Kara Nelson

Classroom

Nelson graduated from Illinois State with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and is currently working on her master’s degree in the same field. She holds a 3.33 GPA and will graduate in December 2011 or May 2012.  In May 2011, Nelson will begin a marketing internship at Country Financial and plans to pursue a career in sports marketing after graduation.

Character

Nelson has served as the captain of the Illinois State softball team the last three seasons. After two stellar seasons in 2007 and 2008, Nelson broke her hand the day before the Redbirds were to play their first game of 2009 and had seson-ending surgery two weeks later. The injury required a second surgery in October 2009, but Nelson returned the next season and led Illinois State with a .396 batting average and the Missouri Valley Conference with 68 hits and 49 runs scored on her way to third-team NFCA All-American honors.

Community

Nelson has participated in the MVC Just Read program and volunteered at the Home Sweet Home Mission, a nonprofit that serves the homeless and hungry in the Bloomington-Normal area. In 2008, she traveled with the ISU softball team to Belize, where the Redbirds put on a clinic for the children of the community where they were residing. Last summer, Nelson volunteered at the food pantry in the Quad Cities as part of a food drive.

Competition

Nelson enters her senior season as the school’s all-time batting leader with a career .396 average. She also tops the career list with 148 runs scored. After a junior season that included at least 50 hits for the third straight year, Nelson was named first-team All-MVC and first-team NFCA All-Mideast Region.