Lenti, Brown Earn Summit League's Highest Honor
8/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
Aug. 16, 2011
ELMHURST, Ill. - DePaul softball coach Eugene Lenti and two-time All-American Liza Brown were honored Tuesday by The Summit League.
In celebration of the league's 30th anniversary, Lenti and Brown were named to a list of Top 30 Distinguished Contributors to the history of the conference.
A third Blue Demon, All-American pitcher Nicole Terpstra, was selected as an Additional Honored Contributor.
Lenti is a Hall of Fame coach with a career record of 1102-527-6 whose teams had a combined record of 91-9 during the seven seasons DePaul competed in the Mid-Continent Conference---the conference name before it became The Summit League.
In the final three seasons of Mid-Continent play (1997-99), the Blue Demons won 44 consecutive conference games. They joined Conference USA in 2000.
Lenti was named Mid-Continent Conference Coach of the Year in 1995, 1998 and 1999. The 1999 Blue Demons advanced to the Final Four of the Women's College World Series and Lenti was honored as the NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) National Coach of the Year.
Brown was the Mid-Continent Player of the Year in 1998 and 1999 and a First Team All-Conference selection in 1997, 1998, 1999.
In 1998, Brown led the nation in earned run average (0.42) and was seventh in strikeouts. That same season, she was the Most Valuable Player at the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament.
Terpstra was the Mid-Continent Pitcher of the Year four consecutive seasons and the MVP of the conference tournament in 1999. She was also named Mid-Continent Newcomer of the Year in 1996.
"The 30 individuals on this list represent those who have been instrumental in developing the history of The Summit League over its first 30 seasons at the Division I level," said Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple. "Each of these individuals has played a unique role in making our league what it is today.
"These outstanding contributors, along with several more who are worthy of acclaim, deserve recognition as iconic figures in our history."
Notable among the other honorees are World Series champions Brian Anderson (Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001) and Bill Mueller (Boston Red Sox in 2004).
Anita Rapp won a gold medal playing for Norway's women's soccer team in the 2000 Olympics while Andretti Bain won a silver medal running in the 4x100 relay for the Bahamas in the 2008 Olympics. Dan Steele won a bronze medal with the USA bobsled team in the 2002 Olympics.