University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Five Panther softball players named to CSC Academic All-District Team
5/27/2025 1:56:00 PM | Softball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Five athletes from UNI softball were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Teams as announced by CSC on Tuesday.
The CSC Academic All-District Team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. In addition to the honorees, designated player Addison McElrath and third baseman Kate Lappe were selected as finalists for Academic All-American honors.
Designated player Addison McElrath, outfielders Ava Smithson and Paige Peterson, pitcher Kara Maiers, and third baseman Kate Lappe were selected by the CSC as members of the 2025 Academic All-District Team.
Nomination criteria include holding a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.50 or better, being a sophomore standing or higher both academically and athletically and playing a key role in the lineup with participation in 90 percent of the institution's games played OR must start in at least 66 percent of the institution's games. For pitchers, a student-athlete must have made at least 17 appearances OR pitched 35 innings.
The 2025 MVC Most Valuable Player, Kate Lappe earns CSC Academic All-District honors for the second time in her career with a 3.72 GPA in accounting and finance. A junior from Bondurant, Iowa, Lappe was a Preseason All-MVC Third Base selection and was named MVC Player of the Week twice and D1Softball.com National Player of the Week once during the 2025 regular season. She was named All-MVC First Team Third Base and MVC All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the season. Lappe finished the 2025 campaign with 61 hits, 34 runs, and 48 RBIs for a .433 batting average and a .915 slugging percentage. Her 19 home runs are tied for second on UNI's single-season home runs record list while her batting average and slugging percentage are solo-second in each single-season category along with her .542 on-base percentage. Through the MVC Tournament, Lappe led the league in batting average, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and total bases and was second in home runs per game, RBIs, RBIs per game, and total walks.
An All-MVC First Team DP and MVC All-Tournament Team selection, Addison McElrath was named to the CSC Academic All-District team for the second time in her career with a 3.92 GPA in kinesiology and exercise science. A Moville, Iowa native, McElrath batted .354 on the season with 56 hits, 16 home runs, and 29 runs with 47 RBIs. The senior designated player hit back-to-back home runs in the Panthers' MVC Semifinal loss to Belmont in the 2025 conference tournament.
An outfielder from Granger, Iowa, Ava Smithson makes her first appearance on the CSC Academic All-District Team with a 3.92 GPA in biology. The junior made 40 starts in the outfield for the Panthers and recorded 29 hits, 23 runs, and 26 runs batted in with seven home runs.
A sophomore outfielder, Paige Peterson makes her first appearance on the CSC Academic All-District Team with a 3.80 GPA in Marketing/Real Estate. Peterson finished the 2025 season with 34 starts and 43 games played. Peterson recorded 10 hits and 13 runs with two doubles and a home run.
A senior pitcher from North Liberty, Iowa, Kara Maiers makes her first appearance on the CSC Academic All-District Team with a 3.76 GPA in elementary education. Maiers made 17 appearances and 12 starts in 2025 with a 3-3 record in 43.2 innings pitched. The senior recorded 22 strikeouts and a 3.21 ERA on the season.
ABOUT COLLEGE SPORTS COMMUNICATORS
College Sports Communicators was founded in 1957 and is a 3,200+ member national association for strategic, creative and digital communicators across intercollegiate athletics in the United States and Canada.
From its founding in 1957 until the 2022 name change, the organization was known as College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The organization, which celebrated its 65th year during the 2021-22 academic year, is the second oldest management association in all of intercollegiate athletics. College Sports Communicators became an affiliated partner with NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) in December of 2008.
UNI softball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Softball), X (@UNISoftball), and on Instagram (@unisoftball). The 2025 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
