COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Recognized as the top academic teams in their respective sports in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), the Black Hills State University softball program was announced as recipients of the RMAC's Brechler Award on Thursday afternoon. It is the second straight season and third in four years that softball has received the award.

The Yellow Jacket softball team is second all-time in conference history for the number of times they have won the Brechler Award and remains one of just two programs that have won the award multiple times. It is the fourth time (2013-14, 2022-23, 2024-25, and 2025-26) BHSU has received the award. Head coach Ashlyn Englehorn's team posted a 3.758 team GPA with a 3.801 in the fall and a 3.710 in the spring. The program had 11 players with a 4.0 GPA in the fall semester and eight in the spring semester. They also had 18 players with over a 3.50 GPA in the fall and 13 in the spring. Individually, Audrey Fouras, Paige Goodell, Katelyn Jarzobski, Skylar Bedlan, Gracie Oswald, Carly Reyes Mims, Carli Maley, and Anna Gietzen were all named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll while Fouras and Goodell were also named Academic All-RMAC First Team as well.

Established in 2012-13, the Brechler Awards recognize the conference's top team grade point average (GPA) in each of its 22 sports. Grades were used from the 2024-25 academic year. All student-athletes who were on the institution's NCAA eligibility list were included in the teams' GPA calculation. The team GPA is calculated by dividing the total quality points for each semester by the total number of credits. Team GPAs were submitted to the RMAC Office by each institution's compliance administrator.

The award is named after Paul W. Brechler, a former RMAC Commissioner (1976-1990), who, along with his wife Wanda, were the first two inductees into the RMAC Hall of Fame. Paul was also the former athletic director of the University of Iowa and served as Commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

The Brechler Award winners will be recognized during the 2026 RMAC Hall of Fame & Awards Banquet on Thursday, July 9, at COS City Hub in Colorado Springs. Doors will open at 5 p.m. MT, and the induction and awards ceremony will follow promptly at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at RMACSports.org/Tickets.