OKLAHOMA CITY -- Florida's Aleshia Ocasio and Auburn's Kasey Cooper, two finalists for the 2016 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, join 48 other student-athletes on the "Watch List" for the 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.  Announced today by USA Softball, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award enters its 16th season and recognizes outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female collegiate softball players across the country.

Name	University	Position	Year
Ali Aguilar	Washington	Infield	Senior
Kelly Barnhill	Florida	Pitcher	Sophomore
Alex Bayne	Ohio State	Outfield	Senior
Megan Betsa	Michigan	Pitcher	Senior
Tera Blanco	Michigan	Infield	Junior
Kacie Burnett	Idaho State	Outfield	Senior
Jessica Burroughs	Florida State	Pitcher	Senior
Kaylee Carlson	Auburn	Pitcher	Junior
Kasey Cooper	Auburn	Infield	Senior
Aleah Craighton	Louisiana	Outfield	Junior
Ivie Drake	Georgia State	Catcher	Junior
Cortni Emanuel	Georgia	Outfield	Junior
Hannah Flippen	Utah	Infield	Senior
Taty Forbes	Coastal Carolina	Outfield	Sophomore
Megan Geer	Tennessee	Outfield	Senior
Taylor Glover	CSUN	Outfield	Senior
Megan Good	James Madison	Pitcher	Junior
Delanie Gourley	Florida	Pitcher	Senior
Sara Groenewegen	Minnesota	Pitcher	Senior
Kylee Hanson	FAU	Pitcher	Senior
Carley Hoover	LSU	Pitcher	Senior
Sierra Hyland	Cal Poly	Pitcher	Senior
Jazmyn Jackson	California	Outfield	Junior
Sahvanna Jaquish	LSU	Catcher	Senior
MJ Knighten	Nebraska	Infield	Senior
Shay Knighten	Oklahoma	Infield	Sophomore
Jenna Lilley	Oregon	Infield	Junior
Makayla Martin	Auburn	Pitcher	Sophomore
Katiyana Mauga	Arizona	Infield	Senior
Sandra Mendoza	UT Arlington	Infield	Junior
Keeli Milligan	Texas A&M	Outfield	Sophomore
Aleshia Ocasio	Florida	Pitcher	Junior
Alexis Osorio	Alabama	Pitcher	Junior
Danielle O'Toole	Arizona	Pitcher	Senior
Paige Parker	Oklahoma	Pitcher	Junior
Jenavee Peres	San Diego State	Catcher	Junior
Mandie Perez	Arizona	Outfield	Senior
Erika Piancastelli	McNeese State	Catcher	Junior
Alex Powers	Florida State	Infield	Senior
Rochelle Roberts	ULM	Outfield	Senior
Sydney Romero	Oklahoma	Infield	Sophomore
Randi Rupp	Texas State	Pitcher	Junior
Vanessa Shippy	Oklahoma State	Infield	Junior
Delaney Spaulding	UCLA	Infield	Senior
Stephanie Texiera	FIU	Infield	Senior
Nikki Udria	Oregon	Infield	Senior
Jessica Warren	Florida State	Infield	Junior
Juli Weber	USF	Outfield	Senior
Karley Wester	Notre Dame	Outfield	Senior
Morgan Zerkle	Marshall	Outfield	Senior

Previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, the most prestigious individual honor in NCAA Division I Softball, are UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman (2002), Texas pitcher Cat Osterman (2003, 2005 and 2006), Florida State pitcher Jessica Van der Linden (2004), Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott (2007), Virginia Tech pitcher Angela Tincher (2008), Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie (2009 and 2010), Stanford shortstop Ashley Hansen (2011), Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts (2012 and 2013), Florida State's Lacey Waldrop (2014), Florida's Lauren Haeger (2015) and Michigan's Sierra Romero (2016).
 
The pre-season "Watch List" includes 26 seniors, 18 juniors and 6 sophomores, with freshman ineligible for consideration. (Freshman can be considered for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award once they have competed at the collegiate level).  Athletes named to the "Watch List" represent 37 NCAA Division I universities and 13 athletic conferences. Arizona, Auburn, Florida, Florida State and Oklahoma lead the way among universities with three athlete representatives each, while LSU, Michigan and Oregon have two athletes apiece on the "Watch List".  The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is well-represented among the Top 50 "Watch List" with 12 member-schools while nine universities from the Pac-12 Conference also highlight the list.
 
The Top 25 Finalists for the 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 12. While an athlete does not have to be on the "Watch List" to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 Finalists. The Top 10 Finalists will be announced May 10 and the Top 3 announced May 24. The 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed May 30.
 
In addition to bestowing the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, USA Softball is now in its 15th season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll and the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week, which are announced Tuesdays during the regular season. The pre-season ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll was released Jan. 31 with Oklahoma, Auburn, Florida, Florida State and LSU taking the Top 5 spots respectively.