The season has yet to begin, but NIU slugger Scott Simon is already accumulating awards.

The junior first baseman, who hit .374 and finished with a team-high 71 RBIs last season, was named by Baseball America to the preseason All-MAC squad Wednesday.

Baseball America also called Simon the MAC’s “best pure hitter” and listed him as one of the conference’s top 10 draft choices for the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.

The Huskies will begin their regular season Feb. 11 in Lubbock, Texas when they face Texas Tech.

Huskies take third

The NIU women’s track and field team used a pair of first-place finishes from Ashley Morrow and Margaret Gorski to take third at the Eastern Illinois Mega Meet on Saturday.

Morrow won the weight throw with a throw of 56 feet, 5.75 inches, while Gorski hurled the shot put 43 feet, 7.25 inches for the Huskies.

Morrow’s throw broke teammate Lindsay Chamberlain’s school record of 54 feet, 2.75 inches.

Chamberlain finished second at the meet with her throw of 55 feet, 2.75 inches.

Men’s tennis falls

Seniors Willy Gali and Erick Martinez were the only two Huskies to win a match as the NIU men’s tennis team fell to Wisconsin 5-2 on Saturday.

Gali took care of Alex Kasarov in straight sets at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-4.

After dropping the first set 6-7, Martinez rallied for a 7-6 win in the second set and won the third-set 7-5 over Mark Weinig at No. 2 singles.

Women come up winless

The NIU women’s tennis team went 0-1-1 at the Hawkeye Invitational hosted by Iowa over the weekend.

After tying Iowa State 3-3 in their first match, the Huskies did not fare as well against Iowa.

The Hawkeyes picked up a 6-1 win over the Huskies.

NIU’s Dora Delgadillo picked up the Huskies’ lone win when she beat Iowa’s Morgan Tuttle 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 at No. 5 singles.