St. Mary-of-the-Woods graduate student Lyric Krause has been named the fourth College Sports Communicators Academic All-American in St. Mary-of-the-Woods history.

The 2023-24 Academic All-America ® Softball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the diamond and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
 
Krause was also named to the NFCA All-Region Second Team as well as the CSC Academic All-District Team after she finished second in the River States Conference with a .441 batting average and was fourth in total hits with 63. Her 46 RBI were second-best in the entire River States Conference. Krause was tied for the team lead with five home runs. Krause added 13 doubles and a triple with 24 runs scored. She was also a First Team All-River States Conference selection and was a member of the 2024 Daktronics NAIA Softball Scholar-Athlete Team.

She won the 2023 River States Conference Bill Melton Character Award as top female Champions of Character athlete among all sports in RSC. Krause was a second-team USCAA All-American in 2022. She led the Pomeroys to NAIA National Tournaments (the first ever for SMWC athletics) in 2022 and 2023.

Krause was a Graduate Student working towards a Master of Leadership Development degree in 2024 and during her undergraduate career she majored in Biology with a minor in Pedagogy.

She joins Shannon Auler (Women's Basketball, 2000); Camryn Scott (Softball, 2023) and Bailey Thompson (Women's Golf, 2023) as having earned Academic All-America plaudits in the entire history of SMWC Athletics.

The Pomeroys were 32-17 overall and 24-8 in River States Conference play. They finished with the No. 2 seed at the RSC Conference Tournament and earned a 4-2 victory in the opener of the RSC Tournament.