May 31, 2016
OKLAHOMA CITY - Auburn's Kasey Cooper has been named the ELITE 90 award winner as announced by the NCAA on Tuesday evening during the Women's College World Series team reception.
The ELITE 90 award honors the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level, while also achieving the highest cumulative GPA among her peers.
"It's a good feeling to be recognized," Cooper said after the reception. "Playing a sport and being an engineering major, its very difficult. Everyone has to help - all of my teammates, friends in my classes, my professors and coaches. When you have a whole university working with you, it's really possible."
Cooper and the Auburn softball team have advanced to the WCWS for the second-straight year with a 54-10 season and No. 4 overall seed. The Dothan, Ala. native has maintained a 4.0 GPA in her mechanical engineering major.
The junior third baseman was named the top player on the field among her conference, earning SEC Player of the Year honors, as well as claiming top honors in the classroom among her league peers, earning SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. She also repeated as a CoSIDA Academic All-American this season. Cooper earned espnW Player of the Year and was a top-three finalist for the ASA/USA Softball Player of the Year award.