La Crosse, Wis. - Five members of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team have been named to the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Academic All-District® Team, selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC), the organization announced Tuesday.

Senior shortstop Kyra Lard of McHenry, Ill. (East), junior infielder Maddy Bornbach of Marshfield (H.S.) and sophomore pitcher Carmen Follette of Dousman (Kettle Moraine), sophomore outfielder Brooke Howard of Rock Falls, Ill. (H.S.) and sophomore infielder Lindsay Steien of Taylor (Blair-Taylor) picked up the academic accolades.  
 

It marks the third straight season Lard has earned CSC Academic All-District® honors while Bornbach earned second consecutive accolade.

A public health and community health education major with a 3.60 cumulative grade point average, Lard was named the 2025 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Softball Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete. Along with being a three-time member of the CSC Academic All-District® Team, Lard was named a 2022 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete. She is a three-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll.

Named to the 2025 All-WIAC First Team after starting all 41 games, Lard led UWL in batting average this season at .373 (47-of-126). She also led the Eagles in on-base (.459) and slugging (.540) percentage, RBI (29), doubles (15), walks (21) and total bases (68). Lard was second in hits (47) and runs (26). 

Lard earned her fourth career All-WIAC First Team honor,  becoming the seventh player in UWL history to be named to the all-conference first team four times. UWL's all-time leader in career doubles (61) and RBI (153), Lard ranks second in career hits (226) and batting average (.418). She is third all-time in home runs (21) and runs (137). Her 61 career doubles are also a WIAC record.

Majoring in exercise sport science with a fitness track, Bornbach maintains a 3.58 grade point average. She is a two-year member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll. Bornbach started all 34 games she played in this season, finishing second for UWL in hitting at .371 (39-of-105). 

Bornbach was second for UWL in slugging (.505) and on-base (.414) percentage as well in RBI (22) and doubles (11). She finished third in hits (39). Bornbach recorded eight multiple-hit games (tied for third on team) and six multiple-RBI contests (second on team).
 

Follette, a biology major with a 3.72 grade point average, finished 4-6 this season with a 3.84 earned run average. She led UWL in appearances (25), complete-games (3), saves (7), innings (89.1) and strikeouts (63). Follette's seven saves ranks fourth in single-season school history.

She pitched at least 5.0 innings in eight contests this season. Follette had a season-high 8.0 innings against Babson College (Mass.) on March 20 and a season-high seven strikeouts versus the University of Chicago (Ill.) on March 27.

Majoring in chemistry with a 3.85 grade point average, Howard was selected to the 2025 All-WIAC First Team. She started all 41 games, hitting .358 (49-of-137) while leading UWL in hits (49), runs (30), triples (6), and at-bats (137). Howard was second in on-base percentage (.413), total bases (64), walks (11) while finishing tied for second in stolen bases (12). 

She leads the WIAC with six triples this season and currently sits third in school history in career triples with 13. Recording at least one hit in 30 games this year, Howard led UWL with 18 multiple-hit contests. She scored at least one run in 22 contests.

A finance major with a 3.75 grade point average, Steien started all 41 games this season while hitting .302 (35-of-116). She tied for the team lead for the Eagles in home runs (4) while finishing tied for second in triples (2) and stolen bases (12). Steien was third for UWL in runs (18), RBI (19), total bases (57) and slugging percentage (.491) while tying for third in walks (10).
 

Steien was tied for third for UWL in multiple-hit games (8) in 2025 while finishing third in multiple-RBI contests (4).

Follette, Howard and Steien were all 2024-25 WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll members.

Eligible nominees must have competed in 90 percent of the institution's games played or must start in at least 66 percent of the institution's games. For pitchers, a student-athlete must have made at least 17 appearances or pitched 35.0 innings.
 
The 2025 Academic All-District® Softball Team, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes tennis honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. Alex Aranda

Academic All-District® honorees are considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced Tuesday, June 17, 2025. 

The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2024-25 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CSC Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA governance structure.