RICHARDSON, Texas – Acts of sportsmanship in competition, on campus and within the community earned Caleb Thomasson of Sul Ross State and Abby Weaver of East Texas Baptist recognition as the 2017-18 American Southwest Conference Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Athletes of the Year, the ASC announced Thursday.
 
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.
 
An NABC First Team All-American in men’s basketball, Thomasson was the ASC West Division Player of the Year and All-Conference selection. He ranked second in Lobo history with 1,424 career points and second with 675 rebounds. He graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a 3.54 grade point average. Thomasson served as the President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for two years. After graduation, take a mission trip to Alaska with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
 
“Caleb Thomasson is not just an athlete at Sul Ross State, but a scholar,” said Sul Ross Director of Athletics Bobby Mesker. “As President of the SAAC, he helps promote our sports on campus and helps the athletic staff hold our student athletes to the highest ideals of sportsmanship. Caleb has volunteered for tough assignments around the community, mentoring our youth in sports, and is always looking for chances to stretch himself and learn something new. He has shown tremendous commitment to the values of our institution - works hard, encourages all and treats others with dignity and respect. His work ethic and outstanding creativity will serve him well and bring him future opportunities to achieve accolades.”
 
Weaver, a recent graduate in International Studies from East Texas Baptist, was an All-ASC East Division Second Team selection in volleyball and was the ASC Volleyball East Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year. At ETBU she has been the president for Fellowship of Christian Athletes the past three years, led a college FCA leadership weekend in Dallas twice, went to Serbia with the volleyball team for a mission trip helping children in their schools, volunteered at the Oakwood House (nursing home) monthly and volunteered at a horse therapy farm in Marshall, Texas. In her hometown of Dallas, she was a club volleyball coach and led clinics and camps and was a mentor to high school freshmen in the program Starting Off Strong. For two summers, Weaver was a counselor at Pine Cove Christian Camp organizing Bible studies, theme nights, games and activities. She will be going to work for Young Life after she graduates ministering to military teens on American bases in Europe.
“Abby is the all-around NCAA Division III student-athlete,” said ETBU Vice President for Athletics Ryan Erwin. “She is strong in academics as a three-time ASC Academic All-Conference selection and is a leader on and off the court. Abby has a heart for people and the community she lives in.”
Nominees for the conference-wide award are individuals who were named Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year by the head coaches of their respective sport during the 2017-18 seasons. This is the 17th year the Directors of Athletics have presented the Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year award and 11th since the award was named in honor of the first commissioner of the ASC, Fred Jacoby.
 
 
2017-18 Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award Nominees

Men
Baseball	Will Bradshaw	LeTourneau	So.	Longview, Texas
Basketball / East Division	Davis Moore	UT Tyler	So.	Martin’s Mill, Texas
Basketball / West Division	Braden Hammond (co)	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Belton, Texas
	Caleb Thomasson (co)	Sul Ross State	Sr.	Ackerly, Texas
Cross Country	Beau Billings (co)	East Texas Baptist	Jr.	Mansfield, Texas
	Matthew Cecotti (co)	UT Tyler	Fr.	Lindale, Texas
Golf	Kyle Revis	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Temple, Texas
Soccer	Javier Zaragoza	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	San Antonio, Texas
Tennis / East Division	Christian Farris (tri)	LeTourneau	So.	El Paso, Texas
	John Herr (tri)	East Texas Baptist	So.	Shreveport, La.
	Gabriel Hidalgo (tri)	UT Tyler	So.	Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Tennis / West Division	Hoanh Le (co)	Concordia Texas	Jr.	Phan Thiet, Vietnam
	Ryan Morton (co)	UT Dallas	Sr.	Odessa, Texas
Track & Field	Thomas Reynolds	East Texas Baptist	So.	Marshall, Texas
Women
Basketball / East Division	McKenzie Petty	UT Dallas	Sr.	Maypearl, Texas
Basketball / West Division	Haven Neal	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Farmersville, Texas
Cross Country	Anna Schaefer	UT Dallas	Fr.	Strongsville, Ohio
Golf	Hailey Hollas	UT Dallas	Sr.	Richmond, Texas
Soccer	Sydney Rangel	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Jr.	Midlothian, Texas
Softball	Jordan Herring	Belhaven	Sr.	Forest, Miss.
Tennis / East Division	Alexis Arrieta	UT Tyler	Sr.	Georgetown, Texas
Tennis / West Division	Sophie Farmer (tri)	UT Dallas	Jr.	Eden Prairie, Minn.
	Maddie Hammond (tri)	Hardin-Simmons	Fr.	Midland, Texas
	Symphony Munoz (tri)	McMurry	Sr.	Monahans, Texas
Track & Field	Emily Villines	Concordia Texas	Jr.	Huntsville, Texas
Volleyball / East Division	Abby Weaver	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Dallas, Texas
Volleyball / West Division	Morgan Prince	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	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