Miami University

The Mid-American Conference announced its softball All-Conference Teams on Tuesday. Bri Pratt was named MAC All-Freshman Team. Pratt ended the regular season with a 2.98 ERA in 115.0 innings of work. She struck out 95 batters during 28 appearances and earned a 14-6 record. Pratt's win percentage this season ranks fifth in program history. In conference play, Pratt had an ERA of just 1.88 as she went 7-0 in 10 appearances. She struck out 38 batters in 52.0 innings of work in MAC games. Pratt ranks in the top 10 in the MAC in 11 categories for overall play and nine categories in conference play, including ERA both overall and in conference play.

The Mid-American Conference announced its softball All-Conference Teams. Kara Leckinger, Johniann Wahl, Lily Wilmot and Ashton Slone were named All-MAC Second Team. Leckinger hit .383 in conference games this season, the second-highest on the Miami roster. She was also second on the team in hits (23), RBI (14) and on-base percentage (.441) in MAC play. Leckinger hit .308 overall this season, setting career-highs in games played (40), games started (35), at-bats (104), hits (32), doubles (5), RBI (19), walks (3) and hit-by-pitches (10). She has nine multi-hit games this season, two of which she had three hits, and three multi-RBI games this season. Wahl became the program leader in three more career categories this season, climbing to the top of the ranks in RBI (132), doubles (42) and walks (104) after setting the record for home runs last season as a junior. Wahl is also in Miami's career top-10 in hits (176) and at-bats (607) as she's started 206 of 207 games during her Miami career. In conference play this season, she is batting .324, has 22 hits, five doubles, 12 RBI and a slugging percentage of .441. Wahl has 11 multi-hit games this season including two three-hit games. Wilmot leads the Miami offense in conference play in home runs (6) and RBI (21) and is second on the team in total bases (38), slugging percentage (.623). She is second in the MAC in RBI and home runs (6) in conference games. Wilmot is also 10th in the conference in slugging percentage in MAC games. Overall this season, Wilmot is second in home runs (8), second in RBI (31), tied for second on the team in doubles (9) and third in slugging percentage (.562). Her eight home runs this season is tied for the ninth-most in a single season in program history. Slone leads the Miami offense this season in batting average (.382), doubles (16), RBI (36), total bases (86), slugging percentage (.632), walks (26) and on-base percentage (.485). In conference play, she batted .359 and led the team in doubles (9), walks (12) and on-base percentage (.461) and was second in hits (23), RBI (14) and total bases (38). Slone's 16 doubles ties for the fourth-most doubles in a single season in program history while her 36 RBI is 10th in single-season RBI and her 26 walks ties for ninth in a single season in program history. She's in the top-10 in the MAC in six offensive categories.

The Mid-American Conference announced its softball All-Conference Teams. Morgan Lott and Courtney Vierstra were named All-MAC First Team. Lott led the Miami offense in conference play in batting average (.394), at-bats (71), runs (17), hits (28), total bases (45), slugging percentage (.634) and stolen bases (5). She was also second in doubles (6) and home runs (3). Lott's six triples on the season leads the league and is tied for the most in a single season in program history. She is tied for 10th in the nation in triples and is 13thin triples per game. Overall, Lott is batting .331 on the year and leads the team in at-bats (160), runs (30), hits (53), triples (6), total bases (86) and stolen bases (8). Vierstra led the Miami pitching staff in conference play in ERA (1.42), wins (8), appearances (17), complete games (8), shutouts (3), saves (2), innings pitched (78.2), strikeouts (111) and opponents' average (.211). Vierstra is fifth in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings (10.5) and is 11th in the nation in strikeouts, her 233 also leading the MAC. She ranks third in program history both in strikeouts in a single season (233) and winning percentage (.708). Vierstra's 17 wins this year ties for the ninth-most in a single season in program history. As a sophomore, she is eighth in Miami softball history with 394 career strikeouts, eighth with 33 wins and is fifth in career win percentage (.589).

Graduate students from Miami University's Project Dragonfly will travel to Australia, Thailand, Baja, Belize, Borneo, India, Kenya, Hawai'i, Paraguay and Namibia, where they will engage in action projects on vital human and ecological issues.

