MILLEDGEVILLE — The North Georgia softball team is well represented on the 2016 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Softball All-Southeast Region teams, which were announced Monday. The Nighthawks landed three student-athletes on the First Team.
Fourteen student-athletes from seven different schools earned All-Southeast Region First Team distinction this season.
UNG's Courtney Poole was named Southeast Region Pitcher of the Year, while her teammate Stephanie Hartness took Player of the Year Honors. Poole is 52-2 with a 0.63 ERA and 428 strikeouts over 357 2/3 innings this season. Hartness, an outfielder, hit .479 this season adding 9 home runs, 51 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.
Meredith Heyer also represented the Nighthawks on the All-Southeast Region First Team at second base. Heyer is finishing her softball career with her best season yet at North Georgia hitting .420 with 49 runs batted in this year.
The Peach Belt Conference had 16 honorees on the two teams, while the South Atlantic Conference had 11 and the Conference Carolinas two.
The first team selections will move on to the All-America ballot. The D2CCA All-America programs honor student-athletes in Division II athletic programs. The mission of the CCA is to encourage and promote Division II athletics and high standards of sportsmanship as important elements of higher education.
The nominations, voting and calculations are all conducted by the schools' sports information directors. The teams are voted on by the members of D2SIDA, NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors Association.
