Mines Athletics
GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Softball trio of Sydney Marchando, Clara Larson and Kyle Redding earned CoSIDA Academic All-District distinction on Thursday for their outstanding combination of play and scholarship in 2020-21.
The trio helped the Orediggers post a record of 22-15-1, and advance to the RMAC Tournament this spring. CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients are sophomores or above with a 3.3 or higher GPA, and all-district honorees move on to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot as voted on by the nation’s sports information directors. Marchando, Larson and Redding helped tie Mines for the most honorees in the entire region. UT Tyler and Colorado Mesa also had three student-athletes named to the squad.
Marchando, who received her B.S. in chemical engineering in May, was also the RMAC Academic Player of the Year, RMAC Summit Award winner, and Second-Team All-RMAC at pitcher. In 23 appearances and 111.2 innings, Marchando went 9-5 with a 3.32 ERA and 1.26 WHIP, striking out 84 this season. She ended her Mines career ranked among the all-time leaders in strikeouts (6th, 281), wins (5th, 31), and ERA (6th, 3.32).
Larson, who earned her master’s degree in computer science last month, was also named RMAC First-Team All-Academic for a third straight year. In the 2021 season, the shortstop earned Second-Team All-RMAC hitting .388 and slugging .784 with a team-high 38 RBI and 10 home runs. She leaves Golden as one of the program’s and RMAC’s all-time best sluggers, ranking in the conference all-time top-10 in home runs and RBI, while holding the Mines records for home runs, RBI, doubles and career slugging, as well as ranking second in hits and runs.
Redding, who graduated with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, had a breakout senior year at first base and pitcher to earn NFCA Second-Team All-Region and First-Team All-RMAC honors. Redding hit a career-best and Mines-leading .423, driving in 32 RBI and scoring 24 runs. Redding had previously appeared twice on the RMAC Academic Honor Roll