Softball Big Sky Communications Staff

Weekly Honors Announced for April 28

FARMINGTON, Utah (April 28, 2025) – The Big Sky Conference will announce weekly honors for softball and outdoor track and field through the course of the week.

Big Sky Softball Player of the Week (April 28, 2025)

Co-Player of the Week: Ava Brown, Idaho State (C, Jr., Mered, Calif.)
Ava Brown set the new Big Sky single-season home run record this week against the Boise State Broncos with her 21st in 2025

Brown then stormed back against the PSU Vikings. Hitting 3 home runs on back-to-back-to-back plate appearances. To extend her home run total to 24 on the year, tied for 1st in the NCAA  

Brown finished the week hitting .429 with 4 homeruns and 2 doubles. Brown‘s 6 RBIs and 20 total bases led her to another staggering 1.429 SLG%

Defensively, Brown was perfect in Center field in the 4 games, snagging 8 putouts and 1 assist

Co-Player of the Week: Alex Carino, Sacramento State (1B, Fr., Yuba City, Calif.)
Freshman first baseman Alexa Carino homered four times in helping the Hornets to a three-game road sweep at Montana.  For the week, Carino hit .538 (7-for-13) with six runs, four homers, nine RBIs and a 1.462 slugging percentage. She homered in all three games against Montana, and connected for multiple hits in each of those games as well.

One of those homers was an inside the park grand slam in the opening game at Montana, becoming the first player in program history to accomplish the feat.  In total, she homered three times on Friday. 

Entering the Montana series, the Yuba City, Calif., native had two homers all season. She tripled that count with the four bombs vs. Montana.

Others Nominated for Softball Player of the Week
Jaycie Gandert (UNC)

Big Sky Softball Pitcher of the Week (April 28, 2025)

Co-Pitcher of the Week: Megan Meracle, Idaho State (P, Fr., Boise, ID)
Megan Meracle set history for Idaho State softball throwing the first perfect game in Idaho State history. 

In her five innings of flawless work, Meracle fanned six Portland State Vikings, including the perfect game completing strikeout. 

Meracle finishes the week with a 2-0 record and three apperances. With 11 total strikeouts and a .130 opponent batting average

Co-Pitcher of the Week: Anna Wilming, Northern Colorado (P, So., Columbus, OH)
Wilming through a perfect game in the run rule victory over Weber State this weekend. She also recorded a save in series finale on Saturday, pitching 2.2 innings to secure the series win.

The sophomores weekend stat line is an impressive 0.00 ERA, 1-0-1 record, 7.2 innings pitched, just 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. She held opposing batters to a .042 batting average. 

Others Nominated for Softball Pitcher of the Week
Kennedie Magorian (SAC)

Big Sky Track & Field Athletes of the Week (April 28, 2025)

Men's Track Athlete of the Week: Jerome Campbell, Northern Colorado (Jr., Kingston, Jamacia)
After running a 13.66 in the 110-meter hurdles as the Texas Invite, Northern Colorado’s Jerome Campbell has been named Big Sky Men’s Track Athlete of the Week. Campbell is the Big Sky leader in the event, running a 13.54 earlier in the season. The 13.66 he ran this past weekend would be the second-best time in the league.

Others Nominated for Men's Track Athlete of the Week
Braden Ankeny (UM), Rob McManus (MSU), Zachary Winger (SAC), Alex Wheeler (WSU)

Men's Field Athlete of the Week: Jay Wadley, Idaho State (Sr., Centerville, Utah)
Continuing his impressive 2025 campaign, Idaho State’s Jay Wadley has been named Men’s Field Athlete of the Week. At the Ed Jacoby Twilight Meet against strong competition including athletes from Boise State, Jay captured first place in the discus with a throw of 55.71 meters and secured a second-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 16.78 meters. Wadley is the conference leader in the discus, and his mark would have been the second best in the Big Sky this season.

Others Nominated for Men's Field Athlete of the Week
Cort Gebbers (EWU), Kyle Iorg (UM), Elijah Jackman (MSU), Miles Grant (SAC), Jeims Molina (WSU)

Women's Track Athlete of the Week: Kyla Christopher-Moody, Montana State (Gr., Royal Oak, Mich.)
After running an impressive 5,000-meter at the Payton Jordan Invite, Montana State’s Kyla Christopher-Moody has been named Women’s Track Athlete of the Week. Her mark of 15:58.55 was just 10 seconds slower than her school record time from last week at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Moody is ranked fourth in the Big Sky for the women’s 5K, which is currently a very deep event for the league.   

Others Nominated for Women's Track Athlete of the Week
Anise Becker (ISU), Tara Ohlwiler (UM), SAC 4x100 Team, Eliza Smith (WSU)

Women's Field Athlete of the Week: Sydney Brewster, Montana State (So., Sandy, Ore.)
As her impressive campaign rolls along, Montana State’s Sydney Brewster won the shot put at the Montana Open in Missoula to earn Women’s Field Athlete of the Week honors. Brewster had a mark of 16.26m, which would have been the second-best mark in the Big Sky to this point of the season.  

Others Nominated for Women's Field Athlete of the Week
Kaila Mederios (ISU), Samantha Serex (UM), Jessi Barry (SAC), Kapua Pulotu (WSU)

Follow Us
 
Follow the Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok for all of the latest news around the league and use the hashtag #ExperienceElevated to stay connected.