May 31, 2006

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure's Joelle Brunetto and Lauren Krieger have both been named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® University Division Softball Team.

It is the second year in a row that Coach Mike Threehouse's softball team has had two players earn the prestigious national honor. Kim Dodson and Laurie Stone were selected in 2005.

Both Brunetto and Krieger were named to the third team. They are two of just 33 NCAA Division I softball players named Academic All-Americans® by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

This spring, Brunetto and Krieger helped lead St. Bonaventure to its second straight berth in the Atlantic 10 Conference Softball Championship. The Bonnies went 14-6 in Atlantic 10 play, a school record for conference victories, and finished 23-22 overall.

Brunetto graduated summa cum laude with a degree in finance and an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.9. The shortstop hit .313 with 16 RBI, one home run, five doubles, 20 runs and a team-high 20 walks. The Depew, N.Y., product was a four-year starter.

Krieger batted a career-best .299 this season including .393 in conference games. The left fielder from Lancaster, N.Y., led the team with 34 RBI, hit nine doubles and scored 20 runs. Krieger earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education in 2005 with a 3.9 GPA. She recently completed a master's degree in education with a concentration on childhood literacy.

"It is no coincidence that our athletic success has gone hand-in-hand with our academic success," Threehouse said. "It has always been my belief that strong academics breeds strong leaders, and over the past two years our four Academic All-Americans have all been team captains. Their athletic talent is only matched by their academic achievement."

Led by his Academic All-Americans, Threehouse's team again set a high standard in the 2005-06 academic year. The Bonnies earned a team GPA of 3.50 in the fall semester and 3.60 in the spring - both figures the top marks among Bona's 14 varsity teams.