ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University softball standout Meagan Elder was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America® First Team, which was announced and selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Monday. The St. Peters, Mo. native becomes the fifth student-athlete in MBU history to achieve Academic All-American® status, just moments after baseball's Hayden Crowe received second-team Academic All-American® honors.
 
Elder is one of 12 NAIA softball student-athletes to be named to the Academic All-America First Team, a feat that only one other Spartan has done. Coincidentally, the only other First Team selection for Missouri Baptist was a member of the Spartan softball program in 2013 – Danielle Bayer.
 
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.
 
With an undergraduate cumulative grade-point average of 3.95, Elder graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor's degree in Accounting and a minor in Business Administration in December 2018. While playing her final season of eligibility, Elder began her pursuit of a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Missouri Baptist and currently carries a perfect 4.00 graduate GPA.
 
The four-year starter at catcher received her second Google Cloud Academic All-District award, which earned her a spot on the Academic All-American® ballot. Elder finished her career with averages of .303 batting, .421 slugging and .369 on-base. During her time at MBU, Elder amassed 138 hits, 81 RBIs, 46 runs, 36 doubles and threw out 24 baserunners from behind the plate. She was a 2017 All-AMC Second Team selection, two-time Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete and four-time Academic All-AMC selection.

Meagan will be recognized with a special plaque at the 2019 MBU Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17. 
 

Academic All-America® History – Missouri Baptist University
Name	Sport	Year	Academic All-America® Team
Danielle Bayer	Softball	2013	First Team
Lauren Krebs	Women's Soccer	2016	Second Team
Becca Starrett	Women's XC/Track & Field	2018	Second Team
Hayden Crowe	Baseball	2019	Second Team
Meagan Elder	Softball	2019	First Team

 
  
For more information about CoSIDA's Google Cloud Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com or the Academic All-America® home page on CoSIDA.com.