Oregon Softball Trio Named All Americans

Courtney Ceo, Cheridan Hawkins and Janie Takeda were named All-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Courtney Ceo (L) and Cheridan Hawkins (R) were both named first team All-Americans by the NFCA. Photo: goducks.com

(OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) - After helping the Ducks to their second straight Pac-12 title and a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA softball championships, Courtney Ceo, Cheridan Hawkins and Janie Takeda were named All-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, the group announced Wednesday in a press conference at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

Ceo and Hawkins were first team All-America selections while Takeda earned second team All-America honors. Each team - first, second and third - included three pitchers and a player at each position, in addition to five at-large choices.

Oregon had four All-Americans last season - Takeda plus Alexa Peterson, Jessica Moore and Kaylan Howard. Including this year, the Ducks have had 17 All-Americans, with nine coming in five seasons under head coach Mike White.

Hawkins joins Katie Wiese (1989), Andrea Vidlund (2003), Ani Nyhus (2004) and Moore (2012 and 2013) as Oregon pitchers to earn All-America honors. The sophomore is third in the nation with 33 wins, fourth with 313 strikeouts and 11th with 11 shutouts. Her 1.55 ERA is the 25th best in the NCAA.

Ceo is the first third baseman at Oregon to ever be named an All-American. The senior currently leads the nation with a .492 batting average and set an Oregon single-season record this year for hits, with 98, and tied the single-game hits record with five against N.C. State on Feb. 8. Ceo is also Oregon's all-time leader in runs scored (193), hits (282) and her .414 career batting average is on pace to break the current UO record of .389.

Takeda is only the third player in UO history to be a two-time All-American. Julie Cavanaugh (1990 and 1991) was the first while Moore also did it (2012 and 2013). The junior leads the nation with a UO single-season record eight triples and was named NCAA Eugene Regional MVP after hitting a team-high .545 with five runs scored, five RBIs and a home run over three games. With a season left to play, Takeda is already in UO's career top-10 in runs scored (147), hits (229), triples (10) and batting average (.389).

Source: goducks.com