RICHMOND, Va. -- University of Delaware senior shortstop Kim Ovittore was named the Colonial Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year for softball while senior pole vaulter Kelli McDonald (at right) earned the award for women’s track and field, the conference announced last week.

Ovittore, who recently graduated from UD with a degree in exercise science, was a Dean’s List student who earned CoSIDA Academic All-District first team honors this season. She was a member of the UD Athletic Governing Board, served as a H.E.N.S. Peer Mentor, and was a member of six national honor societies.

Ovittore (Bethel, Conn./Lauralton Hall) received first team All-CAA honors this year after being named to the all-conference second team in 2007. Ovittore, who started all 39 games at shortstop this year, led the Blue Hens with a .327 batting average, 37 hits, 24 runs scored, and eight doubles. She went 3 for 3 against Seton Hall and La Salle, and posted eight two-hit games on the season. Ovittore finished her career ranked second in Blue Hen history with 10 home runs, third with 37 doubles and 101 RBI, fourth with 243 total bases, sixth with 87 runs scored, eighth with 160 hits, and 13th with a .302 batting average.

McDonald (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville), who recently graduated from Delaware with a degree in accounting, won the 2009 ECAC Medal of Merit for having the highest GPA among UD student-athletes. A member of the UD Athletic Governing Board and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, McDonald received Academic All-District honors in 2008.

McDonald was seventh in the pole vault at the NCAA East Regionals, the highest a Blue Hen has finished in any event in the nine-year history of the regionals, with a school-record vault of 12’10”. McDonald, who placed third in the pole vault at the CAA Championships, finished her career with 19 career titles in the event, including three this season. She also placed eighth at the ECAC Championships to earn All-East honors.

Nominees for the award must be a starter or important reserve on their team and must meet the Academic All-America minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.20. The winners were selected by a vote of the sports information directors at each CAA institution.

Other CAA Scholar-Athlete Award winners for spring sports included Mark Stuckless of Hofstra (baseball), Tom Sherreard of Georgia State (men’s golf), Ashley Tait of UNC Wilmington (women’s golf), Brian Karalunas of Villanova (men’s lacrosse), Maggie Bridges of George Mason (women’s lacrosse), Aleksandr Seleznev of Old Dominion (men’s tennis), Martina Nitkova of Georgia State (women’s tennis), and Cam Shriver of William & Mary (men’s track and field).

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