159).

Light, an Anthropology/Human Biology major, earned her spot on the team with an outstanding 3.94 GPA. 

Kardys and Light become the seventh and eighth different Emory softball players to garner Academic All-America acclaim, joining Brittany Boeshore (2011), Sarah Morse (2005, 2006, 2007),  Melissa Roberts (2001 & 2003) and Mary Nicol (2003), Bridget Holloway (2012) and Claire Bailey (2012).  

To be eligible for the Academic All-America honor, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution, be voted to the first team of the all-district team and be nominated by his sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

For more information about the ESPN Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.