ASC Announces Fall Distinguished Scholar-Athletes

12/9/2008 11:00:00 AM

RICHARDSON, Texas –– University of Texas at Tyler runners R.J. Cowan and Julianne Armstrong, East Texas Baptist University football player Doug Carlton and volleyball player Brooke McGehee, University of the Ozarks men’s soccer player Brian Sarber and Hardin-Simmons University soccer player Amy Kuykendall have all earned the title of Distinguished Scholar-Athlete in their respective American Southwest Conference 2008 fall sports, the ASC office announced on Tuesday (Dec. 9).

Overall, 68 student-athletes from ASC men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball were named to the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Team.

The honor, in its second academic year, recognizes student-athletes that achieve a higher level of academic achievement (a 3.20 grade-point average or better) while competing as a starter or important reserve on their team. From that list – limited to one nominee per school in each ASC championship sport – the Sports Information Directors from the conference’s 15 member institutions vote on a Distinguished Scholar-Athlete from each sport.

Cowan (Whitehouse, Texas), who received a degree in health and kinesiology with a 3.81, consistently finished in the Top 3 all season for UT Tyler. Cowan earned All-ASC and All-Region honors on the year. He was named a 2nd Team Academic All-American by ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA. Cowan is heavily involved in UT Tyler SAAC and FCA.

Armstrong (Tashkent, Uzbekistan), a senior health and kinesiology major with a 3.73 GPA, scored in the Top 5 for UT Tyler in every race this season. She posted a personal best of 26:04 at the 2008 ASC Championships.

Carlton (Bridge City, Texas), a senior chemistry major with a 3.75 GPA, became just the second offensive lineman in the nine-year history of ETBU’s football program to start every game of his college career this season. He also was named first-team All-ASC following the season, at left tackle, and he has been a three-time member of the ASC All-Academic team. He is also a three-time Academic All-District nominee and plans to enter graduate school to continue chemistry studies upon his graduation from ETBU.

McGehee (Savoy, Texas), a senior biology major with a 4.0 GPA, completed her four –year career at ETBU this season, having been the team’s starting middle blocker the last two. She had a career-high 89 blocks this past season and set a new team record with 12 blocks in a match earlier this year against Mary Hardin-Baylor. Brooke is a three-time member of the ASC All-Academic team, and she’s twice won the ETBU Academic Excellence Award, given annually to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on campus.

Sarber (Allen, Texas), a senior accounting major with a 3.84 GPA, was named to the national ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Third Team – the only men’s soccer player from the ASC to receive this honor in 2008. He is a two-time ESPN The Magazine All-District honoree. He was named to the All-ASC First Team in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He finishes his career as the conference leader in career goals against average (0.80). Sarber was named ASC Defensive Player of the Week twice during the 2008 season. He is a three-time member of the ASC All-Academic Team.

Kuykendall (Weatherford, Texas), a junior accounting major with a 3.95 GPA, was one of the top players in the conference with eight points and nine assists. She led the Cowgirls to the ASC title and to the NCAA tournament.

All honorees were also named to the Fall 2008 ASC Academic All-Conference Team. Cowan and Kuykendall were their respective sport’s Distinguished Scholar-Athlete for the second straight season.

ASC FALL 2008 DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR-ATHLETE TEAM
(+Sport’s Distinguished Scholar-Athlete)

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+R.J. Cowan	Texas-Tyler	Gr.	Health & Kinesiology	Whitehouse, Texas
Thomas Ryan Rohr	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Communication	Houston, Texas
Brian Verrett	La. College	Jr.	Biblical Studies	Denham Springs, La.
Corey Werner	McMurry	Jr.	Marketing	Pasadena, Texas
Will Clingon	Mississippi College	So.	Secondary Education	Biloxi, Miss.
Isaac Doss	Ozarks	So.	Mathematics	Eureka Springs, Ark.
Kendall Smith	Sul Ross State	Jr.	Range / Animal Science	Johnson City, Texas
Joseph Nguyen-Lee	Texas-Dallas	Sr.	Biology	Orange, Calif.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Julianne Armstrong	Texas-Tyler	Sr.	Health & Kinesiology	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Angel Emerson	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Business	Houston, Texas
Rachel Weaver	East Texas Baptist	So.	Chemistry	Jacksonville, Texas
Katie Watson	Louisiana College	Jr.	Biology / Chemistry	Walker, La.
Karlie Dieterich	McMurry	So.	Biology	Crawford, Texas
Ivy Price	Mississippi College	So.	Biology	Corinth, Miss.
Samantha Puent	Ozarks	Sr.	Music	Pangor, Wis.
Emily Tang	Texas-Dallas	Sr.	Electrical Engineering	The Colony, Texas
Jacqueline Allen	Texas Lutheran	Jr.	Kinesiology	Katy, Texas

