Kincannon Named Southland Softball Student-Athlete of the Year

6/16/2015 10:01:38 AM

Southland Conference

FRISCO, Texas – Northwestern State sophomore outfielder Kellye Kincannon has been named Southland Conference Softball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Tuesday in conjunction with the release of the 2015 All-Academic Softball teams.

Kincannon, a native of Lake Jackson, Texas (Brazoswood H.S.), completed her sophomore campaign holding a 3.40 grade point average after earning first-team all-conference honors and making the all-tournament team at the Southland Softball Tournament. She was also named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-South Region Second Team. The biology major broke Northwestern’s single-season record for RBI (60), runs scored (49), and slugging percentage (.789) while recording the third-best batting average (.409) in program history. Kincannon helped the Lady Demons to 36-18 record on the year, clinching the Southland regular-season title with a 22-3 league mark before falling in the tournament championship to Central Arkansas. The sophomore had a .973 fielding percentage for the year and reached base each of the final 21 games of the season. Kincannon was impressive against NCAA Tournament teams in nine regular-season games, batting .360 and recording nine RBI.

Six student-athletes made a return appearance to the all-academic teams with McNeese State senior Lauren Langner and Northwestern State senior Brittany Virgoe making their third consecutive showing. UIW senior Taylor Johnson, Houston Baptist senior Melissa Herman, McNeese State junior Emily Vincent and Sam Houston State graduate student Sarah Allison each returned to the all-academic team for a second time.

Eight members received automatic selections by virtue of being either a first-team all-conference selection or voted to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Capital One Academic All-District team.

Four student-athletes were selected to CoSIDA’s Capital One Academic All-District 7 team including Stephen F. Austin junior Hannah Welch and sophomore Brittany Lewis, UIW’s Johnson and Houston Baptist sophomore Cecilia Bauer. The Cardinals’ Johnson was also named to the CoSIDA Capitol One Academic All-America second team. Northwestern State’s Virgoe and Kincannon, NSU sophomore Brittney Jones and McNeese State’s Langner were each a member of the Southland All-Conference first team.

Northwestern State, UIW, McNeese State, Central Arkansas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi each had three student-athletes claim spots on the all-academic teams. All three Lady Demons appear on the first team after earning automatic selection. Houston Baptist and Stephen F. Austin each placed two on the first team, while Nicholls claimed two spots on the second team and Abilene Christian, Lamar and Sam Houston State were represented by one honoree. Eleven Southland softball programs were represented on the two teams.

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, must 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 institution. Student-athletes must possess a minimum 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.

2015 Southland Conference Softball All-Academic Teams

First Team
Name	University	Class	Hometown	GPA	Major
Kellye Kincannon^{^,1}	Northwestern State	So.	Lake Jackson, Texas	3.40	Biology
Taylor Johnson^1,2,#,%	UIW	Sr.	Schertz, Texas	4.00	Biology/Pre-Med
Cecilia Bauer^1,#	Houston Baptist	So.	Refugio, Texas	4.00	Elementary Education
Lauren Langner^1,3	McNeese State	Sr.	Pearland, Texas	3.54	General Studies
Brittany Virgoe^1,3	Northwestern State	Sr.	Anaheim, Calif.	3. 84	Psychology/Nursing
Hannah Welch^1,#	Stephen F. Austin	Jr.	Nacogcoches, Texas	3.95	Communication Disorders
Brittany Lewis^1,#	Stephen F. Austin	So.	Allen, Texas	3.54	Interdisciplinary Studies
Brittney Jones¹	Northwestern State	So.	Bryan, Texas	3.13	Psychology
Kylee, Studioso	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Edmond, Wash.	3.18	Family and Consumer Sciences
Melissa Herman²	Houston Baptist	Sr.	Katy, Texas	3.72	Kinesiology
Liz Carter	A&M-Corpus Christi	So.	Austin, Texas	3.80	Kinesiology
Taylor Brown	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Richland Hills, Texas	3.38	Kinesiology
Second Team
Name	University	Class	Hometown	GPA	Major
Jessie Taylor	Central Arkansas	Jr.	Bryant, Ark.	3.63	Biology
Hannah Haydel	Nicholls	Jr.	Ama, La.	3.70	Communicative Disorders
Casey Cromwell	Lamar	Sr.	Danville, Ill.	3.43	Exercise Science
Taylor Schmidt	McNeese State	Jr.	Yorba Linda, Calif.	3.60	Criminal Justice
Mackinzee Griebel	A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Lockhart, Texas	4.00	Kinesiology
Emily Vincent²	McNeese State	Jr.	Sulphur, La.	3.17	Health and Human Performance
Lindsey Hood	UIW	Jr.	San Antonio, Texas	3.87	Business Administration
Kristin Hebert	UIW	So.	Humble, Texas	3.68	Biology
Hayley Galloway	A&M-Corpus Christi	Gr.	Angleton, Texas	3.50	Kinesiology
Brooke Morris	Nicholls	So.	Denham Springs, La.	3.17	Human Performance Education
Briana Whisenhunt	Central Arkansas	So.	Crandall, Texas	3.33	Family and Consumer Sciences
Sarah Allison²	Sam Houston State	Gr.	College Station, Texas	3.60	Exercise Science

^2015 Southland Softball Student-Athlete of the Year
¹Automatic Selection
²Two-time all-academic selection
³Three-time all-academic selection
^#Capital One Academic All-District
^%Capital One Academic All-America