Jefferson senior Rachel Sedlacek was one of 11 players to sign national letters of intent to play softball at the University of Northern Iowa. Coach Ryan Jacobs announced the signings Thursday.

"We are very proud to announce the 2012 recruiting class," Jacobs said in a release provided by UNI. "It was important for us to sign a very talented class to replace the
great players that will be graduating at the end of the year. Not only did it need to be a talented class, but also a very big one.

"With eight players in our current senior class, it was imperative that we replace those players to maintain our level of depth. I can say with all certainty that we not only met our expectations, but exceeded them in every way."

Sedlacek, an outfielder, already is a four-year letterwinner She was second-team all-conference and second-team all-Metro in 2010, and first-team all-conference, first-team all-Metro and first team all-state in 2011.

Besides Sedlacek, the Panthers also signed Alex Benedict (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS), Ellie Doughty (Omaha, Neb./Westside HS), Nicole Fisher (Conrad, Iowa/BCLUW HS/Kirkwood CC), Kristin Lock (Lenexa, Kan./St. James Academy), Sami Olson (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East HS), Abby Pollow (Sioux City, Iowa/East HS), Micalla Rettinger (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill HS), Betsy Thomas (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa/Sergeant Bluff-Luton HS), Abbie Van Vleet (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola HS) and Caitlin Wnek (Amana, Iowa/Clear Creek Amana HS) to national letters-of-intent.

"Although these 2012 recruits cover all positions and styles of play, it is definitely the most versatile class I have ever signed," Jacobs said. "There is a great mix of speed, size, and power in this class. At the end of the day, you could take this group alone and compete for championships. We certainly expect many of them to step in immediately
to fill starting positions."