A school record 13 members of the Northern Illinois University softball team were named to the 2022 Academic All Mid-American Conference team Monday as the MAC honored 109 student-athletes.

NIU’s 13 Academic All-MAC student-athletes led all MAC softball teams along with Bowling Green. The Huskies previously had 11 players qualify for the honor in 2017 and 2021.  To qualify for the Academic All-MAC team, student-athletes must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.20 and have participated in at least 50 percent of the games during the season.

The Huskie contingent was led by seniors Katie Keller, a 2022 first team Academic All-American as selected by CoSIDA, and Amberly Rodriguez, who completed their NIU softball careers with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. They were among the eight NIU players who were named to the team for the second time. Six of the Huskies honored were seniors; they were joined by three juniors and four sophomores. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.

The complete list of Huskie honorees with GPA and majors. Student-athletes selected to the team in 2021 and 2022 indicated by *.

• Kara Apato*, Senior (Oak Lawn, Ill./Marist HS), 3.841, Health Sciences
• Bianca Barone*, Senior (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem HS), 3.873, Psychology & Sociology (double major)
• Emily Dato, Sophomore (Munster, Ind./Munster HS), 3.935, Health Sciences
• Courtney James, Sophomore (Fishers, Ind./Fishers HS), 3.350, Special Education/Learning Behavior Specialist
• Katie Keller*, Senior (Geneva, Ill./Geneva HS), 4.00, Biological Sciences/Pre-Med
• Maddie Mackey, Senior (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo HS), 3.915, Sport Management
• Mackenzie Mahy*, Senior (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way West HS), 3.914, Nursing
• Sam Mallinder*, Junior (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North HS), 3.689, Biological Sciences
• Claire Norred, Sophomore (Tipton, Ind./Tipton HS), 3.333, Business Administration
• Delaney Ostrowski*, Junior (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo HS), 3.713, Kinesiology
• Amberly Rodriguez*, Senior (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield HS), 4.00, Rehabilitation & Disability Services
• Caitlyn Shumaker, Sophomore (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine HS), 3.484, Business Administration
• Kelly Walinski*, Junior (Worth, Ill./Marist HS), 3.968, Health Sciences/Pre-Physical Therapy

To see the complete team, go to MACSports.com.