Five Skyhawks Named CSC Academic All-District
5/26/2026 2:08:00 PM | Softball
GREENWOOD, Ind. – Five members of the University of Tennessee at Martin softball team were named to the 2026 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, the organization announced Tuesday. Senior Avary Makarewicz, juniors Payton Harris, Karena Recrosio and Carly Ward and sophomore Natalie Kreuziger all received the accolade.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be a sophomore or higher, have at least a 3.50 GPA and must compete in 90-percent of the institution's matches played or must start in at least 66-percent of the institution's matches.
Harris is a health and human performance major from Clarksville, Tennessee with a 3.87 GPA and was an All-OVC second team honoree this season. She went 6-6 on year with a 3.26 ERA and 30 strikeouts. In league play, Harris was especially impressive, going 5-1 with a save, two shutouts and the lowest ERA in conference play in the OVC at just 1.04.
Kreuziger is a health and human performance major from Huntingdon, Tennessee with a 3.51 GPA and was named to the All-OVC first team. She finished the season at 8-4 overall with a team-low 2.61 ERA, a team-high 75 strikeouts, two solo shutouts, a combined shutout and three saves. In conference play, she went 5-1 with three saves, two solo shutouts, one combined shutout with the league's third-lowest ERA at 1.89 and a .222 opponent's batting average.
Makarewicz is an interdisciplinary studies major from Ripon, Wisconsin, who graduated with a 3.88 GPA and was named to All-OVC second team. She batted .336 on the season and led the OVC with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. She finished the season with a slugging percentage and on-base percentage of .638 and .444, respectively, for the league's fourth-highest OPS at 1.082, and also led the Skyhawks on the year with 31 walks.
Karena Recrosio is a health and human performance major from Weirton, West Virginia with a 3.61 GPA and earned OVC All-Newcomer OVC All-Tournament accolades in her first season with the Skyhawks. She turned in the team's second-highest average on the year, at .360, and led UT Martin in runs scored with 37. She also hit seven doubles, drove in 11 runs, drew 13 walks and stole 18 bases.
Ward is an agriculture business major from Hendersonville, Tennessee with a 3.79 GPA and was named to the All-OVC first team. She finished fourth in the OVC in batting average at .390, which went down as the sixth-best single-season average in school history. She led the team in hits with sixty, while also driving in 13 runs and stealing 15 bases and was the only Skyhawk this season to tally four hits on two separate occasions
In addition to their Academic All-District honors, Makarewicz and Ward were selected as Academic All-America finalists. Of the 26 Ohio Valley Conference players named to the Academic All-District team, only four were selected to advance to the Academic All-America ballot, with UT Martin being the only school to have multiple players on the ballot.
The three-team College Sports Communicators Academic All-America awards will be announced on June 16.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be a sophomore or higher, have at least a 3.50 GPA and must compete in 90-percent of the institution's matches played or must start in at least 66-percent of the institution's matches.
Harris is a health and human performance major from Clarksville, Tennessee with a 3.87 GPA and was an All-OVC second team honoree this season. She went 6-6 on year with a 3.26 ERA and 30 strikeouts. In league play, Harris was especially impressive, going 5-1 with a save, two shutouts and the lowest ERA in conference play in the OVC at just 1.04.
Kreuziger is a health and human performance major from Huntingdon, Tennessee with a 3.51 GPA and was named to the All-OVC first team. She finished the season at 8-4 overall with a team-low 2.61 ERA, a team-high 75 strikeouts, two solo shutouts, a combined shutout and three saves. In conference play, she went 5-1 with three saves, two solo shutouts, one combined shutout with the league's third-lowest ERA at 1.89 and a .222 opponent's batting average.
Makarewicz is an interdisciplinary studies major from Ripon, Wisconsin, who graduated with a 3.88 GPA and was named to All-OVC second team. She batted .336 on the season and led the OVC with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. She finished the season with a slugging percentage and on-base percentage of .638 and .444, respectively, for the league's fourth-highest OPS at 1.082, and also led the Skyhawks on the year with 31 walks.
Karena Recrosio is a health and human performance major from Weirton, West Virginia with a 3.61 GPA and earned OVC All-Newcomer OVC All-Tournament accolades in her first season with the Skyhawks. She turned in the team's second-highest average on the year, at .360, and led UT Martin in runs scored with 37. She also hit seven doubles, drove in 11 runs, drew 13 walks and stole 18 bases.
Ward is an agriculture business major from Hendersonville, Tennessee with a 3.79 GPA and was named to the All-OVC first team. She finished fourth in the OVC in batting average at .390, which went down as the sixth-best single-season average in school history. She led the team in hits with sixty, while also driving in 13 runs and stealing 15 bases and was the only Skyhawk this season to tally four hits on two separate occasions
In addition to their Academic All-District honors, Makarewicz and Ward were selected as Academic All-America finalists. Of the 26 Ohio Valley Conference players named to the Academic All-District team, only four were selected to advance to the Academic All-America ballot, with UT Martin being the only school to have multiple players on the ballot.
The three-team College Sports Communicators Academic All-America awards will be announced on June 16.
Players Mentioned
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