May 2, 2024

DICKINSON, N.D. – The North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) announced its 2024 Softball All-Conference Teams, Gold Glove team and postseason awards Thursday evening on the eve of the postseason tournament.  The awards recognition was held at the Biesiot Activities Center on the campus of Dickinson State (N.D.).

The NSAA Softball All-Conference Teams, Gold Glove Team and postseason awards were voted by the league coaches.  The 2024 NSAA All-Conference Teams consists of 31 recipients, 20 athletes on the first team and 11 athletes on the second team.  The Champions of Character recipients are also announced. 

Valley City State (N.D.) has a total of ten individuals on the All-Conference teams, seven recipients on the First Team All-Conference.  Bellevue (Neb.) landed six recipients on the All-Conference Teams.

The North Star also announced its 9-member Gold Glove team for displaying their outstanding defensive performance.

In the NSAA postseason awards, Katie Cunningham of Bellevue was selected as Pitcher-of-the-Year and Player-of-the-Year. Megan Elliott of Mayville State (N.D.) was named as the Newcomer-of-the-Year.  Her teammate Lindsey Tulla was chosen as the Freshman-of-the-Year.  Michala Cimino of Bellevue was named the NSAA Softball Coach-of-the-Year.

The 2024 NSAA Softball Postseason Tournament begins with three opening round games on Friday, starting at 1:30 p.m. (Central Time)/12:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) with Dakota State (S.D.) taking on Mayville State (N.D.).  Waldorf (Iowa) takes on Valley City State at 4 p.m. (CT)/3 p.m. (MT) and wraps up with the host-team Dickinson State (N.D.) facing Viterbo (Wis.) at 6:30 p.m. (CT)/5:30 p.m. (MT).  Bellevue is the top-seeded team and received the opening round bye and will play on Saturday.

The double-elimination tournament format continues through Monday with the championship game.  The conference tournament is being held on Bravera Field on the Sanford Sports Complex in Dickinson.

Below are the complete listings of all All-Conference Teams selections, postseason awards and Gold Glove Team:
 
2024 North Star Athletic Association Softball All-Conference First Team
 

Position	First Name, Last Name	Year	School	Hometown
P	Katie Cunningham	Junior	Bellevue (Neb.)	Bellevue, Neb.
P	Savannah Gunn	Senior	Bellevue (Neb.)	Forney, Texas
P	Maddy Zander	Junior	Valley City State (N.D.)	Bismarck, N.D.
C	Sierra Crocker	Senior	Valley City State (N.D.)	Napa, Calif.
C	Atiana Rodriguez	Sophomore	Bellevue (Neb.)	Bellevue, Neb.
INF	Megan Elliott	Graduate	Mayville State (N.D.)	Simi Valley, Calif.
INF	Lindsey Tulla	Freshman	Mayville State (N.D.)	Bovey, Minn.
INF	Liana McMurtry	Junior	Bellevue (Neb.)	Bellevue, Neb.`
INF	Saige Forseth	Senior	Valley City State (N.D.)	Hillsboro, N.D.
INF	Alyssa DePoorter	Junior	Valley City State (N.D.)	Casper, Wyo.
OF	Hannah McFarland	Sophomore	Dakota State (S.D.)	Lawtey, Fla.
OF	Kennadi Stone	Freshman	Valley City State (N.D.)	Blaine, Minn.
OF	Alexa Sidel	Junior	Bellevue (Neb.)	Papillion, Neb.
OF	Makenzee Stone	Junior	Valley City State (N.D.)	Blaine, Minn.
DP	Logan Gronberg	Sophomore	Valley City State (N.D.)	Bismarck, N.D.
UTIL	Dallis Mitchell	Senior	Dickinson State (N.D.)	Phoenix, Ariz.
At-Large	Michelle Evdos	Junior	Dakota State (S.D.)	Parker, Colo.
At-Large	Madison Clark	Freshman	Waldorf (Iowa)	Kimberly, Idaho
At-Large	Joelle Lamontagne	Graduate	Valley City State (N.D.)	Oxbow, Sask., Canada
At-Large	Brooke Hickey	Junior	Waldorf (Iowa)	Adel, Iowa

2024 North Star Athletic Association Softball All-Conference Second Team
 

Position	First Name, Last Name	Year	School	Hometown
At-Large	Ashlyn Diemert	Junior	Valley City State (N.D.)	West Fargo, N.D.
At-Large	Madison Machacek	Senior	Bellevue (Neb.)	Bellevue, Neb.
At-Large	Morgan James	Senior	Viterbo (Wis.)	Mineral Point, Wis.
At-Large	Megan Jardine	Sophomore	Viterbo (Wis.)	West Valley City, Utah
At-Large	Cassy Loa	Senior	Dickinson State (N.D.)	San Diego, Calif.
At-Large	Cory Carrillo	Senior	Bellevue (Neb.)	Newbury Park, Calif.
At-Large	Makayla Nortman	Sophomore	Viterbo (Wis.)	Black River Falls, Wis.
At-Large	Maerin Dartnell	Freshman	Valley City State (N.D.)	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
At-Large	Marissa Carter-Olson	Sophomore	Viterbo (Wis.)	Oshkosh, Wis.
At-Large	Emily Haines	Graduate	Mayville State (N.D.)	Folsom, Calif.
At-Large	Kaela Eslinger	Senior	Waldorf (Iowa)	Macksburg, Iowa

2024 North Star Athletic Association Softball Postseason Awards
Pitcher-of-the-Year:  Katie Cunningham – Bellevue (Neb.)
Player-of-the-Year:  Katie Cunningham – Bellevue (Neb.)
Newcomer-of-the-Year:  Megan Elliott – Mayville State (N.D.)
Freshman-of-the-Year:  Lindsey Tulla – Mayville State (N.D.)
Coach-of-the-Year:  Michala Cimino – Bellevue (Neb.)

2024 North Star Athletic Association Champions of Character recipients
Bellevue (Neb.):  Lexi Blankenfeld
Dakota State (S.D.):  Alexus Foster
Dickinson State (N.D.):  Alexa Kappel
Mayville State (N.D.):  Mackenzie Iverson
Valley City State (N.D.):  Avery Kuklinski
Viterbo (Wis.):  Kate Olsen
Waldorf (Iowa):  Haley Ehlert
 
2024 North Star Athletic Association Softball Gold Glove Team:
 

Position	First Name, Last Name	Year	School	Hometown
C	Atiana Rodriguez	Sophomore	Bellevue (Neb.)	Bellevue, Neb.
1B	Megan Elliott	Graduate	Mayville State (N.D.)	Simi Valley, Calif.
2B	Courtney Denton	Sophomore	Viterbo (Wis.)	Menifee, Calif.
3B	Alyssa DePoorter	Junior	Valley City State (N.D.)	Casper, Wyo.
SS	Ashlyn Diemert	Junior	Valley City State (N.D.)	West Fargo, N.D.
OF	Hannah McFarland	Sophomore	Dakota State (S.D.)	Lawtey, Fla.
OF	Makayla Nortman	Sophomore	Viterbo (Wis.)	Black River Falls, Wis.
OF	Myla Beckstrom	Senior	Bellevue (Neb.)	Omaha, Neb.
P	Savannah Gunn	Senior	Bellevue (Neb.)	Forney, Texas

 

	2024 NSAA Softball All-Conference First Team
	2024 NSAA Softball All-Conference Second Team
	2024 NSAA Softball Postseason Awards
	2024 NSAA Softball Gold Glove
	2024 NSAA Softball Champions of Character
	2024 NSAA Softbal Regular-Season Title Bellevue (Neb.)