FORT MYERS, Fla. – FSW softball shortstop Mikayla Werahiko has signed her National Letter of Intent to play for head coach Julie Wright and the University of Maryland from the Big Ten Conference.
Werahiko will join the Terps for the 2017-18 academic year. Maryland is under the leadership of Wright, who was hired on July 17, 2015 and came to Maryland with five years of head coaching experience at Idaho State, where she led the program to three straight Big Sky titles.
Last weekend, the Christchurch, New Zealand native helped lead the Bucs to their first-ever FCSAA State Championship and secure their second consecutive berth to the NJCAA Division I Softball Championship (May 17-20; St. George, Utah). This season, the Suncoast Conference All-Conference First Team and FCSAA State All-Tournament Team selection is hitting .389 with a homer, two triples and three doubles to go with 27 RBIs.
As a freshman, Werahiko, a 2016 Suncoast Conference First Team honoree and FCSAA All-Tournament team selection, hit .350 with five homers, nine doubles and 53 RBI. The Christchurch, New Zealand native also recorded eight triples on the season, which ranked t-11th in the NJCAA and t-3rd in Region 8/FCSAA. During league play, she hit. 386 with a pair of round-trippers, five triples and 17 runs batted in.
In the summer of 2016, the FSW shortstop represented New Zealand at the World Cup of Softball XI (July 5-10) at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla. and also at the 2016 Women's Softball World Championship in Surrey, B.C. At the World Championships, Werahiko hit.474 with four doubles and nine hits in seven games. She also tallied five runs and seven RBIs during the World Championships. The Christchurch, New Zealand native recorded a tournament-high two hits on two occasions (Kenya - July 15; Great Britain - July 18) and registered a tournament-high three RBIs against Great Britain (July 18).
For the latest information on Maryland softball, follow the team on Twitter (@TerpsSoftball) and Instagram (umdsoftball), as well as Facebook at Facebook.com/MDTerpsSoftball.
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For the latest news on FSW Athletics, log on to FSWBucs.com or stay connected to the Bucs on social media. Follow the Buccaneers on Twitter @FSWBucs, on Instagram @FSWBucs, on Facebook at Facebook.com/FSWBucs and on Snapchat at BucsSnaps.
FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN
The Florida SouthWestern State College athletic program is a member of the Florida College System Athletic Association (FCSAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Buccaneers are one of 25 schools in the NJCAA Region 8 and are one of six schools in the Suncoast Conference. Florida SouthWestern State College currently supports four intercollegiate athletic programs (Baseball, Softball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball), with Volleyball coming in the fall of 2017.
Baseball and Softball began their regular season competition in 2016 at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. Located on the Thomas Edison (Lee) Campus in Fort Myers will be the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena (completed in fall 2016), where FSW’s men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams will compete.
THE NJCAA
The movement to form a unique sports association dedicated to America’s two-year colleges arose in 1937 when several track and field coaches gathered in Fresno, California. A year later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected a petition from 13 two-year colleges in California to grant their teams and athletes permission to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
In the spring of 1938, following the NCAA’s rejection, those same 13 two-year colleges gathered again in Fresno to organize and form an association that would promote and supervise a national athletics program exclusively for junior and community colleges…and the rest is history.
On May 14, 1938, the first constitution of the National Junior College Athletic Association was accepted by its charter members and the organization held its first national championship event a year later in May 1939.
The NJCAA has played a vital role in collegiate athletics for the past eight decades and continues to be the leader in championing academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes. This section of the association's website is dedicated to celebrating the NJCAA's rich history and tradition as the national governing body of two-year college athletics.
For more information on the NJCAA log on to www.NJCAA.org.
THE FCSAA
The Florida College System Activities Association, Incorporated (FCSAA) is a statewide non‑profit corporation regulating, coordinating, and promoting intercollegiate activities in: Athletics, Brain Bowl, Forensics, Music, Student Government, Student Publications, and Theatre.
Membership in the Florida College System Activities Association is open to any of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System. Each member institution is represented in the policy‑making deliberations of the Association through that institution's President or other designated representative. The institutional representatives constitute the FCSAA Presidents Assembly, the ultimate authority in FCSAA.
For more information on the FCSAA log on to www.TheFCSAA.com.
NJCAA REGION 8, THE SUNCOAST CONFERENCE & THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Member colleges of the NJCAA are allotted to a specific NJCAA Region upon membership to the association. Unlike other collegiate organizations that defer to conference affiliation, the NJCAA guarantees each member college's membership within the regional structure of the association. In most cases, region assignment is based upon geographic location of the college.
The region structure of the NJCAA is the primary method used by all sponsored sports of the association in determining qualification for national championship tournaments. In certain sports, two or more regions are partnered to form a competition 'district', which is then used for national championship qualification. The organization of districts varies per sport and is formulated every two years under the authority of the association's board of directors.
FSW is in Region 8 and is joined by ASA College Miami (Region 8 only; non-FCSAA member), Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Eastern Florida State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College of Florida, South Florida State College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and Tallahassee Community College.
The Bucs are also in the Suncoast Conference with Hillsborough Community College, Polk State College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.
The women’s basketball program is Southern Conference with Broward College, Eastern Florida State College, Indian River State College, Miami Dade College and Palm Beach State College.
For more information on Region 8 log on to www.TheFCSAASports.com.