UHV's Kristoff earns CoSIDA academic honor

University of Houston-Victoria's Michelle Kristoff has been selected to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 NAIA Division softball first team.

The 2021 Academic All-District® Baseball and Softball Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The Academic All-America program separately recognizes baseball and softball honorees in four divisions – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second-, and third-team (when selected) Academic All-America honorees will be announced in late July.

Kristoff earned recognition to the NAIA division on Thursday and was one of four members of the UHV softball team nominated for the award. Other nominees included Zoe Miranda, Lauren Caka and Marisa Mendoza. Nominees for baseball included Tyler Price, Hayden Leopold and Langston White.

She is the 12 UHV student-athlete to earn recognition on the all-district level since 2011. UHV has also had at least one student-athlete named to the team each of the past six years.

Kristoff, a senior pitcher, was selected as a pitcher and will now advance to the Academic All-America ballot.

To be nominated, student-athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games at the position listed on the nomination form, must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and complete one full calendar year at their current school.

Kristoff wrapped up her second season with the Jaguars and is a Kinesiology major with a 3.69 GPA.

A transfer from San Jacinto College, she has excelled in the classroom while at UHV earning recognition three times on the Dean's List and once on the President's List. She is a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar athlete and a Red River Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete.

On the field, she has compiled a 15-16 record with a 3.01 ERA in 39 games. She has thrown 31 complete games and has recorded 120 strikeouts with 63 walks. She was twice named the conference pitcher of the week and was the MVP of the RRAC Tournament this past season.

District 4 is comprised of NAIA schools that are members of CoSIDA in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Canada.