To no one’s surprise, outfielder Jill Justin and pitcher Beth Schrader were named the NIU softball team’s 1989 Most Valuable Players.

Justin won the offensive MVP award by leading the team with a .443 batting average. She won the squad’s batting crown all four of her years as a Huskie and earned First-Team All-America honors in her last three seasons.

Erik Solky, an NIU gymnast who narrowly missed being an All-American this season, will represent the U.S. in the 1989 World Maccabiah Games. Solky placed eighth at the 1989 NCAA Championships in the horizontal bar competition with a 9.05 score. A 9.10 would have given him All-America status.

Dave Talbot took the NIU men’s swimming and diving crew’s Michael J. Walsh MVP award as the team’s top performer. Talbot, whom coach Dave Clark called “a simply amazing performer,” put his name in the Huskie record book in five events.

Freshman Bryan Hanania was named Diver of the Year while Bill Zolna took the honors as Most Improved.

On the women’s side of the pool, Jenny Wendell was the voted the Most Valuable Swimmer of the women’s swimming and diving squad. She set the 400-yard individual medley mark (4:35.79) and was a team member of three record-setting relays.

Lynn Grivetti was named the Huskies’ Most Improved Swimmer while Joanne Sommer was honored the team’s 1989 Scholar Athlete.