Softball Alumna Jennifer Gilbert To Represent Team Canada in Tokyo

TORONTO - - Ball State softball alumna Jennifer Gilbert was one of 15 athletes selected by Softball Canada's coaching staff to represent the country in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

TIME TO FINISH THE JOB. Meet the softball athletes who will represent @TeamCanada at @Tokyo2020!

TEMPS DE FINIR LE TRAVAIL. Rencontrez les athlètes qui représenteront @Equipe_Canada à @Tokyo2020fr! #GoldMedalMission

EN: https://t.co/FdCVnXkxwp
FR: https://t.co/eQS9M7xEbq pic.twitter.com/cNEbcpCDJk
— Softball Canada (@SoftballCanada) May 12, 2021

A two-time All-American left fielder as a student-athlete for Ball State from 2011-2014, Gilbert helped guide the Cardinals to three MAC Regular Season Championships (2012, 2013 & 2014) over her playing career.

Gilbert, the only All-American in program history, became just the fourth two-time All-America selection in MAC history when she was named to the NFCA All-America Second Team in 2014 after earning third team status one year earlier. The only three-time MAC Player of the Year (2012, 2013 & 2014), Gilbert finished her career as one of only 11 players in NCAA Division I history to earn her respective conference player of the year award three times.

Gilbert also concluded her collegiate career as the MAC's record holder in runs batted in (246), runs scored (215), home runs (75), doubles (62) and slugging percentage (.810). Her 75 home runs ranked eighth in NCAA Division I history at the conclusion of her career, and she became the NCAA career home run leader among Canadian-born players with her 66th blast versus North Dakota State (March 22, 2014).

In addition, Gilbert ended her playing career tied for ninth in NCAA Division I history with 246 RBI, while her .810 slugging percentage was 10th.

Following her Ball State playing career, Gilbert also spent three seasons as a member of the Cardinals coaching staff, starting as a volunteer assistant in 2015. With her help, Ball State finished the 2015 campaign with a 34-25 (14-5 Mid-American Conference) record, won the MAC West Division title and claimed the league's tournament championship to earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals.

The Cardinals went on to defeat 16th-seeded Notre Dame in the regional opener for the program's first-ever regional victory. Gilbert was a full-time assistant for the Cardinals in 2016 and 2017.

GILBERT TEAM CANADA BIO:
Jennifer Gilbert has been part of the national team program for more than a decade, starting with the Women's U-16 National Team in 2009. In 2010 and 2011 she competed as part of the Junior Women's National Team and helped lead Team Canada to a fifth-place showing at the 2011 WBSC Junior Women's World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa.

In 2012 Gilbert made the jump to the senior team and competed in her first of three WBSC World Championships in Whitehorse, Yukon. She was also part of Team Canada at the Worlds in 2014 and 2018, taking home bronze in 2018.

With a .429 batting average and two home runs, Gilbert was one of Canada's top hitters at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games where the team won silver. A few weeks later, she recorded nine RBIs at the WBSC Americas Olympic Qualifier in Surrey, B.C. as the team booked its ticket to Tokyo 2020.

LINK TO COMPLETE TEAM CANADA BIO

MORE ABOUT THE TEAM CANADA AND TOKYO 2020:
Canada qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the 2019 WBSC Softball Americas Qualifier held in Surrey, B.C. by finishing in the top two of the 12-team event along with Mexico.

Softball returns to the Olympic Games after being left off at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Canada narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish the last time the sport appeared at Beijing 2008.

Canada is ranked third in the WBSC Women's Softball World Rankings and has won three bronze medals over the last five WBSC World Championships, including back-to-back bronze medals in 2016 and 2018. The team won gold at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and captured silver medals at Guadalajara 2011 and Lima 2019.

Softball will take place July 22 to July 27 at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium and the Yokohama Baseball Stadium.

Softball Alumna Jennifer Gilbert To Represent Team Canada in Tokyo

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