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Breakthrough season for Chilliwack softball star at Central Washington U

Ali Thiessen is likely to be named the female athlete of the year after a stellar junior campaign
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Chilliwack’s Ali Thiessen at the plate for the Central Washington Wildcats softball squad. (Jacob Thompson/CWU Athletics)

An online poll may be a precursor to the real thing for Chilliwack’s Allie Thiessen.

The softball standout at Central Washington University is a runaway leader in fan voting for Female Athlete of the Year. The poll went live Monday (May 16) and as of Tuesday afternoon Thiessen’s 95 votes were more than double the total put up by CWU rugby star Tessa Hann (41).

No other athlete has earned more than 17 votes.

And why shouldn’t Thiessen be the favourite after a breakthrough season with the Wildcats? In her third campaign, the Yale Secondary (Abbotsford) grad exploded offensively, earning all-GNAC (Great Northwest Athletic Conference) first-team honours.

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“I’m very proud of all of our honorees, especially Allie and Alyssa (Benthagen) being named to the first team,” CWU head coach Joe DiPietro said.

The lefty-throwing and righty-hitting outfielder led all Wildcat regulars with a .358 batting average and her OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .882 was second on the squad. She collected 18 RBI and scored a team-high 33 runs.

Among her 53 hits, Thiessen clubbed one homerun and legged out one triple and nine doubles, helping CWU to a spot in the GNAC championship tournament.

Thiessen’s Wildcats were severe underdogs entering the four-team tourney, but they won two of five games, including a 4-1 upset of powerhouse Northwest Nazarene.

Thiessen is the lone Canadian on the 21-player CWU roster, with most of her teammates hailing from Washington State, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii.


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eric.welsh@hopestandard.com

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Eric Welsh

About the Author: Eric Welsh

I joined the Chilliwack Progress in 2007, originally hired as a sports reporter.
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