Aly Cappaert

Classroom

Aly Cappaert earned her Bachelor’s of Science in public relations from Iowa State in May of 2015, earning her degree in just three years. She is on track to graduate in May 2016 with her Master’s of Higher Education in leadership, completing the program in one academic year. Cappaert is currently maintaining a 4.0 GPA in her program. She was an Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection in both 2014 and 2015. During the 2014-15 academic year, Cappaert served as the ISU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Communications Chair. In 2015-16 she was elected as and served in the role of ISU SAAC Co-President. Cappaert serves as the student-athlete representative on the Iowa State Athletics’ Council and is also a student-athlete representative on the Athletics Director Advisory Committee.

Character

Cappaert is a leader in every aspect of the word. As one of three seniors on a young Iowa State softball team, she has shown time and again that perhaps her greatest strength is in communicating. It is of the utmost importance to Cappaert that she set a positive example for her teammates. Iowa State Head Coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler had this to say when asked about Cappaert’s character: “She naturally takes on a leadership role. She’s a great communicator with her teammates and as an upperclassman. People really look to her, and she really has command over a group, which means a lot. As far as character goes, she’s always focused on doing the right thing, and her community service work has been phenomenal. Going forward from her athletics career, wherever she goes, she’s going to be someone that people can follow the example that she sets.”

Community

Despite all her other accolades, there is no doubt that Cappaert’s work in the community is where she shines the brightest. She did an internship with Special Olympics Iowa through which she helped to lead a marketing campaign that raised over $20,000 for Special Olympics Athletes. She helped organize a bowling event that paired Special Olympics athletes with ISU student-athletes. Cappaert went above and beyond when participating in the Special Olympics Iowa Over the Edge event, during which she repelled down the side of a 26-story building. She also volunteered at Special Olympics Iowa Plane Pull fundraiser and annual state softball tournament.

Through SAAC, Cappaert helped host and work at a number of events including CyCans Canned Food Drive, which donated more than 30,000 meals to the Food Bank of Iowa, and Soles 4 Souls donating shoes to those in need. She helped to raise money and purchase Christmas gifts for families that cannot afford the holidays. Cappaert also frequently visits local K-12 schools to speak about attending college and making the right choices in life. Finally, Cappaert also has had a passion for providing hitting lessons to young softball players in the community.

Competition

Cappaert has been the power behind the Iowa State offense for a couple seasons now and already has cemented herself not only as a prolific power hitter but as one of the top players in school history. In 2015 Cappaert became the 11th Cyclone in the Big 12-era to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors. Going into her senior season, Cappaert had a .347 career batting average, which ranked fourth on Iowa State’s all-time career list. At the beginning of the season, she sat third on school record list with 29 career home runs and was 13 away from the top spot. In 2014, Cappaert became just the second Cyclone since 2014 to earn All-Midwest Region First Team honors. Cappaert hit 13 doubles during her 2015 campaign, the fourth most on the ISU single-season list, and also holds two of the top eight single-season marks for home runs (11 in 2014 and 2015).