« Softball 2012

Mallory Duran-Sellers

School
Southern Illinois
Position
Outfielder
Major
English Education
AVG
.370
R
61
H
60
FLD%
.990
RBI
24

Classroom

Duran-Sellers holds a 4.0 GPA in English education and has made the Dean’s List seven semesters. She is on track to graduate in December 2012 and plans to pursue a career as a teacher. She is a 2011 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American and helped the Salukis to a 3.611 team GPA, which ranked second among all NFCA Division I teams in the same year.  She is also a two-time MVC Scholar Athlete First Team honoree (2010 & 2011), was named to the Conference Honor Roll twice (2010 & 2011), and was named MVC Scholar Athlete of the Week (4/27/11).

Character

Duran-Sellers is a three-time team captain (2010, 2011, 2012), who leads on and off the field.  “Mallory is one of the most solid, steady players that I have ever coached,” SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock said. “She is steady in her personal life, on the field, with her grades and is someone you would want your daughter to be like.” Duran-Sellers is member of the Vine Community Church in Carbondale, Ill. where her husband is a pastoral assistant, and her Christian faith plays a huge part in her life.  Upon arrival at Southern Illinois, Duran-Sellers joined the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and became involved with summer camps around central and southern Illinois.  She has spent two summers as a huddle leader including this past summer as an intern with FCA.  During the camps, she leads groups of middle school and high school students how to actively peruse their faith through playing sports. “She really ‘gets it’ meaning that she really understands how to balance everything from school, to life, to the field,” Blaylock said. “Her teammates are endeared to her because she ‘walks-the-walk and talks-the talk’ so she’s very admired and respected by her teammates.“

Community

A member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), Duran-Sellers helped organize and participated in numerous fundraising efforts and community service projects in her time as a Saluki.  These events included Saluki Athletics Halloween Bash, Southern Illinois Head Start Santa’s Shoe Box, Kid’s Night Out, MVC Just Read program.  She also participated in the SIU Talent show, which raised over $1,000 for Haiti relief.  She has served as a Varsity Club host and received the 2011 MVC State Farm Good Neighbor Award.

Competition

Duran-Sellers has started in 131 games as a Saluki, appearing in 151 spending most of her time in left field. She had a breakout junior season (2011) where she broke the 14-year-old single season runs scored record with 54 and held a team-high .398 batting average that ranked second overall in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Duran-Sellers also held a staggering .441 batting average against conference opponents in 2011, which ranked second in the league.  She’s also quick on the base path, going 11-for-11 in stolen bases in 2011. Her batting averaged increased 107 points from 2010 to 2011 and she held two lengthy hit streaks in 2011, including a 13-game and 10-game where she held at least one hit.  She was a key contributor in the Salukis 2010 regular season MVC conference title as she held a .291 batting average with 41 hits and eight RBI. She has earned numerous awards for her performance on the field including All-MVC first team honors (2011) and second team (2010), NFCA/Louisville Slugger Mideast Region First Team (2011), and MVC All-Tournament team (2011).  For her career has 15 doubles, three triples, four home runs, drew 68 walks, and 37 RBI. She is a steady force in the outfield, holding a career .977 fielding percentage.