BOSTON – UMBC softball’s Courtney Coppersmith has been honored as the 2021-22 America East Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as announced by the conference on Thursday afternoon.
Coppersmith also won the award last year and is just the third two-time winner, joining Ellie Purrier of UNH and Marisa Ryan from Boston University. She is one of two UMBC student-athletes to be named Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Coppersmith is the eighth student-athlete to claim Female Scholar-Athlete and Woman of the Year honors the same year.
The Scholar-Athletes of the Year were voted on by the conference's Student-Athlete Engagement Committee. Each year, the committee elects a Scholar-Athlete in each of the league's 18 championship sports following the fall, winter and spring seasons and from that group, chooses one male and one female as the conference's Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
Coppersmith has been outstanding during her four seasons with the Retrievers and has led the program to three consecutive America East Championships, the first three in program history. As a freshman she earned All-America honors, as well as America East Pitcher and Rookie of the Year recognition.
She claimed America East Pitcher of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022 as well, while earning All-Region recognition each of the past two seasons. Coppersmith finished her 2022 season first in the nation with 13.2 strikeouts per seven innings and third nationally in ERA (0.78). For her career she has a 1.30 ERA with 896 strikeouts in 542.1 innings with seven no-hitters and two perfect games. She also owns a .318 career batting average with 105 hits and 26 doubles.
Academically, Coppersmith graduated this past May with 3.71 GPA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, with a double minor in Emergency Health Services and Philosophy. She will be pursuing her PhD in Chemistry at UMBC. She is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and was the 2021 America East Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Coppersmith has also served as her team’s representative on UMBC’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the past three years, and was voted as secretary for the 2021-22 academic year. She has spent many hours volunteering at the Hopeful Market, a free farmers market for the homeless.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com or follow the America East Conference on Twitter @AmericaEast.
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