GREENWOOD, Ind. (May 26, 2026) – College Sports Communicators (CSC) revealed the 2026 Academic All-District awards for softball on Tuesday, listing seniors Alivia Wilken, Katie Simon and Natalie Shaw and juniors Briley Dover and Emma Kate Wright to the list from the University of North Alabama.
 
The five selections are the most in a season for UNA all-time.
 
Wilken becomes a two-time selection this season after winning the award in 2025. She is the first back-to-back selection since Sidney Bevis in 2023 and 2024. The other four honorees are first-time winners of the award.
 
All Division I softball programs can nominate up to five student-athletes for the honor. To be eligible, student-athletes must maintain at least a 3.5 grade-point average and must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically. The athletic criteria includes competing in 90 percent of games or starting 66 percent of games. For pitchers, a student-athlete must have made at least 17 appearances or pitched 35 innings.
 
Wilken pitched 27 games with 21 starts, posting a 13-6 record and a 2.90 ERA. This stat line was good enough to earn her first team all-conference honors, as she became the first player in program history to earn two first team selections in her career from the Atlantic Sun Conference.
 
The fifth-year senior finishes third on the career strikeout list for Division I pitchers at UNA with 298 for her career. This season, she had 67 strikeouts to just 23 walks.
 
Her running-mate in the circle this season was Simon, who finished with a 12-5 record and a 2.76 ERA over 114.0 appearances. The highlight of her season came at the 2026 ASUN Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. She earned ASUN All-Tournament honors after pitching in three games, going 16.1 innings with just three runs allowed, four walks and nine strikeouts. She threw 255 pitches in the tournament, including a win over FGCU.
 
Shaw was the near-everyday catcher for these two, making 47 starts behind the dish. The senior batted .278 for the season and led the team in on-base percentage for most of the season — finishing second at .454. She was one walk away from tying the Division I school record, ranking among the ASUN leaders with 30 walks. Shaw also turned in a .995 fielding percentage with just one error on 189 chances.
 
Dover adds another accolade to a stellar junior season that included first team all-conference honors and second team all-region honors. She became the first Division I NFCA All-Region seletion for the program this year. The junior infielder started all 52 games and batted second in every game. She led the team with a .384 batting average and was the only ASUN player to finish the regular season with 50 hits, 50 runs, 40 RBI, 10 doubles, 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases. Her 55 runs set the Division I single season school record.
 
Dover, Shaw, Simon and Wilken were also voted to the Academic All-ASUN team this season along with seniors Gyvan Hammons and Laura Leigh Wheeler.
 
The final CSC Academic All-District selection is Wright, earning her first career accolade. She batted .243 for the season in 49 starts — primarily in left field. She had 33 hits with 16 multi-base hits, turning in a .449 slugging percentage.
 
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