Greenville, SC ––University of Northwestern softball senior Ellie Ronning (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria Area) was named to the 2021 National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association All-American First Team, the NCCAA announced. She is the first member of the All-American team in Northwestern softball history.

Read the full NCCAA Awards list here.

In the 2021 season, Ronning set the Northwestern single-season hits record with 64. On Thursday, May 13th against Bethany Lutheran in the conference tournament, she passed Megan Threlkeld who had 62 hits in the 2015 season. She also set the single-season records for average, total bases, and on-base percentage. She stands second in RBIs, second in doubles, third in slugging percentage, and third in triples. Her .542 average was the ninth highest in Divison III and only one of the eight people above her had more at-bats than her 118.

Ronning has had one of the most productive careers in school history. She holds the career record for doubles, and sits second for total bases, second for putouts, third for fielding percentage, fourth for hits, fourth for home runs, fourth for slugging percentage, sixth for triples, sixth for RBIs, seventh for batting average, seventh for walks, and eighth in at-bats.

In addition to this honor, Ronning was named a member of the UMAC All-Conference Team, the UMAC All-Defensive Team, and the NCCAA North Central Region Player of the Year. She was also named UMAC Academic All-Conference, UMAC Player of the Week three times, NCCAA Student-Athlete of the Week, NCCAA Scholar Athlete, and Northwestern's recipient of the UMAC Sportsmanship Award.

To stay up-to-date on all things UNW Softball, fans should visit www.unweagles.com.