Megan Faraimo from UCLA, Montana Fouts of the University of Alabama and teammates Kiki Milloy and Ashley Rogers from the University of Tennessee are the four finalists for the Class of 2023 Honda Sport Award for Softball as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) today.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 47 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2023 Honda Cup which will be presented during the live telecast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Presented by Honda on CBS Sports Network on June 26, at 8:30 ET/5:30 PT.
The softball finalists were selected by a panel of coaches and experts from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). The Honda Sport award winner for softball will be announced later this week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Faraimo, a redshirt senior pitcher/first baseman from Oceanside, Calif., is a two-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and a three-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalist. She finished the season ranked in the top 20 nationally in ERA with a 1.42 and in strikeouts with 232. Her career strikeouts rank third on UCLA’s strikeouts list (968).
Fouts is a two-time Honda Award finalist for softball (2023, 2021). The graduate student from Grayson, Ky., is a four-time NFCA All-American as a pitcher. A four-time First Team All-SEC honoree, she enters the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) ranked first in the nation in strikeouts (317) and top five nationally in shutouts (10).
Milloy is a senior outfielder hailing from Woodinville, Wash., and is a 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalist along with a three-time First Team All-SEC honoree. The slugger helped her squad to the 2023 SEC regular season and tournament titles and earned MVP honors. She enters the WCWS ranked first in the nation in home runs with 25.
Rogers, a graduate student from Athens, Ga., helped her team to the WCWS as the No. 4 seed and enters it ranked second nationally in ERA with a 0.75. The pitcher earned the save in the SEC Championship and is a three-time All-SEC First Team honoree. Off the field, she was recently named the 2023 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The CWSA, entering its 47th year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its partnership in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs.
About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility
For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its associates live and work. Honda’s mission is to create products and services that improve the lives of people while conducting its business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Accordingly, Honda believes in helping people reach their life’s potential through its focus on the areas of education, the environment, mobility, traffic safety and community. Learn more at http://csr.honda.com/.