SFA Recognizes its Own at 2018 Champions Dinner
5/2/2018 9:41:00 PM | General
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Once again, the Stephen F. Austin department of athletics put the finishing touches on another successful season by honoring its student-athletes at the 2017-18 Champions Dinner which was held Wednesday evening in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center.
The dinner is held annually near the end of the spring semester, recognizing the athletic achievements from Lumberjack and Ladyjack student-athletes over the course of the last academic year. Each team program was able to present their team awards as well as allowing a night of well deserved recognition.
In all, 41 SFA student-athletes were named to various All-Southland Conference teams during the 2017-18 season. Soccer's Hanna Barker was one of the three SFA representative who secured a Southland Conference major award as she was named the Southland Conference Midfielder of the Year while volleyball head coach Debbie Humphreys took home her sixth Katrinka Jo Crawford Coach of the Year award by leading the Ladyjacks to the top of the league standings yet again.
Indoor track & field freshman Kelsey Ramirez earned the title of 2018 Southland Conference Women's Freshman of the Year, leading the way among the 'Jacks' contingent of 25 All-Southland Conference honorees in the sport.
SFA's total amount of Southland Conference regular season titles stands at 88 after the Ladyjacks' volleyball squad secured the program's ninth regular season league crown in the fall of 2017. Additionally, three other teams (soccer, women's basketball and men's indoor track and field) claimed runner-up finishes in Southland Conference action throughout the 2017-18 campaign while men's basketball took home the program's fifth Southland Conference Tournament title en route to its fifth NCAA Tournament appearances. Antonio Ruiz became SFA track & field's latest All-American by posting a 12th-place finish in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
From a scholastic standpoint, Stephen F. Austin enjoyed yet another strong year. In all, three student-athletes - football's Marlon Walls, soccer's Carli Arthurs and volleyball's Ann Hollas - earned both CoSIDA Academic All-District and CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for a combination of their work in the classroom and in their respective sports.
Walls, who will go down as one of the most academically inclined student-athletes in the history of the university, took it several steps further by being named the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for the sport of football. A finalist for a multitude of other premier awards including the Wooden Citizenship Cup, the STATS FCS Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award and the National Football Foundation's William V. Campbell Trophy (considered the academic version of football's Heisman Trophy), Walls also presented SFA faculty athletic representative Dr. Ken Collier a plaque as Collier earned a 2017 NFF Faculty Salute.
Each of the 13 faculty athletic representatives at each of the 13 William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist's institutions received a similar plaque as well as a $5,000 donation from Fidelity to support the academic support services for student-athletes at the schools.
At the conclusion of Wednesday evening's program, SFA Director of Athletics Robert Hill - who will retire at the end of May 2018 - was recognized with a standing ovation for his 31-year career in SFA athletics.
With four sports still ongoing, SFA remains in position to capture its fourth-straight Southland Conference Commissioner's Cup and the sixth overall. The Lumberjacks currently sit at 113 points, holding a one-point lead on second-place Lamar (112 pts.). Central Arkansas (103 pts.), Sam Houston State (102 pts.) and McNeese (98 pts.) round out the top five in the current Commissioner's Cup standings.
SFA currently sits atop the Women's All-Sports standings with 62.5 points, four ahead of second-place Lamar's 58.5 points, while ranking third in the Men's All-Sports standings. A total of six points separate the top three teams in the Men's All-Sports standings with Sam Houston State (56 pts.) in first and Lamar (53.5 pts.) in second.
The sport award winners were selected by the respective head coach while the Murray Shaw Academic Awards were given to the player with the highest GPA for the year in each sport. The five major award winners were selected by a panel of SFA Athletic administrators.
2018 SFA Champions Dinner Award Recipients
Bowling
Team MVP Award -- Stephanie Schwartz
Tennis
Dianne Baker Award -- Armelle Cerdan
Golf
George Reese Award -- Angelo Leyvani
Women's Team MVP Award -- Erica Lautensack
Women's Basketball
Lucille Norton Award -- Stevi Parker
Sue Gunter Offensive Award -- Chanell Hayes
Gary Blair Defensive Award -- Kennedy Harris
Athletic Training
Sandy Miller Award -- Montye Sumrall
Volleyball
Scotty Bailess Award -- Haley Coleman
Michelle Reid Award -- Makenzee Hanna
Cross Country
Robert Maluski Award -- Erick Rotich
Gwen Cole Award -- Brittany Innis
Track and Field
Men's and Women's Team MVP -- Awarded after the season
Men's Basketball
Buddy Lowery Defensive Award -- TJ Holyfield
George Johnson Offensive Award -- Shannon Bogues, Kevon Harris
Soccer
Pam Thorstensen Award -- Hanna Barker
Softball
Sadie Allison Award -- Makayla Sikes, Taylor Fraccastoro
Baseball
Team MVP Award -- Eric DeJesus
Football
Mart Crawford Award -- Lamont Alexander
Cally Belcher Award -- Cody Williams
SAAC
Jene' Carter Award -- Jonathan Sam (football)
Murray Shaw Awards
Baseball -- Cody Adams
Men's Basketball -- Kevon Harris
Women's Basketball -- Kia Fisker
Bowling -- Paige Beeney
Men's Cross Country -- Titus Kiplagat
Women's Cross Country — Claire Crone and Taryn Surratt
Football -- Marlon Walls
Men's Golf -- Blake Stock
Women's Golf -- Alexandra Batista
Soccer -- Carli Arthurs
Softball -- Amber Landry
Tennis -- Siân Payne
Men's Track and Field — Chad Horstmann
Women's Track and Field -- Samantha Brashears
Volleyball -- Ann Hollas
2017 Major Award Winners
R.H. "Bob" Shelton Award -- Marlon Walls (football)
Steve McCarty Award -- Kerry Gleason (track & field)
Dick Wright Sportsmanship Award -- TJ Holyfield (men's basketball)
June Irwin Female Athlete of the Year -- Stephanie Schwartz (bowling)
Ralph Todd Male Athlete of the Year -- Antonio Ruiz (track & field)
-SFA-
