(Ann Arbor, MI) - The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) announced its yearly postseason awards on Wednesday afternoon. The Concordia Cardinals saw eight players honored throughout the First and Second All-Conference teams. Payton Lewis and Katie Tobias were also named Player of the Year and Co-Newcomer of the Year respectively.
CONFERENCE AWARDS
Two Cardinals earned top honors in the conference as Sophomore Payton Lewis was named the WHAC Player of the Year. Lewis is the first Cardinal to win this honor since Robin Santiago back in 2002. Katie Tobias was named the Co-Newcomer of the Year in the conference, winning the award alongside Indiana Tech's Jordan Dippel.
FIRST TEAM
PAYTON LEWIS | SO | VICKSBURG, MICHIGAN
Payton Lewis earns her second first-team mention following another stellar year for the Cardinals. After leading the team in hits with 78 on the year she recorded the third-highest batting average in the WHAC at .446.
KATIE TOBIAS | JR | BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN
Katie Tobias makes her first appearance on the All-Conference team after hitting .396 and a team-high 47 RBIs on the season. The 47 RBIs are the second-most in the WHAC as she is just behind the lead by four. She tacked on the fourth-most home runs in the WHAC as well with six.
SHANNON MCALINDEN | JR | RIVERVIEW, MICHIGAN
Shannon McAlinden appears for the third consecutive season on an All-Conference team and her second time in a row on the First Team. McAlinden was second on the team and fifth in the WHAC in batting average at .411 as she tacked on 67 hits on the season as well. She had 18 extra-base hits with six doubles, six triples, and six home runs. She also recorded a WHAC-leading 39 stolen bases on the season.
KORYN PLAYFORD | SR | JONESVILLE, MICHIGAN
This is the second time in Koryn Playford's Cardinal career that she is being named to the First Team All-Conference as she was in 2021. Playford hit .397 on the season with 56 hits, 11 of which were doubles, with a total of 18 RBIs. Playford tallied the second-most WHAC stolen bases with 31.
DEE CAMPBELL | SR | CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS
Dee Campbell earns her first WHAC All-Conference honor in her second season in a Cardinal uniform. She went on to hit .390 on the year with seven doubles. In conference-only games, she recorded a batting average of .451 which was tied for second in the conference. She added on three home runs and the fourth-most RBIs in conference play as well with 20.
PAIGE ANDERSON | SO | DAVISON, MICHIGAN
Paige Anderson is another first-time member of the All-Conference teams after being the Cardinals ace of the year with 145 innings pitched. She recorded a record of 17-7, which was the second-most wins in the WHAC. She also had the ninth-best ERA which finished the regular season at 2.32.
SECOND TEAM
JADA STEPHENSON | JR | WASHINGTON, MICHIGAN
The Cardinal's right fielder, Jada Stephenson, takes home second-team all-conference honors after hitting .352 this season. She recorded 10 doubles, four triples and one home run, and 20 RBIs. The four triples ties her for fourth most in the WHAC, while her batting average was 21st.
SARAH TYRRELL | JR | OXFORD, MICHIGAN
Another Cardinal earning first-time postseason honors was Sarah Tyrrell. She was a crucial part of the Cardinal's backend of the middle lineup hitting .330 on the year. She scored 26 runs on the year with 35 hits. She tallied 12 steals on the year as well.
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
The Cardinals saw three members named to the All-Defensive team in the conference as Katie Tobias, Payton Lewis, and Shannon McAlinden were all honored for their defense this season.
At Catcher, Tobias earned a fielding percentage of .979 with 206 putouts, 22 assists, and 14 runners caught stealing. The Shortstop Lewis had a fielding percentage of .947 as she had 95 putouts and 82 assists. McAlinden, the centerfielder, saw a fielding percentage of .927 as she had 65 putouts and 11 assists from the outfield.
CHAMPION OF CHARACTER
Maddy Grueter was recognized as the team's WHAC Champion of Character. The sophomore was honored for her commitment to the five core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.
The Cardinals also had Head Coach Hailey Cavanagh named the WHAC Champions of Character Coach for the 2023 season.
ALL-ACADEMIC
The WHAC announced their All-Academic teams, which involve being a junior in Academic standing and having a cumulative GPA of 3.25. Five Cardinals were named to the team which included Cassidy Kane, Jada Stephenson, Koryn Playford, Sarah Tyrrell, and Shannon McAlinden.
