Valley City  (VCSU) The Valley City State University softball team continued to rack up honors on Thursday with the announcement of the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association college awards.

The awards are voted on by North Dakota sports media who are members of NDAPSSA.

Valley City State’s softball team won the female awards in all three categories of the NDAPSSA college awards. The Vikings were named the North Dakota Female Team of the Year; pitcher Emily Smith was named the Female Athlete of the Year; and coach Michael Mook was named the Coach of the Year.

Read the full story at: https://www.inforum.com/sports/2731623-Otterdahl-Bison-football-NDAPSSA-College-Award-winners

The Vikings won a school-record 54 games this season and advanced to the NAIA World Series for just the third time in program history (1982, 2006).

The Vikings (54-5, 26-2 NSAA) won the North Star Athletic Association regular season and tournament championships. Valley City State was a No. 1 seed for the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round and won their bracket in Columbia, Mo., to advance to the 10-team NAIA World Series for the first time since 2006.

VCSU was ranked No. 6 in the final regular season NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll. The Vikings are ranked No. 10 in the postseason poll.

VCSU started the season 15-0 and later had a 20-game winning streak heading into the World Series. This year’s team broke more than a dozen individual and team records, including wins (54), runs scored (399), hits (574), RBIs (344), doubles (112) and triples (20).

Members of the Valley City State University softball team, include former Jamestown High School standout Kadie Anderson.

Vikings softball coach Mook, wins the female team Coach of the Year.   In his fourth season as Valley City State’s head coach, he guided the Vikings to a 54-5 record and an appearance in the NAIA World Series.

The 54 wins shattered the old school record of 40. The Vikings finished the season ranked No. 6 in the country – the highest ranking in program history.

Mook’s Vikings went 39-12 in 2018, 21-31 in 2017 and 40-13 in 2016. A native of Boscobel, Wis., Mook was an assistant coach at Augustana (S.D.) before coming to Valley City State. Mook, a Winona State graduate, was the head coach at Hastings (Minn.) High School from 2005 to 2008.

(Other finalists: Shauna Kemp, Jamestown wrestling; Darren Mueller, North Dakota State softball)