NORFOLK, Va., May 11, 2021 – Howard’s Camille Navarro was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Player of the Year, presented by TowneBank, the conference office announced today.
North Carolina A&T State’s Kendall Macauley is the league’s Rookie of the Year, while
Kiana Carr of Howard earned Pitcher of the Year honors.
Norfolk State’s James Inzana received Coach of the Year accolades.
All awards were voted on by the conference's head softball coaches and sports information directors.
Navarro, a Los Angeles, Calif. native who is in just her second full season with the Bison, finished the regular- season in the top five in several categories. She led the MEAC in batting average (.421), slugging percentage (.664), hits (45) and doubles (10). She was also second in on-base percentage (.452), tied for second in runs scored (22), second in total bases (71), third in stolen bases (14) and tied for fourth in home runs with four. Navarro finished ranked 17th in the NCAA as the toughest to strike out, 39th in doubles and 52nd in batting average. She recorded her 100th hit on March 10 against Towson. Navarro is the first Bison to be selected as MEAC Player of the Year since Courtney Young won the award in 2008.
Macauley led North Carolina A&T State with a .319 batting average and ranked third in the MEAC with 36 hits and tied for fourth with 21 runs scored. She also led her team with a .411 batting average, 23 hits and 14 runs scored in conference play, helping the Aggies to their first divisional title since 2008. The Fayetteville, N.C. native was named MEAC Rookie of the Week on Feb. 22.
Carr, a graduate transfer for the Bison from Phoenix, Ariz., led the MEAC in strikeouts (123), batters struck out looking (33), wins (11) and tied for first in saves (2). She finished the season ranked second in appearances (22) and third in opposing teams batting average (.220), innings pitched (110.1) and games finished (10). She struck out a Howard record 12 batters on two different occasions, first on April 18 against North Carolina A&T State and then on April 26 against Coppin State. Carr was named MEAC Pitcher of the Week three times during the season.
Inzana won the Coach of the Year award for the second straight season. This year, he led the Spartans to a second-place finish in the MEAC Northern Division at 12-7, the third time in three seasons the Spartans have finished with a winning conference record. NSU went 19-17 overall this year, despite Inzana missing several weeks during non-conference play due to illness. The Spartans are guaranteed to finish with a .500 or better overall record for the second time under the fourth-year head coach.
Joining Navarro and Carr on the All-MEAC First Team are North Carolina Central’s Kiara Hurley and Joirea Dumas, Norfolk State’s Tuli Iosefa, Jazzmaine Hammond and Gabby Vaughan, Coppin State’s Brissa Alvarado, Florida A&M’s Seriah Brokenborough and Howard’s Kalita Dennis and Sydni Jones.
The 2021 MEAC Softball Championship begins Thursday, May 13 at 12 p.m. at the Norfolk State Softball Field in Norfolk, Va. The championship game will be played on Saturday, May 15 at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast live on FloSoftball.
For more information on the 2021 MEAC Softball Championship, visit Championship Central at
www.MEACsports.com.