EAST PEORIA, Ill. – For the first time in six years, Missouri S&T is represented by as many as three individuals on the Great Lakes Valley Conference's all-conference softball team as the squad was announced Wednesday night on the eve of the GLVC Softball Championships.

The Miners had a player on each of the three teams, with first baseman Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) being selected to the first team, Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) earning a second team spot at the pitcher-utility position and Trista Grobe (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) landing third team honors at catcher.  The awards were presented at the conference's awards reception Wednesday night.

Anderson, the first Miner to be named to the first team since 2018, leads S&T in several offensive categories including hitting at .374, slugging with a mark of .568, on-base percentage at .427 and OPS (on-base plus slugging) with an average of .995.  She also has a team-leading 33 runs batted in and 19 doubles, a total that leads the GLVC and is 13^th in NCAA Division II.

Wooldridge has stood out both at the plate and in the circle for the Miners this season, as she ranks second to Anderson in most of those offensive categories with a .344 batting average, .459 slugging mark and .422 on-base percentage while driving in 23 runs and scoring 24.  As a pitcher, she owns a 13-11 record with a 3.87 earned run average and has struck out a staff-leading 146 hitters in 139 1/3 innings.

In the field, she has played at third base in the games where she doesn't pitch and between the two positions, has committed only two errors in 152 chances this season.

Grobe, who like Anderson is in her first season at S&T, is hitting .269 on the season with a team-leading four home runs and 22 runs batted in.  She has started in 52 of the team's 53 games this season – the bulk of them behind the plate – and has thrown out six runners trying to steal this season.

Indianapolis, who enters the GLVC Tournament as the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II, picked up two of the major awards as pitcher Kenzee Smith was named as the league's Pitcher of the Year for the second stragiht season and head coach Melissa Frost was selected as the Coach of the Year.  McKendree shortstop Lauren Harris was also named for the second year in a row as the GLVC's Player of the Year, while Southwest Baptist outfielder Angelina Micone landed the league's Freshman of the Year honor.

Gretchen Roth (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South) was named as Missouri S&T's nominee from the program for the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award.  The nominees for that award go to student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior.  The nominees must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

The Miners open play in the GLVC Tournament on Thursday when they take on Lewis at 3 p.m. in East Peoria, Ill.