For the second consecutive year, the UBC Thunderbirds placed a pair of athletes – both White Rock Renegade alums – on the 2011 NAIA Association of Independent Institutions (AII) softball all-conference team.
Making her second appearance is senior catcher Tanya McLean of North Delta while second baseman Courtney O’Connor earned a spot in her final season at UBC.
McLean, a senior, finished tied for 16th in the conference with a .386 batting average and was sixth with an .811 slugging percentage. She also ranked among the conference top 10 with 13 home runs and 13 doubles while serving as UBC’s primary catcher.
O’Connor led the T-Birds with a .434 batting average as the everyday second baseman. She also led the team with 42 RBI, four more than McLean’s 38, and chipped in with 11 home runs and 12 doubles to go along with a .798 slugging percentage. Her batting average ranked seventh in the conference.
Another former Renegade, UBC’s senior outfielder Jess Barclay, led the conference in fielding percentage and was third on the Thunderbirds with a .345 batting average.
Three other Lower Mainland softball players with Renegade ties also earned all-conference all star status for their respective schools. Kelly King, a North Delta native who plays for the University of Houston-Victoria Tex. and Burnaby’s Kelsey Haberl and Brittany Mayers, who both play for SFU, also were named to the all-conference team.
Haberl led SFU with a .404 batting average. SFU won the A.I.I. regionals with a 5-3 victory over Central Baptist Ark. and advances to the NAIA Nationals to be held May 19-25 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
SFU is the defending national champion.