The Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) has named Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) softball player Mia Ruther the ICCAC 2019 Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
Ruther, a sophomore from Burlington, is the second DMACC softball player to earn the honor in the second year of the award. DMACC softball player Molly Jacobsen, now attending the University of Mississippi where she participates in softball, earned the award in 2018.
Ruther, who was also named the conference's offensive player of the year this season, is hitting .599 with a .618 average in conference games. She has a .633 on-base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage. Ruther has collected 103 hits in 172 at-bats, including 10 doubles, five triples and two home runs. She has driven in 39 runs, scored 82 runs and stolen 45 bases in 46 attempts. She leads the nation in hits and runs and is second in average and on-base percentage.
Ruther was named a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) first-team All-American last season. She was also named to the first all-region team in 2018 and 2019, the first all-district team in 2018 and the first academic all-region team in 2018. Ruther is a 2019 NJCAA Preseason All-American.
Ruther is active off the field as well, participating in the Discovery Program, Shop with a Cop, Salvation Army Holiday Bell Ringing, Adopt a Family for Christmas and Special Olympics. She also volunteered for the Kiwanis Miracle League, a league that gives disabled children an opportunity to play baseball.
Ruther and the DMACC softball team are participating in the 2019 NJCAA Division II Softball National Championship in Clinton, Miss. DMACC, the tournament's No. 2 seed, is making its sixth consecutive appearance in the tournament and its seventh in the past eight seasons. The Bears, coming off a third-place finish in 2018, face County College of Morris in today's first round.