ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Senior Alycia Bachkora (Overland Park, Kan./Notre Dame de Sion) was named a First-Team Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete, while fellow senior Anne Creighton (Glide, Ore./Glide) and junior Janay Mitchell (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) were both honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete selections announced by the league office Monday.
Bachkora is the first Bradley player to earn First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete recognition since Stephanie Ramsey in 2007. A Second-Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V selection this spring, Bachkora was also a Second-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference performer in her final season on The Hilltop. She led the team with a Bradley season-record 10 home runs and also matched the school season-mark for walks with 25.
The team leader with 34 RBI and a .552 slugging percentage, she also tied for the team lead with 10 doubles and two triples while ranking second with 21 runs scored. Bachkora was named to the All-Tournament team after helping Bradley to its first State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. She finished her career tied for the most home runs in program history with 16 and led the MVC this season with eight home runs in league play.
Bachkora's 34 RBI this year is the seventh-best season total in school history and most by a BU player since 2004. She also ranks among Bradley's career leaders in walks (53) and slugging percentage (.422). A cell and molecular biology major, she owns a 3.57 cumulative grade point average and was named the Bradley Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week once in 2009.
The Braves boasted three MVC Scholar-Athlete honorees for the first time since 2004, when Bradley had two first-team selections in addition to one honorable mention performer.
Creighton entered the season with one career hit in 25 career at bats, but started 48 games in the field and had career highs in nearly every statistical category. She entered the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a .176 batting average, but went 3-for-10 with a team-high four RBI to help the Braves to their first tournament title.
An All-Tournament selection at the State Farm MVC Tournament, she ranked fifth on the team with 13 runs scored and nine RBI in 2009. Creighton carried her hot hitting into the NCAA Tournament, where she drove in the game-winning run in the Braves' 1-0 victory against 15th-seeded and 20th-ranked DePaul last week. A journalism major, Creighton owns a 3.50 cumulative grade point average.
Mitchell led the team with a .293 batting average in addition to leading the squad with seven runs scored and 13 stolen bases. Her .365 on base percentage tied for second on the team and she led the Braves with a .362 batting average in Missouri Valley Conference play. Mitchell's 13 stolen bases were the most by a Bradley player since 2004 and she is just the fifth player in program history to lead the team in batting average in consecutive seasons.
The catalyst for the Braves offense during their 10-game win streak late in the season, she had a team-best .464 batting average and nine runs scored during the stretch. Mitchell hit .308 during MVC Tournament play with two runs scored to help Bradley to its first-ever title. The MVC Player of the Week for the week of May 4, she was selected as the Prairie Farms MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week for the same week and was a two-time Bradley Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week pick during the season. An international business major, Mitchell owns a 3.45 cumulative grade point average.
