A 4-year starter, Rico batted .315 in 44 games this year with a team-high 12 doubles to go along with 15 RBIs. In conference play she stepped up her play with a .323 batting average and 8 doubles in 23 games. Rico hit safely in 29 games, thanks in part to a pair of 6-game hitting streaks. She registered 9 multiple-hit games which included a pair of 3-hit contests. Her finest effort of the season came in a 4-3 win over Vanguard in which she accounted for 3 runs and her 2-out 2-run double proved to be the difference in the Cougars' victory.
Rico concluded her Azusa Pacific career last week having become 1 of only 7 Cougars ever to appear in over 200 games. Her 29 career doubles rank sixth on Azusa Pacific all-time chart.
A former standout at Rancho Cucamonga High School, from which she graduated in 2000, Rico becomes the 30th Cougar to receive All-GSAC recognition in the conference’s 18-year history.
Azusa Pacific, which was ranked in the NAIA Top 25 troughout February and March, finished the season with a 26-20 record.
