LEBANON, Ill. | DII Conference Commissioners Association - McKendree University softball sophomore shortstop Lauren Harris has not slowed down even following the season as she added yet another postseason honor on Thursday afternoon as she collected the Ron Lenz Player of the Year trophy along with her second set of First Team All-American laurels, as announced by D2CCA. The Woodlawn, Illinois-native tacked on to her numerous postseason honors of 2024 and her collegiate career, as the First Team All-American nod and Player of the Year award marked her seventh and eighth postseason honors selections of 2024. The D2CCA Player of the Year hardware is her third POTY honor this spring while she now is a three-time All-American between the NFCA and D2CCA in her career. Harris and McKendree concluded the campaign in the semifinal of the GLVC Softball Championship on May 5 after going on a tear to fight back into title contention, winning three-straight to reach the final day of the tournament. The Bearcats finished the year 36-22 (16-10 GLVC), marking their first 30-plus win season since 2018 and notching their first postseason victories since 2021. 

FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN | Lauren Harris
Sophomore | Shortstop | Woodlawn, Illinois
The sophomore shortstop earns McKendree's first D2CCA Player of the Year and third D2CCA All-American since the inception of the D2CCA program in 2007, the honors marked her seventh and eighth of the 2024 campaign. Harris became the program's second First Team All-American with her selection this spring, as teammate Olivia Stansbury collected the honor in 2022, while being the Bearcats' fourth-ever NFCA All-American (NCAA).The selection marks a third-straight season with an NFCA All-American honoree for McKendree with Stansbury getting the First Team nod in 2022 while Harris was named Third Team in 2023 and now First Team in 2024. Harris earned the fourth overall NCAA Divison II-era All-American honor for the Bearcats as Brooke Gajewski was given the program's first nod in 2018, receiving Second Team recognition. The sophomore shortstop tacks onto her postseason honors with the NFCA All-American award after she was named First Team All-Region by both the NFCA and D2CCA as well as the D2CCA Midwest Region Player of the Year, which followed her second consecutive GLVC Player of the Year and Unanimous All-GLVC First Team selections. Harris totals four major awards in her career (2023 GLVC Freshman of the Year, 2023 GLVC Player of the Year, 2024 GLVC Player of the Year, 2024 D2CCA Midwest Region Player of the Year), while becoming a two-time All-American after being named Third Team All-American as a freshman in 2023.

The sophomore out of Woodlawn, Illinois dominated on the field, holding a DII and GLVC-leading .511 batting average while also ranking atop slugging percentage (.937), on-base percentage (.545), OPS (1.482), hits (97), and home runs (18) in the league. Harris also ranked in the conference for runs (4th - 53), RBIs (2nd - 65), doubles (t-2nd - 19), triples (t-6th - 4), and stolen bases (t-4th - 24). In NCAA DII (through May 20, 2024), the infielder sits among leaders in batting average (1st), hits (3rd), doubles (t-18th), home runs / home runs per game (t-12th / t-23rd - 0.31), on-base percentage (11th), RBIs / RBIs per game (17th / 29th - 1.12), slugging (5th), and total bases (2nd - 178). Harris became a single-season record holder for the program in a multitude of categories, including batting average (.511), runs scored (53), hits (97), RBIs (65), and total bases (178).

The D2CCA All-America and All-Region softball teams, which are selected by College Sports Communications (CSC) members from schools playing Division II softball, were first established in 2007. This year represents the ninth year in which the Division II Conference Commissioners Association solely sponsored the program. 

The Division II Conference Commissioners Association encourages and promotes Division II athletics and high standards of sportsmanship as important elements of higher education. The CCA is a key communications link among the conferences as they discuss views, policies and regulations that impact Division II intercollegiate athletics and works closely with the NCAA as a communications channel to NCAA Division II member colleges and universities.