Moon Township, Pa. – On the heels of earning the highest grade-point average during the 2011-12 academic year, the Robert Morris University softball team had a league-high 12 student-athletes earn All-America Scholar Athlete recognition for the 2012 season as recently announced by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).

RMU's 12 honorees are: Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon), Geena Badolato (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon), Samantha Bowlsbey (Farmingdale, N.J. / Red Bank Catholic), Alexa Bryson (Greensburg, Pa. / Latrobe Area), Sarah Capp (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Montour), Britta Grafton (Jamestown, Pa. / Jamestown), Maritza Jimenez (Vineland, N.J. / Vineland), Allie Patton (Poland, Ohio / Poland), Cassie Show (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville), Nicole Sleith (Smithton, Pa. / Yough), Jessica Tanigawa (Marysville, Wash. / Marysville-Pitchuck) and Jaci Timko (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers Houston).

These 12 student-athletes offer a strong amount of academic variety as they represent 10 distinct majors.

In a noteworthy display of academic and athletic achievement, both Sleith and Timko took home All-Northeast Conference awards during the 2012 campaign with the former nabbing the Pitcher of the Year accolade.

The Colonials posted a 3.609 team GPA during the past academic year to post the highest such GPA by any NCAA softball team (all divisions). In doing so, the Colonials, who have accrued at least a 3.55 GPA in each of the past four seasons, have now been honored for having the top GPA in Division I in three of the past four years.

While this group of 12 Colonials was honored by the NFCA, the rest of their teammates remained close behind. Amazingly, at the conclusion of the spring 2012 semester, every one of the 18 Colonials on the squad had an individual cumulative GPA in excess of 3.0 (and 10 of these 18 had a cumulative GPA of at least 3.6). The Colonials combined to produce 13 semester averages in the fall or spring that exceeded 3.8, including an astounding eight averages that were a perfect 4.0.

Robert Morris is no stranger to individual academic honors either as each of the past three Northeast Conference Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors have been claimed by a Colonial student-athlete. RMU produced the first Academic All-American in program history after the 2011 season and has earned 10 Academic All-District selections in the past seven years. RMU also was responsible for six of the 21 softball selections to the NEC's Commissioner's Honor Roll after the 2012 season, claiming more than 28% of the selections in an 11-team league.

Colonial student-athletes have now claimed 30 NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete awards within the past three seasons.

While the Colonials were busy posting impressive numbers in the classroom, they still managed to stand out in a positive way on the diamond as well.

RMU registered a program-record 35 wins in 2012, including posting a 15-5 mark in NEC play to claim first place in the conference for the second-consecutive season. The Colonials also broke the school record for road wins (14) and led the league in ERA (1.84) and ranked second in runs scored (102) during NEC play. Coleman earned his fourth NEC Coach of the Year award as he guided a pair of freshmen, Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) and Sleith, to major NEC honors as the duo took home the league's Golden Glove Award and Pitcher of the Year honors, respectively.