Five members of Miami University's softball team have earned the MAC Commissioner's Award. MAC Commissioner's Award is awarded to those student-athletes who have achieved a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative GPA at the end of two semesters or three quarters. First year and graduating seniors are not eligible for this award. Transfer student-athletes may complete one full academic year prior to be eligible.

Miami University Student-Athletes Jenny Vasquez and Johniann Wahl earn MAC Presidential Award MAC Presidential Award is awarded to those graduating senior student-athletes who have achieved a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility are also eligible for this award. This award can only be awarded once in the career of a student-athlete. Transfer student-athletes must complete one full academic year prior to be eligible.

Miami University graduate students are the recipients of scholarships through Audubon Miami Valley and Project Dragonfly, a global conservation and education initiative at the university.

The Mid-American Conference announced its 2019 postseason baseball awards on Tuesday. For Miami, freshman pitcher Sam Bachman, junior second baseman Landon Stephens and freshman designated hitter Cole Andrews all earned a spot on the All-MAC First-Team. Bachman has had a tremendous rookie campaign, making 14 appearances (13 starts) for the RedHawks. He has a 7-1 record with a 3.80 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 71.0 innings pitched. Opponents hit only .226 against him. In MAC games, Bachman was 4-1 with a 2.96 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 51.2 innings pitched. Stephens has started all 53 games this season for Miami. He is batting .319 and leads the 'Hawks with 20 doubles (which ranks second in MAC), seven home runs and 42 RBIs. He has a team-best .549 slugging percentage, which ranks seventh in the MAC. Andrews has appeared in 43 games and made 37 starts at designated hitter. He ranks third on Miami with a .324 batting average and also has five home runs and 31 RBIs. He has a .496 slugging percentage on the season.

The Mid-American Conference announced its 2019 postseason baseball awards on Tuesday. For Miami, senior pitcher Jack Corbell and junior catcher Cal Elvers were named to the All-MAC Second Team. Corbell has been the RedHawks regular Sunday starter, having made 14 appearances on the season. He is 5-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 71.0 innings pitched. He has been a part of two shutouts in 2019 and has shown excellent control, giving up only 29 walks. Elvers has had a breakout year behind the plate. He has appeared in 45 games, making 43 starts. He ranks second on Miami with a .325 batting average, third with 13 doubles and also has five home runs and 31 RBIs. Elvers is third on the 'Hawks with a .516 slugging percentage. Defensively, he has a .988 fielding percentage and has thrown out seven base runners attempting to steal. Miami returns to action Wednesday as it begins play in the MAC Tournament. The RedHawks are the fourth seed and open play against fifth seed Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. All MAC Tournament games take place at Sprenger Stadium in Avon, Ohio and will all air live on ESPN+.

The dynamic junior tandem of twins Christopher Torpy and Sean Torpy battled in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Torpy brothers were part of the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Chris, running in the 1500m at the meet for the second-straight year, clocked a time of 3:45.77. His time was the ninth fastest on the day, but his heat posted the top seven times to keep him from advancing to Friday's final. Still, the ninth-place finish represents a 14-spot improvement from his finish at this meet a year ago. Later in the evening, Sean ran a spirited second heat of the 800m in his nationals debut. He made a big push early on the second and final lap, momentarily moving into second place at the final turn, but a collision on that turn caused some chaos and he eventually fifth in the heat (17th overall) with a time of 1:50.48. The Mid-American Conference's Most Valuable Performer sees his junior campaign come to a close. "Both Chris and Sean put themselves in positions they needed to be to advance," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Tom Chornysaid. "Chris got boxed into a spot that was tough to get out of and he was a little behind when it freed up. It takes experience to get out of that to make a spot open up. It played out well and if he had been able to make a move a little sooner, he would've moved on. For Sean, he needed the race of his life. They made it far and did really well. "We've taken three years to get to know them as runners and the next step is getting more intentional with how we train and specialize a little more so when we hit the big stage, we know they are not only ready to get to the NCAA Championship, but also grab some points for the team as well."

