Stephanie Thompson

Classroom

A neuroscience concentrator, Thompson has maintained an impressive 3.39 GPA while excelling in classes such as Principles of Neurobiology, Neural Systems, Neuropharmacology & Synaptic Transmission, The Diseased Brain and Brain Damage and the Mind. In addition, she is completing the pre-med requirements with the intention of continuing on to medical school after her time on College Hill. In 2012, she earned first team CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District honors as well as a spot on the 2012 Academic All-Ivy team. Thompson’s intellect and skills have also earned her opportunities away from Brown, as she has spent the past two years as a Volunteer Research Assistant at the Butler Hospital, focusing her efforts on a Longitudinal Obsessive-Compulsive Study sponsored by Brown. Additionally, Thompson was awarded an internship with Intracellular Therapies, Inc. for the summer of 2012, allowing her to work on a project that is trying to discover the targets of cGMP in the brain.

Character

Thompson is a terrific role model for Brown student-athletes.  According to head coach Katie Flynn, she is a person that her teammates trust, look up to and aspire to be like. She is a player who could have hit and played at ANY Division I softball program in the country, but her desire to attend a top-notch academic institution to prepare her for the medical field landed her at Brown. She is a focused and driven student, who will be applying to medical school next year. With all of her athletic accolades, she remains tremendously humble. She does not look on the website at any time during the season to see her stats. As captain for both her junior and senior years, she is definitely a leader for the softball program.  She is unafraid to offer valuable opinions and perspective, which is very helpful to the new coaching staff. Perhaps her most impressive quality, however, is a genuineness that draws people to her. She is atypical of many Ivy League student-athletes because her personality is so laid back. Coach Flynn has spent over 25 years in collegiate athletics and finds Thompson to be in the top one percent of student-athletes that she has had the privilege to coach.

Community

Throughout her time on the Brown softball team, Thompson has contributed to the community of Providence as well as to national causes that she has become passionate and connected to. During her freshman year, she spearheaded the softball team’s participation in the Brown Athletic Department’s Dash for Diabetes, helping to raise a collective $2,500 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Due to Thompson’s efforts, the Brown softball team led all organizations with 16 members participating, and was the top fundraising squad with $500. Thompson has also maintained a four-year relationship with the students at the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School, an inner-city school in Providence, as part of a department initiative to match the university’s student-athletes with local children. Thompson and her teammates have spent time in a third grade classroom each week, assisting with reading and writing activities, while also serving as a role model for the young students. From 2009 to 2011, Thompson was a member of the Community Health Advocacy Program, helping to create health-related lesson plans that she then taught to local pre-schoolers to expand their understanding and awareness. Finally, she has been a yearly organizer of Brown’s Homeruns for Homeless, a partnership between the softball and baseball teams that was formed in 2010 and raises money for Judy’s Kindness Kitchen, an organization that helps the homeless in Providence.

Competition

Recognized as one of the country’s top hitters, Thompson led the nation with a .504 batting average in 2011, and ranked 12th in the country with a .558 on-base percentage. She led the Ivy League with 13 homeruns and was the top performer in nearly every offensive category for the Bears, earning her second-team All-Ivy honors and a selection to the 2011 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region team. She was the 2012 Ivy League Co-Player of the Year and a first-team All Ivy selection, compiling a .477 batting average, which ranked second in Division I softball. She also led the Bears in hits (51), runs (27), home runs (9), RBI (27) and total bases (90). She started in all 37 games during her junior campaign, posting a .920 fielding percentage and boasting a .571 on-base percentage, which ranked sixth in the nation. Thompson also ranked third in the country as toughest to strike out, as it happened only twice in 2012. Her batting average led the Ivy League, as did her slugging percentage (.841), her on-base percentage (.571) and her walks (25). In just three years, Thompson ranks second in the Brown record book for career home runs (24), second in career batting average (.438), fourth in runs scored (91), third in hits (156), second in doubles (37) and fourth in RBI (82). She was also selected as the Ivy League Player of the week twice during the 2012 season and earned first team All-Northeast Region honors.