RICHARDSON, Texas – Acts of sportsmanship in competition, on campus and within the community earned Beau Billings and Mullika Seekhieo of East Texas Baptist and Marlee Blackwell of Belhaven recognition as the 2018-19 American Southwest Conference Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Athletes of the Year, the ASC announced Wednesday.
 
The ASC Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award honors each year a male and female student-athlete who best display attributes of sportsmanship, leadership, citizenship and academic integrity in his or her athletic, academic and life pursuits. The conference Directors of Athletics present the annual awards.
 
Billings, a senior from Mansfield, Texas, is a three-time American Southwest Conference Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year Award winner and is an All-ASC First Team member for cross country. The three-time Academic All-Conference selection has ran in two NCAA Regional Championships and helped ETBU to their top their best program finish of third in the 2018 ASC Cross Country Championships. This past season, Billings had three top 10 finishes, claiming eighth at the ASC Championships. In track & field, he was third in the 1,500 meter run as the Tigers finished in third place with the most points in program history. A member of the Dean’s List since his freshman year, he is also a two-time member of the President’s List and has earned an ETBU Honors Scholarship and biology scholarship. He has led team Bible studies and workouts, volunteered his time as a distance track coach at Marshall High School for both boy’s and girl’s teams, and helped at a local pet shelter.

“Beau has exemplified sportsmanship all four years as a runner at ETBU, not only towards his team mates but to every other runner in our conference,” said Tiger coach Natalie Bach-Prather. “At one race he even sacrificed his own time to assist a runner over the finish line who had fallen. He has a good attitude no matter the circumstances, wishes people good luck, and congratulates others after each race. He has been a model student athlete, and is well deserving of the sportsmanship of the year award.”

Seekhieo, a senior from Tyler, Texas, helped ETBU to their first ASC East Division Championship and were ASC Championship runners-up this season. She was an All-ASC East Division Season Team selection this year and the Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor recipient. She was a member of the 2017 ASC champion and has been a four-year student-athlete at ETBU. The three-time All-ASC selection helped the Tigers to their first ever NCAA Championship appearance. In the East Division, she is a four-time All-ASC First Team selection, earning three in singles play and one in doubles and has been the Player of the Week once. She has helped the Tigers into the regional rankings the past three years with the program being national ranked as high as 34th in 2017. Outside of athletics, Seekhieo has volunteered her time at several places including Crockett Elementary and Sam Houston Elementary schools, the Special Olympics, and Hear for the Hungry. She is the vice president of the Service Sorority Delta Pi Theta, a member of the Chemistry Club, and a biology laboratory assistant.

“One of the most respectful girls and best sports players that I have ever coached,” said ETBU head coach Jeff Bramlett. “Always very positive, she plays more out balls than anyone that I have ever coached. She will never be accused of cheat­ing. Never complains about where I play her in line up or who she plays doubles with. She is the consummate team player. Win or lose, always very respectful.”

“Beau Billings and Mullika Seekhieo have been the model ETBU student-athletes since their freshmen year as Tigers,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Ryan Erwin. “Both of them were given the ETBU ASC Medal of Honor this past year, which is a testament to how they excelled in the classroom and in competition, but also on campus as servant leaders among his peers, teammates and competitors.  They have shown a heart for service and have continually served those around him in a number of ways. Beau and Mullika always represented ETBU and Tiger Athletics in a positive light and we can honestly say that they have a profound impact on the lives of others during their four years at ETBU.”

Blackwell, a junior from Louin, Miss., is a two-time All-Conference selection in softball and has started all but one game for the Blazers over the past two seasons. Blackwell is a career .358 hitter for the Blazers and has positioned herself as one of the most consistent players in the history of the Belhaven program both offensively and defensively.

“After losing 5 players to season ending injuries this year, Marlee stepped up and was our utility player who moved around and played all over the field without any complaints,” said Belhaven head coach Kevin Griffin. “She was always willing to do whatever was best for our team. I received compliments from coaches throughout our conference about how likable she was as a person. Marlee was always quick to compliment players and coaches on other teams and she never had a bad word to say about anyone with whom she was competing. Marlee is a big-time Christian kid who always puts others first. Marlee is such a hard worker and plays the game the right way. She is the ultimate team player and also greatly respects her opponents.  I can’t think of a better representative for this award.  Over the past two years, I have seen Marlee demonstrate great character both on and off the field.  She is a great leader for us.”