Miami track and field redshirt junior, Danielle Collier of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, (16148), posted a tenth-place finish while competing in the javelin at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Collier earns Second-Team All-American honors for her performance. After having the event delayed from its original Thursday start, Collier came out Friday afternoon and improved her distance with each successive throw. After posting marks of 49.57m (162-7) and 50.07m (164-3), she launched her third attempt a distance of 51.21m (168-0). This marked her fifth-best throw of her 2019 campaign and placed the Hermitage, Penn. native in tenth. Unfortunately, this was not enough to advance Collier to the second flight of throws as the top nine athletes advanced for a second round of throws. Her tenth-place finish and Second-Team All-American showing is good for a 12-place improvement over her last nationals appearance; Collier competed in the national meet in 2017 and finished in 22nd. "Danielle has been consistent all year and while we were all hoping for the big throw, she walks out of here with her hightest place finish at NCAAs and we still get her back for another year," Director of Cross Country/Track and Field Tom Chorny said regarding Collier. "She'll come back better and more ready to dominate this competition next year." "She competed really well and just missed the big one," said assistant coach for throws Steve Manz. "I'm very proud of her for being top ten in the nation." For offseason updates, be sure to follow @MiamiOH_XCTF on Twitter.

The 2019 Major League Baseball draft concluded on Wednesday. For Miami, junior pitcher Spencer Mraz was drafted in the 33rd round (985th overall) by the Texas Rangers. Mraz was Miami's regular Saturday starter in 2019. In 15 appearances (13 starts) He was 5-6 with a 4.03 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 76.0 innings pitched. The highlight of his season was a 7.1 inning performance against Bowling Green when he allowed only one hit and struck out a career-high 13 batters. Mraz has a 3.92 ERA in 48 appearances during his three-year RedHawk career.

The Mid-American Conference announced the 2019 softball Academic All-MAC team on Tuesday. Miami had eight athletes named to the Academic All-MAC team. The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. Among the eight RedHawk selections are five All-MAC selections, an All-Region selection, seven player of the week selections and four Miami Female Athlete selections.

Collegiate Baseball announced its 2019 Freshmen All-American Team powered by Diamond on Wednesday. For Miami, earning Freshman All-American honors was pitcher Sam Bachman. Bachman was previously honored as the Mid-American Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year and selected to the All-MAC First Team as part of a tremendous rookie campaign. He made 15 appearances (14 starts) on the season. Bachman had a 7-1 record with a 3.93 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 75.2 innings pitched. Opponents hit only .229 against him. In MAC games, Bachman was even better, finishing with a 4-1 record, a 2.96 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 51.2 innings pitched. Bachman is the 11th Miami baseball player all-time to earn Freshmen All-America status. He is the first since Cole Gnetz in 2016.

Having applied the tools of science, education and conservation to become leaders in conversation communities, graduate students in the Global Field Program (GFP) and Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) from Miami Unviersity's Project Dragonfly finish their master's studies.

Miami University's Project Dragonfly has admitted a new cohort of students to its Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP). The AIP combines web-based graduate coursework through Miami University with face-to-face experiential learning at some of the nation's premiere community learning institutions.

Miami University's Project Dragonfly has admitted a new cohort of students to its global master's degree, the Global Field Program (GFP). These graduate students, who live throughout the United States and abroad, combine collaborative work in Dragonfly's web-based learning communities with work at conservation sites in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Americas.

Trumpeter, Charlie Gately of Hamilton, Ohio won second place ($5,000) in the Collegiate Instrumental category of the 2019 Nancy F. Walker Memorial Scholarship Competition. A junior at Miami University Oxford, his teacher is Doug Lindsay. Gately will attend the Chautauqua Institute this summer and pursue a Master's degree in performance. He aspires to be a professional musician and trumpet teacher. To expand its longtime mission to advance the careers of young instrumentalists and singers, Matinee Musicale, a non-profit organization, organizes an annual competition for area high school and college juniors and seniors. A total of fifty students participated this year. Judging the instrumental competitors were Carmon DeLeone (Music Director of Cincinnati Ballet), Dr. Polina Bespalko (Professor and Coordinator of Keyboard area at Xavier University) and Dale Swisher (retired director of both the Xavier University Chamber Orchestra and the Anderson High School Orchestra). Gately, along with the other top scholarship recipients in each category, will perform at the Matinee Musicale Scholarship Winners Recital & Luncheon at the Greenacres Arts Center.

Miami University doctoral students have been awarded fellowships from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). They are three of 2,000 students nationwide, out of more than 12,000 who applied, to receive the prestigious award. The fellowship recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It provides three years of support with a $34,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance, among other benefits.