FOOTBALL

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Doug Carlton	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Chemistry	Bridge City, Texas
Ryan Hunter	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	Criminal Justice	Gatesville, Texas
Cody Hambrick	Howard Payne	So.	Business Administration	Paradise, Texas
John Kyle Smith	Louisiana College	Sr.	Health / Physical Education	Hemphill, Texas
John Hamilton	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Jr.	Cellular Biology	Temple, Texas
Taylor Penn	McMurry	So.	Management	Van Alstyne, Texas
Brannon Willisson	Mississippi College	Sr.	Business Administration	Fairhope, Ala.
Fernie Acosta	Sul Ross State	Jr.	Kinesiology	El Paso, Texas
Ty Palmer	Texas Lutheran	Sr.	Kinesiology	Kerrville, Texas

MEN’S SOCCER

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Brian Sarber	Ozarks	Sr.	Accounting	Allen, Texas
Brian Friend	Concordia Texas	So.	History	Bannockburn, Ill.
Ryan Collins	East Texas Baptist	Jr.	Biology	Tyler, Texas
Berto Martinez	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	Biology	Harker Heights, Texas
Hugo Uribe	Howard Payne	Jr.	Criminal Justice / Spanish	Greenville, Texas
Daniel Iya	LeTourneau	Sr.	Mechanical Eng. / Design	Nigeria
Charles Walton	Louisiana College	Sr.	Nursing	Alexandria, La.
Daniel Green	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Jr.	Chemistry	Abilene, Texas
Chris Ryan	McMurry	Jr.	Mathematics	Kingsville, Texas
Andrew Dailey	Mississippi College	So.	Business Administration	Tupelo, Miss.
Jeremy Reinhard	Schreiner	Sr.	Undeclared	San Antonio, Texas
Bruno Alonso	Texas-Dallas	Sr.	Business Administration	Mendoza, Argentina
Adam McAlpine	Texas-Tyler	Gr.	Marketing	Kingwood, Texas
Karl Ybarra	Texas Lutheran	So.	Kinesiology	Fredericksburg, Texas

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Amy Kuykendall	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Accounting	Weatherford, Texas
Lya Morfitt	Concordia Texas	So.	Business	Brownsville, Texas
Zane Gruznina	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Business Administration	Talsi, Latvia
Lisa Whitfield	Howard Payne	So.	Psychology	Montrose, Colo.
Merideth Bowman	LeTourneau	Jr.	Education	Magnolia, Texas
Jennifer Zundel	Louisiana College	Jr.	Accounting	Baton Rouge, La.
Lauren Thorne	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Finance	Round Rock, Texas
Morgan Allen	McMurry	Sr.	Sociology	Rowlett, Texas
Carrie Kirk	Mississippi College	Jr.	Christian Studies	Madison, Miss.
Emalee Pearson	Ozarks	Jr.	Strategic Communication	Salt Lake City, Utah
Stephanie Crane	Schreiner	Sr.	Pre-Med	Ft. Worth, Texas
Emily George	Texas-Dallas	Jr.	Accounting	Lubbock, Texas
Kelly Buchanan	Texas-Tyler	Sr.	Health & Kinesiology	Houston, Texas
Alicia Gangemi	Texas Lutheran	Jr.	Biology	Converse, Texas

VOLLEYBALL

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Brooke McGehee	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Biology	Savoy, Texas
Sara Keithley	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Kinesiology	Colorado Springs, Texas
Kaela Parnell	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Biology / Pre-Med	Carrollton, Texas
Patricia Brown	Howard Payne	Sr.	Mathematics	Tomball, Texas
Abigail Hews	LeTourneau	Sr.	Elementary Education	Clive, Iowa
Erin Maenius	Mary Hardin-Baylor	So.	Management	San Antonio, Texas
Shannon Higgins	McMurry	Sr.	Exercise Science	Big Spring, Texas
Amanda Greene	Mississippi College	So.	Nursing	Alabaster, Ala.
Caitlyn Gayle	Schreiner	So.	Mathematics	Bandera, Texas
Krissie Seaman	Texas-Dallas	Sr.	Math Studies	Mansfield, Texas
Whitney Clements	Texas-Tyler	So.	Special Education	Flint, Texas
Jamie Jahns	Texas Lutheran	Jr.	Business / Marketing	Spring, Texas

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