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| Becky Austen (Pembroke, Ont.) |
Canadian, Catholic and a co-captain, Becky Austen has brought diversity
to the Calvin softball field. A native of Pembroke, Ont., and a graduate
of Fellowes High School, Austen carried a 3.7 GPA and was a leader on
a young Calvin softball team this past spring. She has been a eight-time
member of the Calvin Dean’s List and a four-time member of the MIAA
Academic Honor Roll. This spring, she was named to the the Verizon Academic
All-District IV softball team for the second time in her career.
Along with working hard in the classroom, Austen has also worked hard
on the field, starting all four years at either shortstop or second base.
Austen played the bulk of her games this year at second base. She finished
the year with a .340 batting average, 19 runs scored, 18 RBIs and an on-base
percentage of .407. The number-two hitter in the Calvin lineup, Austen
also collected a team-high 17 sacrifice hits. In addition, she swiped
12 bases in 13 attempts finishing her career with 28 stolen bases on 30
attempts. Defensively, Austen was superb, compiling a .961 fielding percentage,
committing just six errors in 155 fielding chances.
School and athletics also had to be juggled with Becky’s part-time
job as an athletic trainer for many of Calvin’s sports teams.
“I got into sports medicine because I missed the gym. I played
so many sports in high school that when I got to Calvin and only played
softball outside, I missed the gym,” she said. “I loved the
role of being ‘a mom’ and helping with physical healing as
well as the emotional and psychological issues associated with team sports.”
Being a Catholic at Calvin helped Becky develop and defend her faith
beliefs. “When you go into a situation where others are not familiar
with your faith, it is vital to know your own faith well. I love talking
to people about truth and trying to learn more about truth through reading
and conversation.”
This fall Austen is headed to South Bend, Ind., to attend Notre Dame
Law School.
So if law was the intention all along, why a degree in exercise science
with a concentration in sports medince? “I wanted to learn about
the body. It will be practical knowledge that I will be able to use everyday.
I don’t regret it at all.”
For Becky the path ahead leads through Notre Dame where battting gloves
and ground balls are traded for case studies and law briefs. Said Austen
about her Calvin experience: “All in all I feel like the education
I received was well worth the money I paid.”
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