Andrea Filler

Classroom

An Academic All-Big Ten honoree in her only year of eligibility for the award, Filler already has graduated from Northwestern with a bachelor’s degree in communications studies and currently is pursuing a master’s degree in sports administration from the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies. In an effort to find her passion and future career in life, Filler pursued and secured several mini-internships in the marketing and communications departments in Northwestern Athletics last summer. Even prior to her transfer to Northwestern, Filler earned an Athletics Director’s Award for Academic Achievement at Boston College, another prestigious academic institution.

Character

Filler began her career at Boston College before sustaining a broken wrist early in her sophomore season. With the injury keeping her out for the year, she began to weigh her options and decided a change was needed. Transferring can be a tough situation for any student-athlete, but Filler arrived in Evanston and immediately fit squarely in the center of the team culture. A second-baseman at BC, Filler played where the Wildcats needed her, be it at first base or as the designated player, before she won the starting shortstop position in 2015. Her commitment to doing what is necessary for the team shows in her statistics; she led the NCAA in sacrifice flies in 2015, employing situational hitting instead of me-first swinging.

Community

Filler has played a large role in the continued success of Northwestern’s R.O.A.R.R. program, an anti-bullying campaign founded by members of Northwestern Softball in 2013. The initiative takes student-athletes into area schools to address issues of bullying and to help students find areas they have in common. Filler also has played a large role in Northwestern’s piloting of the Fuel Up to Play 60 campaign, a joint venture between the National Dairy Council and the NFL. Northwestern is testing the initiative at the college level in local schools, and it soon will roll out to other universities in part because of the commitment of student-athletes like Filler. She also is a regular visitor to local schools just to visit physical education classes, something she did at Dewey Elementary in Evanston just last week before this nomination was written.

Competition

After beginning her career at Boston College, Filler transferred to Northwestern prior to the 2014 season and immediately reached base in each of her first 11 plate appearances as a Wildcat before later tying the school record with base hits in eight-straight at-bats. She would end that season as a Big Ten All-Tournament Team choice and an NFCA All-Region selection. In 2015, Filler finished among the top 25 in the nation in RBIs per game when she recorded 60 for the year, and she led the NCAA with nine sacrifice flies. Filler was named to the All-Big Ten and NFCA All-Region First Teams after batting .395 with 26 extra base hits and a .735 slugging percentage. Filler’s defense at shortstop in 2015 also was exceptional and included a bases-loaded, game-ending walk-off diving catch of a line drive at Nebraska that made SportsCenter’s Top 10.