Feature Story:Â What drives resilient Utah softball player Haley Denning (Deseret News, May 5, 2021)
2024: NFCA First-Team All-Pacific Region...First-Team All-Pac-12...All-Pac-12 Defensive Team...CSC Academic All-District...one of four Utes who started all 57 games in 2024...finished her career as Utah's all-time leader in hits, runs scored, at-bats and career batting average...her .418 batting average ranked second in the Pac-12, as did her 79 hits and 24 steals...scored 47 runs, sixth-most in the conference...Collected four doubles, two triples and one home run...set career-highs with 18 RBIs and a .476 slugging percentage...led the team with six sacrifice hits...led all Utah outfielders with six assists and made only one error in 115 chances...logged 10 hits in Utah's first five games...stole four bases against Army in Utah's season opener on Feb. 9...swiped three more bags against N.C. Central on Feb. 10...belted her first collegiate home run on Feb. 24 vs. Wisconsin...went 5-for-5 on March 2 in a victory over Wisconsin...put together a 4-for-4 performance with three runs scored on March 4 vs. Utah Tech...strung together a team-best 15-game hit streak from March 22 - April 17...picked up five hits her final two games, including a 3-for-3 day against South Carolina on May 19.
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2023: NFCA First-Team All-Pacific Region...Second-Team All-Pac-12...CSC Academic All-District...Led the Pac-12 in steals for the third straight season with a career-high 33, putting her 20th in the nation...finished third in the Pac-12 in hits, runs scored and batting average...became just the third player in program history to reach 100 stolen bases...in the starting lineup for all 58 games...hit safely in 15 consecutive games from 2/17 to 3/10...scored two runs, drove in two runs and swiped three bases in a win over Northern Colorado on 2/10...Went 3-for-3 with three more thefts and two runs scored on 2/19 vs. Ohio...matched her career-high with four hits on 2/26 in a triumph over Long Beach State...Crossed the plate 11 times while accumulating seven steals in five games at the Hawaii Spring Fling March 3-6...Scored the winning run on 4/16 to help complete Utah's sweep of Stanford...Posted at least one hit in Utah's final 10 games...Scored her team's first run of the Women's College World Series on 6/2 vs. Washington.
2022: Second Team All-Pac-12... started in all 50 games played... 46 starts at shortstop, three in left and one in center field...
 posted new career highs in RBI (11), sacrifice bunts (8) and fielding assists (81)... led the Pac-12 in stolen bases (24) for the second consecutive season... led the team in hits with 62 and ranked second in batting average (.367)... hit three doubles and two triples... led the lineup with 19 multi-hit games... strung together the second longest hitting streak at nine games and reached safely in 14 consecutive games... tied her career high with four hits against California (4/9)... stole seven bases over a five game stretch, which included a pair of multi-steal performances.
2021: Pac-12 Honor Roll selection, second-team All-Pac-12 and first-team NFCA All-Pacific Region who had a breakout season at the plate and in the field... led the Pac-12 in hits (75) and stolen bases (31), ranking nationally 5th and tied for 11th, respectively, in those two categories... also led the Utes in batting average (.391), runs (46), triples (5) and multi-hit games (23)... five triples ranked 15th in the NCAA... her 31 stolen bases (in 34 att.) were the most by a Utah player since 2001... stole 12 consecutive bases before being thrown out on her second attempt in the first game of a March 24 doubleheader vs. Utah Valley, and stole nine in a row before being thrown out at Arizona on April 24... began the season as the starting left-fielder, but moved to shortstop in midseason because of injuries that disrupted the lineup, and was spectacular in the field wherever she played... had a career-high four hits on May 14 vs. Oregon State.
2020: Pac-12 All-Academic selection… all 18 games in left field… batted .397, second-best on the team, with 57 at bats, 23 hits (second on team), and a team-high 19 runs scored… led the team in stolen bases (12-12)… .466 slugging percentage.… leadoff hitter in 15 games, and batted ninth in the other three… had a team-high eight multi-hit games… named to the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge all-tournament team after hitting .467 and leading the team with four runs scored… fielding percentage of .95 and 18 putouts.
2019: Easton/NFCA Division 1 Scholar Athlete ... redshirted due to injury.
Prior to Utah: Denning, an All-City and All-Region selection at Arcadia High School, had a career .588 batting average with 174 hits and 154 runs scored. She ranked as the No. 52 player in the nation by FloSoftball.com
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She helped her club team, Firecrackers AZ, to a Triple Crown Sports Fireworks Super 32 U16 championship and a runner-up spot at the U18 Super 48.
Personal: Haley is the daughter of Gene and Chris Denning, and has one sibling, Connor. She is majoring in health promotion and education, specializing in the emergency medical service program with a goal of becoming a firefighter and being involved in wilderness rescue. Denning was also an all-division soccer player, registering 20 goals in a season.
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She was also a GOAL tutor and a member of the Key Club and the Academic Honor Roll. Denning parlayed her passion for crafts into becoming President of the "Gosh Yarn It" Club, which taught knitting and bracelet-making to students, with all goods donated to children's hospitals.