CLARION, Pa. --- The College Sports Communicators announced their 2026 Academic All-District honorees for softball on Tuesday. Four members of the Golden Eagles program – Jordy Best, Emily Buchleitner, Amber Gilliam and Ainsley Perdicaris – earned Academic All-District honors.
 
To be eligible for Academic All-District honors, a student-athlete must be a sophomore or older academically and in terms of their eligibility and must maintain a 3.50 cumulative GPA or better. In the sport of softball, position players have competed in at least 90 percent of team games played OR have started at least 66 percent of the total number of team games played. For pitchers, players must pitch 35-plus innings or appear in 17 games as a pitcher.
 
Best (3.77 – Nutrition and Fitness) and Buchleitner (3.9 – Psychology)  are the returners to the list, with Buchleitner earning honors for the third straight year and Best the second. Buchleitner finished her career as Clarion's all-time leader in hits while Best capped her time in the Blue & Gold with the best season of her career, setting career highs across the board.

New to this year's list were Gilliam and Perdicaris. Gilliam also had the best year of her career, locking down her spot as Clarion's starting first baseman, while Perdicaris went 4-3 on the season in 73.0 innings pitched.