ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University's Meagan Elder and Ally Gischer were both named to the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Softball Team, selected by CoSIDA, on Thursday. Acknowledged as one of the most selective and prestigious awards in college athletics, the Google Cloud Academic All-America® program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
 
Elder and Gischer are two of just 47 individuals recognized as Academic All-District selections and were named to the First Team for District 3, which covers NAIA institutions in the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. As first-team honorees, the Spartan duo will now be placed on the Google Cloud Academic All-America® ballot where first-, second- and third-team (if applicable) selections be announced on Monday, June 3.
 
Senior catcher Meagan Elder is now a two-time Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District selection after receiving the award as a sophomore in 2017. A four-year starter for the Spartans, Elder finished with career averages of .303 batting, .421 slugging and .369 on-base. The St. Peters, Mo., amassed 138 hits, 81 RBIs, 46 runs, 36 doubles and threw out 24 baserunners for her career. Elder was also a 2017 All-AMC Second Team selection, two-time Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete and four-time Academic All-AMC selection. She graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor's degree in Accounting, a minor in Business Administration and is currently working towards her MBA through Missouri Baptist.
 
Ally Gischer, a sophomore from Benton, Ill., is a first-time Google Cloud Academic All-District honoree. The two-year starter at shortstop has led the Spartans in batting average the past two seasons and has a career stat line of .362 batting %, .458 slug %, .402 on-base %, 98 hits, 64 runs, 32 RBIs and 124 total bases. Defensively, Gischer has recorded 115 putouts and 131 assists from the shortstop position to go along with 8 double plays turned. She was an All-AMC Second Teamer as a freshman and was named AMC Player of the Week on April 2, 2018. As a Behavioral Science major, Gischer sports a 4.01 cumulative grade-point average and has earned Academic All-AMC honors twice.
 
For more information about CoSIDA's Google Cloud Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com or the Academic All-America® home page on CoSIDA.com.