Linfield University's Kaili Saathoff on Tuesday attained what is considered the highest possible scholarly honor for a Division III softball student-athlete when she was named the 2024 Academic All-American of the Year by the College Sports Communicators organization.
 
Saathoff becomes just the second Linfield athlete ever to be accorded CSC's premier Academic All-American of the Year award. Volleyball star Lindsay Harksen, a two-time All-American and 2016 inductee into the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, earned the same recognition in 1995. She also becomes just Linfield's third two-time CSC Academic All-American.
 
Saathoff headlines CSC's Division III Academic All-America team and is joined on the CSC Academic All-America first team by Wildcats teammate Brynn Nelson. Together, the duo's offensive production and near flawless defensive precision helped propel Linfield to a 50-4 record and a third-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championship tournament. Led by Saathoff and Nelson, the Wildcats won their first 44 games while becoming the second team in collegiate softball history to register an unbeaten regular season.
 
A junior first baseman, Saathoff maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA as a mathematics and physics double major. Starting 52 of Linfield's 54 contests, she hit .479 with one home run, 18 stolen bases in 18 attempts, 23 doubles, 43 RBI and 71 runs scored. Kaili is the daughter of Bob and Kris Saathoff.
 
Saathoff is also the first repeat Elite 90 Award winner in Division III softball. She earned second team NFCA All-America honors for the second straight season and is a two-time NFCA first team All-Region X honoree and a repeat first team selection on the All-Northwest Conference list. During Linfield's dominant 40-game regular season, Saathoff hit .504 and was the only conference player to bat over .500. She tallied a conference-high 64 hits and 19 doubles.
 
Like Saathoff, Nelson is equally gifted in the classroom and on the softball diamond. The junior second baseman from Bonney Lake, Washington, sports a 3.96 GPA while majoring in economics and mathematics.
 
On the field, Nelson enjoyed a banner season, hitting .477 while hitting a team-best 15 home runs and registering 132 total bases. She totaled 74 hits, 13 doubles, 34 walks and 62 RBIs while posting an .852 on-base percentage. Nelson was awarded Northwest Conference Player of the Year and first team NFCA All-America recognition for the first time in her career. Brynn is the daughter of Ed and Lori Nelson.
 
Twelve of the 33 members of the 2024 Division III Academic All-America softball team boast perfect 4.0 GPAs in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The 11 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.94.
 
In addition to Saathoff, there are 10 additional student-athletes who are repeat selections on the Academic All-America Division III softball team: Anna Jackson and Morgan Frye (Berry College), Karson Bagelmann (Adrian College), KaiLi Gross (Case Western Reserve University), Abby Mace (Salisbury University), Mary Frances Eillis (East Texas Baptist University), Kaci Neveling (The College of New Jersey), Mackenzie Latess (Westminster College), Mackenzie Bivin (MIT), and Ashlyn Strother (Texas Lutheran University). Gross, Mace and Strother are three-time selections.