Newton Named Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Softball Student-Athlete of the Year
FRISCO, Texas ? Texas State senior Alex Newton has been named the Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Softball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Monday in conjunction with the release of the All-Academic Softball Teams.
Newton, a native of LaPorte, Texas, carries a 3.45 grade-point average in interdisciplinary studies. The 2009 Southland Player of the Year, Newton joins Jessica Rogers of UTSA (2005) as the only student-athletes in conference history to win both the league player of the year and student-athlete of the year award in softball. A four-time member of the Dean’s List and elementary school tutor, Newton led Texas State to its first conference tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance since 2001. Her 62 hits led the league and 15 doubles and 19 stolen bases rank second. Newton also ranked third with a .332 batting average and fourth with 34 runs scored. Her .513 slugging percentage and .397 on-base percentage rank fifth. Starting all 58 contests in 2009, Newton led the Bobcats to a 40-18 overall record and their 23 conference wins are the most by a Texas State squad since 2002. A National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Central Region First-Team selection, Newton leaves Texas State to play in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league with the Philadelphia Force.
Nine student-athletes make a return appearance to the all-academic team led by senior Karie Hugie of Stephen F. Austin making her third consecutive showing on the team. Ten of the 22 all-academic team members received automatic selections, five of which were CoSIDA District VI honorees. Audrey Wood of Nicholls, Katie Duhe of Southeastern Louisiana, Larissa Martin of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Hugie all received first-team merits and Andrea Simancas of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was selected to the second-team. Duhe and Martin led all recipients each carrying a 4.00 GPA.
Texas State led all schools with five all-academic selections including three first-team honorees. Stephen F. Austin, UT Arlington and Northwestern State each had three, Sam Houston State had two and Central Arkansas, McNeese State, Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana each had one.
Established in the 2002-03 academic year, the conference honors one student-athlete from each of the 17 championship sports who achieves excellence in academics, athletics and community/campus service.
The student-athlete of the year, selected by the league’s Awards Committee, will have attained athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution, possess at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and demonstrated extracurricular service at her campus and or community.
The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators from each Southland university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competition to qualify for the all-academic squad.
Included in Capital One Bank’s support of the Southland Conference Academic Awards Program is the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship, the All-Academic Teams, the Student-Athlete of the Year, the Scholar-Athlete Award and the Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
2009 Southland Softball All-Academic Teams
|
First Team |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name |
University |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
|
Alex Newton* $ |
Texas State |
Sr. |
LaPorte, Texas |
3.45 |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
|
McKenzie Baack* |
Texas State |
Jr. |
Round Rock, Texas |
3.15 |
Marketing |
|
Audrey Wood^ # |
Nicholls |
Jr. |
Lawton, Okla. |
3.90 |
Nursing |
|
Katie Duhe^ |
Southeastern La. |
So. |
Lutcher, La. |
4.00 |
Accounting |
|
Briana Bishop* # |
Stephen F. Austin |
Jr. |
College Station, Texas |
3.47 |
Kinesiology |
|
Karie Hugie^ ! |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Greenville, Miss. |
3.96 |
Biology |
|
Samantha Chumchal* |
UT Arlington |
Jr. |
Richwood, Texas |
3.21 |
Pre. K-Education |
|
Heather Fortenberry* |
UT Arlington |
Jr. |
Mesquite, Texas |
3.23 |
Criminal Justice |
|
Larissa Martin^ |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Franklin, Texas |
4.00 |
Math |
|
Andrea Simancas^ # |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Pasadena, Texas |
3.86 |
History |
|
Taylor Hall |
Texas State |
Sr. |
Baytown, Texas |
3.78 |
Exercise & Sports Science |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name |
University |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
|
Kendra Spivey# |
Sam Houston State |
Sr. |
Colleyville, Texas |
3.90 |
Biology |
|
Cara Hulme# |
UT Arlington |
Jr. |
Van, Texas |
3.67 |
Kinesiology |
|
Leah Boatright# |
Texas State |
Jr. |
Baytown, Texas |
3.42 |
Marketing |
|
Sarah Garcia |
Central Arkansas |
Jr. |
Slymar, Calif. |
3.97 |
Family & Consumer Sciences |
|
Jenna Emery |
Texas State |
So. |
Sugar Land, Texas |
3.16 |
Respiratory Care |
|
Lindsey Langner |
McNeese State |
So. |
Pearland, Texas |
3.88 |
Health Education |
|
Brandi Crnkovic |
Sam Houston State |
Sr. |
Caldwell, Texas |
3.25 |
Caldwell, Texas |
|
Cary Bruno# |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
Pearland, Texas |
3.52 |
Business Administration |
|
Lauren Luetge |
Stephen F. Austin |
So. |
New Ulm, Texas |
3.63 |
Kinesiology |
|
Amanda Jameson# |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
Burleson, Texas |
3.75 |
Health & Exercise Science |
|
Ainsley Pellerin |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Breaux Bridge, La. |
3.87 |
Business Administration |
$Student-Athlete of the Year
*First-Team All-Conference
^CoSIDA All-Academic District VI
#Two-time Academic Selection
!Three-time Academic Selection