2018-19 Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award Nominees

Men
Baseball	Josh Raies	LeTourneau	Sr.	Midland, Texas
Basketball / East Division	Travis Schultz	Louisiana College	Sr.	Reeves, La.
Basketball / West Division	Thomas Bingham	Howard Payne	Sr.	Bridge City, Texas
Cross Country	Beau Billings	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Mansfield, Texas
Golf	Cort Crawley	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Deer Park, Texas
Soccer	Matt Prall	Howard Payne	So.	Houston, Texas
Tennis / East Division	Jimmie Henson	LeTourneau	Jr.	Sunnyvale, Texas
Tennis / West Division	Alex Hunt	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	Odessa, Texas
Track & Field	Arvin Hrushka	LeTourneau	Sr.	Kaiserslautern, Germany
Women
Basketball / East Division	Tyra Banks	UT Dallas	Sr.	Austin, Texas
Basketball / West Division	Kaycie Dunkerley (tri)	Concordia Texas	Jr.	Azle, Texas
	Julissa Ibarra (tri)	Howard Payne	Jr.	San Antonio, Texas
	Jocelyne Roque (tri)	Sul Ross State	Fr.	El Paso, Texas
Cross Country	Emily Villines	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Huntsville, Texas
Golf	Madyson Milliorn	Concordia Texas	Jr.	Houston, Texas
Soccer	Josey Meyer	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	Waco, Texas
Softball	Marlee Blackwell	Belhaven	Jr.	Louin, Miss.
Tennis / East Division	Gracie Favela (tri)	LeTourneau	Jr.	Brawley, Calif.
	Lauren Kuhn (tri)	UT Tyler	Sr.	Dallas, Texas
	Mullika Seekhieo (tri)	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Tyler, Texas
Tennis / West Division	Alexis Popovich	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Austin, Texas
Track & Field	Kylie Embry	East Texas Baptist	So.	Kennedale, Texas
Volleyball / East Division	Caroline Shecterle	UT Dallas	Jr.	Pearland, Texas
Volleyball / West Division	Morgan Prince	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	Lubbock, Texas

 
 
Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Athletes of the Year

Year	Men	Women
1999-00	Joe Fox, Austin College	Courtney Shires, Mississippi College
2000-01	Michael Kawazoe, Austin College	Sarah Birge, Austin College
2001-02	Phil Kaiser, Ozarks	Lindsey Brotherton, Schreiner
2002-03	Preston Meyer, Mary Hardin-Baylor	Julie Richardson, Ozarks
2003-04	Cody Brotherton, McMurry	Lyndsay Llewellyn, McMurry
2004-05	Drew McMaster, Howard Payne	Katie DeDeaux, Mississippi College
2005-06	Kyle Shipp, Mary Hardin-Baylor	Bethany Harris, Mississippi College
2006-07	Ryan Potter, LeTourneau	Michelle Heckmann, Concordia Texas
2007-08	Tyler Winford, Mississippi College	Lindsey Peters, Texas-Tyler
2008-09	Ty Palmer, Texas Lutheran	Krissy Seaman, Texas Dallas
2009-10	David Ashlock, Texas-Tyler (co)	Kristen Chapman, LeTourneau
	Sam Walker, Hardin-Simmons (co)
2010-11	Ryan Yezak, East Texas Baptist	Whitney Wyly, Texas-Tyler
2011-12	Collin Janssen, Concordia Texas	Hannah Langley, Mississippi College
2012-13	Marcus Bobb, Ozarks	Jennifer Cooper, Mississippi College
2013-14	Zakk Revelle, Sul Ross State	Samantha Guerrero, Howard Payne
2014-15	Andrew Cummings, Ozarks (tri)	Jordana Andrews, Ozarks
	Matt Weaver, Ozark s(tri)
	Isaiah Minick, Mary Hardin-Baylor (tri)
2015-16	Xavier Scarlett, LeTourneau (co)	Cheyenne Dowdey, Mary Hardin-Baylor
	Seth Walters, LeTourneau (co)
2016-17	Conner Combs, East Texas Baptist	Alisa Wilson, LeTourneau
2017-18	Caleb Thomasson, Sul Ross State	Abby Weaver, East Texas Baptist
2018-19	Beau Billings, East Texas Baptist	Marlee Blackwell, Belhaven (co)
		Mullika Seekhieo, East Texas Baptist (co)