MEEKS EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT VIII HONORS

5/8/2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento State junior pitcher Kayla Meeks was among 22 student-athletes selected to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII softball team, it was announced today. The district consists of all Div. I institutions on the West Coast.

Meeks, who was named to the second team, becomes the first Hornet softball player to earn academic all-district honors since Amy Tompkins in 2006. Over the last 10 years, Sacramento State has now been represented on the academic all-district list eight times.

To be eligible for academic all-district honors as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 gpa (on a 4.0 scale), must be a starter or an important reserve, and be in at least their second season with the current school.

In her second year at Sacramento State, Meeks leads Sacramento State's pitching staff in victories (14), starts (26), complete games (13), shutouts (3), innings (141.2) and strikeouts (89). She is 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA, and has limited the opposition to a .268 batting average. The Hanford, Calif., native won nine of her last 12 decisions of the regular season, and lost just two games since March 25.

Offensively, she is batting .314 (37-for-118) with seven doubles, one triple, 24 RBIs and a .366 on-base percentage. That includes a career-high and team season-high 11-game hitting streak from April 6-27. Meeks has hit safely in 14 of her last 16 games, and batted .379 against PCSC competition.

A health science major with a 3.69 gpa, Meeks will graduate later this month, and attend nursing school next year. Meeks was also named to the Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll last season.

Sacramento State (32-19, 14-6) won the PCSC championship last weekend, and will play it next week's NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995. The team will find out who and where they will play when selections are made Sunday night at 7 p.m. PST.