 
Osterman claims prestigious NCAA Today's Top VIII Award
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former University of Texas softball pitching standout Cat Osterman has been honored as a recipient of a 2006 Today's Top VIII Award by the NCAA as one of the top eight senior student-athletes in the nation, as chosen by the NCAA Honors Committee. Osterman is the NCAA's all-time softball strikeout leader, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist and five-time National Player of the Year who led Connie Clark's Longhorns to the elite Women's College World Series in 2003, 2005 and 2006. The 6-2 lefthander from Houston, Texas will receive her Today's Top VIII Award at the NCAA Honors Celebration the weekend of January 6-7, 2007, at the NCAA Convention in Orlando. She also was an Academic All-District and Academic All-Big 12 selection as a psychology major. The annual award honors eight distinguished senior student-athletes from the preceding calendar year (who have completed their eligibility) for outstanding achievement in athletics, academics and community service. The recipients are chosen from all NCAA-sponsored men's and women's sports in all three Divisions (I, II and III). Osterman becomes the fifth University of Texas scholar-athlete to be bestowed with this honor. She follows All-American Kenneth Sims (football, 1982), All-American and U.S. Olympic champion Betsy Mitchell (swimming, 1989), NCAA champion and Russian Olympic gold medalist Vera Ilyina (diving, 1999) and All-American soccer forward Kelly Wilson (2004). "It is a great honor to receive such a prestigious award from the NCAA," noted Osterman. "It is truly an honor to be recognized with such an elite group of athletes who have such wonderful accomplishments. I am also thrilled to have the opportunity to represent The University of Texas at such a high level." "This award is an outstanding way for me to cap off my collegiate career," Osterman concluded. "I am very thankful for all of the experiences that I had playing for Texas and appreciate the great support we student-athletes have at The University."
"The is a very impressive honor as the name indicates, and we are thrilled for Cat," noted Texas softball head coach Connie Clark. "I continue to be amazed at the awards and honors which Cat has received over the years. And, each of them is extremely well-deserved, due to her work ethic and commitment to everything she does." "I am just so proud of her for the way that she has represented Texas softball and The University of Texas," Clark continued. "She is a wonderful ambassador for the sport of softball as well. We are extremely proud what a tremendous role model Cat is -- athletically, academically and with her volunteer work -- for the younger athletes that she continues to inspire." The other seven recipients along with Osterman are listed below, with their school, sport(s) and major(s): Alison F. Crocker, Dartmouth College (rowing and skiing; physics and math major); Laura Gerraughty, University of North Carolina (indoor and outdoor track & field; biology and linguistics major); Adrianne Musu Jackson-Buckner, State University College at Oneonta (NY); field hockey, indoor and outdoor track & field; English major); Ryan Koch, St. Cloud State University (computer science and Spanish; football and outdoor track & field); Beth L. Mallory, University of Alabama (indoor and outdoor track & field; human performance and physical education); Heather O'Reilly, University of North Carolina; (soccer; education); and Kate Richardson, UCLA (gymnastics; psychology) Roch (Division II) and Jackson-Buckner (Division IIII) are the only non-Division I student-athlete recipients. The NCAA Today's Top VIII honor caps off a stellar career for Osterman. This past spring, Osterman won the Honda Award as National Softball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and also repeated as a Top Five finalist for the Honda-Broderick Cup, awarded to the National Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year. She also earned the 2006 USA Softball Collegiate National Player of the Year honor for the third time, and is the only player to ever win that award more than once. In addition, she was selected Big 12 Conference Female Athlete of the Year for the third time in four years, becoming the only multi-year winner -- across all sports -- in Big 12 Athlete of the Year voting. The rangy lefty led the 55-9 Longhorns to the Women's College World Series for the third time in four years. UT also advanced in 2003 and 2005, and all three years, Osterman was named to the WCWS All-Tournament Team. As a senior, Osterman set the NCAA career strikeout record (2,265) and strikeout ratio record for strikeouts-per-seven innings (14.4), and ranks No. 2 all-time in career shutouts (85). As a senior in 2006, Osterman went 38-4 with a 0.42 ERA, and led all NCAA Division I players in ERA for the third time, along with being the nation's leader in strikeouts (630) and strikeouts per seven innings (15.5). She also finished second nationally in victories and led the UT squad to the nation's lowest team ERA (0.81), as she led Texas to the No. 5 final ranking in both Top 25 polls (the USA Softball/ESPN.com Poll and the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll). Osterman pitched 28 shutouts, five no-hitters, 11 one-hitters and 12 two-hitters in her final collegiate campaign. Osterman was awarded the 2005-06 Sportswoman of the Year Award for a team sport by the Women's Sports Foundation and was a Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team All-America for the third time. Last spring, Osterman was selected to the 2006 USA Softball National Team for the fourth year in a row and led Team USA to the 2006 International Softball Federation's World Championship title in September. She emerged as the ace of the USA staff, compiling a perfect 6-0 record while throwing 41 of the 66 total innings, allowing just three earned runs while striking out 70. In addition to her athletic accomplishments in 2006, Osterman was named to the Big 12 All-Academic Team for the third year and the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll both semesters in 2005-06. A captain on the softball squad, she also was a member of the UT Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The last two years, Osterman was recipient of the Texas Women's Athletics Departments' highest scholarship honor -- the V.F. "Doc" Neuhaus Endowed Presidential Scholarship -- for academic and athletic excellence. She also was awarded a 2005-06 Dr. Prentice Gautt Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship to continue her academic studies. The Today's Top VIII Award has been known as such since 1995. From 1986 to 1994, it was the Top VI and from its inception in 1973 to 1985, it was Today's Top V. The Top VIII Award winners are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, which comprises eight athletics administrators at member institutions and nationally distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes. The committee members are: Thomas J. Brown, commissioner, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference; Cedric W. Dempsey, president emeritus, NCAA; Timothy W. Gleason, commissioner, Ohio Athletic Conference; Calvin Hill, consultant, Dallas Cowboys; Jackie Joyner-Kersee, former Olympic and UCLA track and field standout; Gibbs Knotts, faculty athletics representative, Western Carolina University; Julie Power Ruppert, associate commissioner and senior woman administrator, America East Conference; and Barbara G. Walker, senior associate athletics director, Wake Forest University. |
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