Karen Potts Named to CSC Academic All-America First Team
Junior Karen Potts of the Case Western Reserve University softball team was named to the Academic All-America First Team presented by the College Sports Communicators.
Since the inception of the program, 132 CWRU student-athletes have earned 192 Academic All-America selections, including seven Spartan student-athletes so far this year. This is the ninth year in a row the Case Western Reserve softball team had a student-athlete selected and the first career selection for Potts. The team has 12 all-time honors from CSC/CoSIDA for eight student-athletes, including seven First Team selections (Katie Wede, 2018; Ilissa Hamilton, 2020; Sarah Miller, 2021; KaiLi Gross, 2023, 2024, 2025).
Potts was named to the NFCA All-America First Team earlier this season after earning University Athletic Association Position Player of the Year, All-Region VII First Team, and All-UAA First Team honors.
The junior infielder led the team in batting average (.426), on-base percentage (.509), slugging percentage (.823), runs scored (58), hits (60), runs batted in (38), doubles (16), home runs (12), walks (26), and stolen bases (33). Potts is the first Spartan in five years to record an on-base percentage above .500 (minimum 50 at-bats) in a single season and her 58 runs scored are the second-most in a campaign in program history.
Potts has started all 135 games at shortstop over the last three seasons, hitting .402 with a .488 on-base percentage, and .672 slugging percentage. She has slugged 22 home runs while stealing 66 bases, scored 155 runs, and drove in 108 runs. She ranks first in program history in career on-base percentage, second in batting average, second in walks (73), third in slugging percentage, third in runs scored, fifth in doubles (45), sixth in stolen bases, tied for sixth in home runs, seventh in total bases (291), ninth in hits (174), and ninth in RBI.
Academically, Potts has a 3.94 cumulative grade point average as a psychology major at CWRU. She is a two-time CSC Academic All-District and two-time UAA All-Academic selection.
The 2026 Academic All-America Softball Team, selected by CSC, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America program separately recognizes softball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA.
The Division III CSC Academic All-America program is partially financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2025-26 Division III Academic All-America programs.
The CWRU softball team finished the 2026 season with a record of 30-14, advancing to the Super Regional Round of the NCAA Championship for the third time in the last five seasons. The Spartans have won 100 games over the last three seasons and 201 since the start of the 2020 campaign, reaching the postseason in each of the last five years.