INDIANAPOLIS – UIC senior Elaine Heflin has been named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year for the third-consecutive season and first-year head coach Lynn Curylo has garnered the distinction of Coach of the Year, the conference office announced Tuesday.
 
The Flames additionally earned three First Team All-League nods for Heflin, sophomore Lexi Watts and redshirt-sophomore Karissa Frazier. Freshmen Jennah Speth and Kayla Wedl and junior Taylor Cairns were selected to the All-League Second Team, as Speth and Wedl also placed on the All-Freshman Team with fellow classman Allie Trudeau.
 
Heflin is the second player in program history, and the third in Horizon League history, to be recognized three times as Pitcher of the Year after All-American and Hall of Famer Samantha Iuli collected the honor for the 1998, 1999 and 2000 seasons. With Curylo coming away as Coach of the Year, it marks the sixth time UIC has hauled in Pitcher and Coach of the Year in the same season.
 

 
In her final season with the Flames, Heflin has reached several notable feats. She broke the 20-year old UIC strikeout record twice, first with 17 against Youngstown State then again six days later with 18 against Northern Kentucky, and also tossed her first career no-hitter versus the Penguins. In 130.2 innings, she has struck out a league-leading 141, held foes to a minimal .192 batting average and tallied a 2.20 earned-run average. The three-time Pitcher of the Week is 12-8 this season, 5-2 HL, with four saves and owns 11 complete games, five complete-game shutouts and two shared shutouts.
 

 
Curylo returned home to her alma mater and coached UIC to a program-record 20 Horizon League wins in her first season, as the Flames earned their third-straight regular season title and 16th overall. Additionally, the 35 wins turned out in the regular season were the most since 2005 when the team produced 38.
 

 
Watts picks up her second First Team accolade after serving as the top offensive threat all season. She became UIC's all-time leader in steals with 63 after swiping 26 bases on the year to lead the Horizon League. She tabbed the best batting average for the Flames all season, never dipping below .377, and currently sits with the second-highest average in the conference (.388). Her team-high 22 multi-hit games has contributed to her league-leading 69 hits as she had 31 come in conference play for a .383 average.
 
Frazier claims her first postseason honor after having the most productive season of her career. Her 1.52 ERA, the best for a UIC pitcher since Alycia Creese's 1.50 in 2001, leads the league as does her 0.83 mark in conference play. She has also kept her ERA below 2.30 the entire season with a 0.98 average in the second half of the campaign. She is 12-8 overall and 7-2 in conference with three saves as she has thrown 10 complete games, with three coming as shutouts, and has held opponents to a .235 average in 124.0 innings.
 

 
Speth receives All-League and All-Freshman recognition after working her way into becoming one of the Flames' top hitters. She owns the team's second-best batting average with a mark of .327 off 37 hits and ranks in the top 10 in the Horizon League in home runs (6) and RBI (29), as she leads UIC in homers and ranks second in runs driven in. In conference, she hit .319 with 11 extra-base hits as she ranked third in the league in home runs (6) and RBI (21), fifth in slugging percentage (.667) and sixth in runs scored (16).
 
Wedl turns out a pair of Horizon League honors in her first season as a staple in the starting lineup. She carried one of the Flames' top five batting averages during the year and currently sits at .302 with the second-best mark of .333 in conference play. She has produced the second-most hits (49), with a leading 19 extra-base efforts off 10 doubles, four triples and five home runs, and has driven in the most runs with 30 RBI. In league play, she ranked in the top 10 in doubles (5), home runs (4) and slugging percentage (.591).
 
Cairns becomes a first-time All-League selection after having the best offensive season of her career. Having started every game at second base, she holds UIC's fifth-best batting average overall (.293) and third-best in conference play (.329). She has tacked on the third-most hits (43) and ranks fifth in the Horizon League with 14 steals. As one of three UIC players to have at least 20 hits in conference, she marked the second-highest total with 23.
 

 
Trudeau garners All-Freshman laurels after turning out one of the program's most impressive freshman campaigns. She produced the team's second-best ERA of 1.99 to rank third in the Horizon League, where she led fellow pitchers in opposing average (.189) and hits allowed (61) as she never let up more than six hits in a game. In conference play, she held the top opposing average (.144), second-best ERA (1.06) and fourth-most strikeouts (52). Overall, she went 9-3 with three saves and held a perfect 7-0 conference record. In 91.2 innings, she collected 77 strikeouts to rank sixth in the league and collaborated for three shared shutouts.
 
With the No. 1 seed in hand, the Flames begin play in the Horizon League Championship at Flames Field on Thursday at noon CT against the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 4 Wright State and No. 5 Detroit Mercy.
 
 
2017 Horizon League Softball Awards
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sam Stewart, Valparaiso
 
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Elaine Heflin, UIC
 
CO-FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Maddi Lusk, Youngstown State
Jamie Squires, Oakland
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Lynn Curylo, UIC
 
 
ALL-LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
Sam Stewart, Valparaiso
Honnah Susor, Wright State
Lexi Watts, UIC
Courtney Gilbert, Detroit Mercy
Jamie Squires, Oakland
Macy Cook, Wright State
Hannah Lucas, Youngstown State
Dani Devlin, Northern Kentucky
Jorgi Calonbaris, Valparaiso
Lyndsay Hill, Oakland
Elaine Heflin, UIC
Karissa Frazier, UIC
 
ALL-LEAGUE SECOND TEAM
Carly Trepanier, Valparaiso
Jennah Speth, UIC
Cali Mikovich, Youngstown State
Abby Brinkmeier, Green Bay
Kayla Wedl, UIC
Allie Taylor, Green Bay
Brittney Moffatt, Youngstown State
Taylor Cairns, UIC
Jordan Manno, Detroit Mercy
Mikayela Marciniak, Oakland
Erin Kownacki, Oakland
Maddi Lusk, Youngstown State
 
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Allie Trudeau, UIC
Jamie Squires, Oakland
Kayla Wedl, UIC
Jennah Speth, UIC
Maddi Lusk, Youngstown State
Liz Murphy, Detroit Mercy
Elizabeth Yager, Detroit Mercy
Melissa Jacobsen, Cleveland State
Kailey Rossiter, Northern Kentucky