Honnold and Laird Named to 2024 Preseason All-SEC Softball Team

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Missouri Softball players Alex Honnold and Jenna Laird were named to the 2024 Preseason All-SEC Team, the league announced Wednesday. 

Laird was named to her third-straight Preseason All-SEC Softball Team while Honnold was featured on the list for the first time in her career. 

Alex Honnold

Honnold, a senior center fielder, led Mizzou in on-base percentage (.539), slugging percentage (.779), runs (52), batting average (.396) and triples (three) during the 2023 season as she was named a Top 25 Finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year and awarded NFCA Second-Team All-American honors.

The West Des Moines, Iowa, two-hole hitter, was also named to the 2023 All-SEC Second Team, posting 19 multi-hit games, and leading the Tigers with 14 home runs.

Honnold has now been listed on three preseason rankings ahead of the 2024 campaign as she appeared on both Softball America’s (Jan. 22, #19) and D1Softball’s Preseason Top 100 rankings (Jan. 18, #47).

Jenna Laird 

Laird was named to the 2023 All-SEC Second Team as she paced Missouri with 198 at-bats, 52 runs and 70 hits as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter. Laird knocked 12 doubles in 2023, while leading Mizzou on the basepaths, going 30-for-34 on stolen bases.

The East Meadow, New York, senior shortstop, registered a .978 fielding percentage with 76 putouts, 104 assists and 11 double plays. 

For Laird, the preseason list is her second ahead of the 2024 season as she was featured 61st on D1Softball’s Preseason D100 Player Rankings (Jan. 18).

Mizzou, who received nine votes in the 2024 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll on Tuesday, was selected to finish 11th (38 points) this season in the 2024 SEC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll.  

Tennessee, the defending SEC champion, has been picked to be the top program for the 2024 SEC softball season following a vote by the league’s 13 head coaches in the annual preseason poll.

Tennessee and Georgia, who finished in second place in the poll, each earned six first-place votes, while Florida had one.

SEC teams are slated to begin the 2024 softball season on Thursday, February 8, with conference play set to begin on Friday, March 8. The 2024 SEC Softball Tournament is scheduled for May 7-11 at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Alabama. 

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Missouri opens its 2024 campaign at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic Feb. 9-11 in Clearwater, Florida.

Season ticket renewals and new season tickets are currently available at mutigers.com/sbtix.