[Ann Arbor, MI]  —  The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) announced their All-American selections and the Coach of the Year on Friday. This year, Payton Lewis and Shannon McAlinden received First and Second Team honors, respectively. In addition, Concordia's Hailey Cavanagh will take home the Coach of the Year award after an incredibly successful season.

Lewis put together a great all around year for the entire season, collecting the WHAC Player of the Year, WHAC First Team All-Conference, and the WHAC All-Defensive Team. The First Team All-American selection was also named to the NCCAA All-Regional Team as she was 5th in the NCCAA in runs scored (52), 2nd in base hits (90), tied for 4th in doubles (17), and 2nd in plate appearances (210) in all 61 games that the Cardinals played this season.

McAlinden completed another season filled with highlights and accolades, as she too was named to WHAC First Team All-Conference and WHAC All-Defensive Team. McAlinden was named as a Second Team All-American selection while she led the NCCAA in runs scored (63), tied for the NCCAA lead in runs batted in (53) and home runs (9), was 2nd in stolen bases (40), and ranked 3rd in base hits (82). She also ranked 3rd in plate appearances (200) and tied for 6th in triples (6). This is the third NCCAA All-American appearance for McAlinden.

Cavanagh has been steadily improving this Cardinals team over her tenure as the head coach, and it paid off with an NCCAA World Series win for the first time in 24 years. Cavanagh coached the Cardinals to an impressive 44 wins on the season and has led this team further into the NCCAA World Series with each appearance. She was also named the WHAC Champion of Character coach earlier this offseason.