SIUE

2004: Named Academic All-America of the Year for the second straight season by College Sports Information Directors of America ... First-team All-Region and All-Great Lakes Valley Conference ... Named the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winner by the GLVC ... Helped SIUE to NCAA Tournament in all four seasons ... Led team in batting average (.358), runs (41), triples (3), home runs (8), RBI (36) and walks (27) ... SIUE's all-time leader in batting average (.395) and runs (166) ... Second on the all-time list in hits (233), home runs (29), doubles (56) and stolen bases (87) ... Blasted walk-off home run in victory against rival Missouri-St. Louis ... Registered two four-hit games and two four-RBI games. 2003: First team All-American ... Verizon Academic All-American of the Year for softball ... First team All-GLVC and All-Region ... Led GLVC in batting average (.439), slugging percentage (.749), on base percentage (.497), runs (48), hits (75), RBI (48) and total bases (128) ... She also stole 22 bases ... Had team-high 21 multi-hit games ... Once held a 20-game hitting streak ... Played in every game for the Cougars in the outfield and did not allow an error ... Named to the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District team. 2002: GLVC Player of the Year ... Second team Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-American ... Named GLVC's Scholar Athlete for softball ... First team All-Region pick ... First Cougar player to record more than 10 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season ... Led GLVC in runs scored (56), hits (83), runs batted in (48), doubles (22), stolen bases (30) and total bases (141) ... Her hits and runs scored total broke SIUE single-season records. 2001: Batted .364 in 44 at bats ... Scored 21 runs .. Stole 14 bases. High School: Named Best Offensive Player and team Most Valuable Player her junior and senior seasons at Steeleville High School ... Participated in the 2000 IHSA Hitting Derby ... All-Conference her senior season ... Also named MVP her senior season for the volleyball team ... President of National Honor Society ... High Honor Roll ... National Qualifiers in 1997-98 with the Southern Express summer league team ...  Parents are Tony and Mary ... Graduated: May 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Physics.

A 2003 first team All-American, Jenny Esker is one of the most celebrated softball players in school history for her efforts on and off the field. She helped SIUE to the NCAA Tournament in all four seasons and was a three-time All-GLVC selection, a three-time All-Region selection and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American three times. The Academic All-American of the Year capped her senior year with the Cougars by earning an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She holds school records for career batting average (.395) and runs scored (166) as well as the single-season record for runs scored (56). Esker was named the GLVC Player of the Year in 2002 after guiding the Cougars to the school’s first GLVC Softball Championship.
Career Statistics

 Year       Avg   GP-GS     AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB-ATT  
 2001....  .364   50-11     44   21   16    3    0    0    7    1    7   14-18  
 2002....  .395   62-62    210   56   83   22    0   12   48   13   25   30-32  
 2003....  .439   55-55    171   48   75   18    4    9   48   20   25   22-25  
 2004....  .358   54-54    165   41   59   13    3    8   36   27   27   21-25  
 TOTAL...  .395  221-182   590  166  233   56    7   29  139   61   84   87-100