Humboldt State’s Katie Obbema and Chico State’s Alistair Docherty Tabbed 2015-16 CCAA Athletes of the Year
SAN RAMON – Humboldt State softball player Katie Obbema and Chico State men’s golfer Alistair Docherty were named the 2015-16 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Female and Male Athletes of the Year, respectively, it was announced Friday afternoon.
The Conference’s Athlete of the Year award is voted on annually by the 13-member institutions’ Sports Information Directors.
Obbema earns the award for the first time in her four-year collegiate career despite helping her team to an overall record of 199-50-1, which included four-straight west regional appearances and two NCAA West Region titles.
This past season she helped her program to an outstanding 54-7-1 record, which included CCAA and NCAA West Region titles, and a runner-up finish to third-ranked North Alabama at the NCAA Division II Softball Championships this past May.
Obbema ranked among the top five in the CCAA in in victories (24), losses (4), and batters struck out looking (41). She was also third with a 1.84 ERA and was fifth in strikeouts, fanning 160 batters on the season. In her 28 appearances, she logged 22 complete games in 28 appearances while holding her opponents to a .242 batting average.
For all of her efforts in her final season, Obbema was named one of 25 NFCA National Player of the Year finalists.
The senior from Morgan Hill received a number of accolades this past season at the Conference, Regional, and National levels. Her first of the season was awarded at the CCAA Softball pre-championships banquet, where she was named the Conference’s Pitcher of the Year. She then received First-team All-West Region honors by both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA). Most recently Obbema was named to the NFCA All-America Second Team and the D2CCA All-America Honorable Mention.
Obbema becomes the third Humboldt State student-athlete to receive the Conference’s top honor since the Jacks joined the CCAA in 2007. Former HSU softball players Lizzy Prescott and Chrissy Stalf were also named following the conclusion of their collegiate careers.
Docherty was the lone Division II men’s golfer selected to represent the United States in the 2016 Palmer Cup and was just one of four named as finalists for the Jack Nicklaus NCAA Division II Player of the Year Award after averaging a stellar 71.59 stoke average during his final season with the Wildcats program.
In late April, the league’s coaches voted Docherty the CCAA’s Co-Golfer of the Year, sharing the award with teammate Lee Gearhart.
The Vancouver, Wash. product finished among the top 5 in 8 events and top 10 in 12 events, leading the Wildcats to seven team victories and five runner-up finishes this season. Most recently the three-time All-America, three-time First Team All-West Region, and three-time All-CCAA selection guided his team to a runner-up finish in the medal/match finals at the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in Denver, Colo.
In his career, Docherty goes down as one of the most successful golfers to come through the CCAA, notching 30 top 10 finishes and an average of 72.63 in 49 total collegiate events.
This marks the fourth time in the past six years and eighth time in Chico State’s 17 years as a member of the CCAA that a Wildcat has won the Conference’s Male Athlete of the Year award. It is the fourth time a Chico State men’s golfer has won it.