The National Field Hockey Coaches' Association announced the 2018 Division I National Academic Squad on Wednesday. Miami led the country with 21 National Academic Squad selections. The Division I National Academic Squad program honors student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.3 or higher through the first semester of the 2018-19 academic year.

Miami University students were awarded the Mark Johnson Analytics Scholarship during CADS' annual recognition luncheon. The award supports ISA students in their study abroad opportunities. Scholarship award amounts vary, and may reach up to $5000.

The Goldwater Foundation Scholarship Program encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering. Nationwide, faculty nominated 1,223 students - from a pool of about 5,000 - for the scholarships, worth up to $7,500 per year.

Two Miami University student research teams have been selected to receive funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue research in their desired fields. The funding is provided through the EPA's People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) grants program. The P3 program awards student teams up to $15,000 each to fund their proposed research projects, each to fund the proof of concept for their projects. "EPA's P3 grants program supports the next generation of scientists and engineers," said Andrew Wheeler, EPA administrator. "These students are able to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real-world environmental problems that require innovative solutions."These P3 Phase 1 awardees can attend the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Exposition in Boston, Massachusetts, June 17-18, 2019 to showcase their research. Then they can apply for a Phase II grant, which provides funding up to $100,000 to further their product designs.

On this episode, Miami student Emilio Bloch talks about his work with retina cell regeneration, alternate pathways for people interested in health-related careers, studying public health in Africa, and more.

On this debut episode, Major Insight host and Miami student Jacob Bruggeman speaks with Emily Tatum, who explains how her university experiences helped transform her passions into internships with the Pentagon and U.S. Department of State, what it really means to be a global citizen, and much more.

The Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, formerly called Race to Zero, is an annual competition open to students from collegiate institutions worldwide. The competition encourages students to work with builders, developers, community leaders, and other industry partners to meet stringent design requirements and create marketable, affordable concepts. Teams compete in a range of residential and commercial project types. Jurors evaluate projects in ten contest categories: Energy Performance; Engineering; Financial Feasibility & Affordability; Resilience; Architecture; Operations; Market Potential; Comfort & Environmental Quality; Innovation; Presentation. Sixteen Miami students from architecture and mechanical engineering majors collaborated in the 2019 Race to Zero competition studio. The studio fielded two teams in the first phase of the competition. In February, their progress entries were selected to be among the 48 finalist teams representing 34 institutions from the U.S. and internationally. The Miami students presented their final proposals at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) April 13-14 in Golden, Colorado. Miami's team won top awards in their divisions: Elementary School team - 1st Place; Attached Housing team - Outstanding Undergraduate Achievement.

Miami University announces the launch of an official new podcast, Major Insight, which explores what college students can achieve when ambition meets opportunity. Produced in collaboration with Miami's Reframe podcast, Major Insight features stories behind the success of highly motivated students, their promising new research, and its relevance in our world. Hosted by Miami honors student Jacob Bruggeman, each episode gives listeners an insightful look into how students are navigating 21st century academic life. Bruggeman's interviews highlight the personal journeys of each guest, as well as their contributions to a variety of fields. "Too often, students see research as something 'other students' do, or something that's time-consuming and 'not for me.' Research is for everyone. It can be scaled to your availability, interests, and course load. Major Insight makes this clear. Prospective and current students alike should listen to better understand how every student can transform a subject into a passion." The first episode is available now. It features accomplished Miami senior Emily Tatum, who describes how her university experiences helped transform her personal interests into internships with the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of State, her research on U.S. foreign policy, and more. According to James Loy, Major Insight producer and Reframe host, Major Insight will resonate with listeners on several levels. "There many current students, prospective students, and even parents who want to get the most out of the college experience," Loy said. "So this podcast can serve as a guide, or a roadmap, by introducing listeners to the endless variety of opportunities that are available in higher education. It's also been inspirational to hear how these Miami students have accomplished so much, so quickly. So the podcast is also a really interesting glimpse into the young minds who are excited to make an equally powerful impact out in the world." Major Insight is available on Apple Podcasts and Google Play Music.

Graduate students from Miami University's Project Dragonfly will travel to the Amazon, Baja, Belize, Borneo, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guyana, Galapagos, Mongolia and Namibia, where they will engage in action projects on vital human and ecological issues.

Miami University student appointed to Board of Trustees

Luay Ahmed was just named one of the 2019 SCI Scholars.