Murray State University Athletics
Murray State Athletes Honor Each Other at Annual SAAC Banquet
5/4/2010 1:45:00 AM | General
The Murray State Student-Athlete Advisory Council held its annual awards banquet to honor all graduating seniors and to hand out awards to student-athletes that are voted on by their peers.
The first awards of the evening were the Racers Spirit Award, given to one male and one female that demonstrate what being a Racer is all about. This individual not only represents their team on and off the field, but goes above and beyond to represent student-athletes in all types of campus organizations.
The 2009-10 Racers Spirit Awards were given to Kalli McCoy, women's soccer and Tony Easley, men's basketball.
Academic counselor Megan Short then gave out two team awards. The women's golf team was honored with the Team Academic Achievement Award, given to the team that takes it upon themselves to not only make a commitment to their sport, but also to academic excellence in the classroom.
The women's basketball and softball teams tied for the Team Community Service Award, given to the team that makes it a priority to promote a positive impression of student-athletes to the community by giving back through participation in community service events.
The final individual awards of the night were the Coach of the Year and Athlete of the Year honors. Head men's basketball coach Billy Kennedy earned the Coach of the Year honor after guiding his team to their best season in school history, capturing the 2009-10 Ohio Valley Conference and Tournament Championships and earning the team's second win in the NCAA Tournament.
The 2009-10 Female Athlete of the Year was Emily Quiner, rifle, who helped the rifle team earn the OVC Championship and a third-place finish in Air Rifle at the NCAA Tournament.
The 2009-10 Male Athlete of the Year was a tie between Wes Cunningham, baseball and Danero Thomas, men's basketball. Cunningham recently set the single season home run record at Murray State, with 17. Thomas made a name for himself by hitting the winning shot over Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The end of the evening also included honoring 41 seniors that will be graduating later this week. Athletic Director Allen Ward also honored those student-athletes who had achieved both of the goals that the athletic department has for every student-athlete - to leave Murray State with a diploma in one hand and a championship ring on the other. This year 16 student-athletes reached both goals.
Four Years/Two Goals
Men's Basketball - Tony Easley, Georges Fotso
Women's Basketball - Jasmyne Thornton, Mallory Luckett, Kayla Vance
Women's Golf - Andrea Downer, Kaysin Hutching, Megan McKinney, Sarah Seay,
Joyce Trus
Women's Tennis - Lyndsay Ottosen, Angela McGahee
Men's Golf - Chris Griffin, Nick Newcomb, James Stevenson, Jared Wolfe
Graduating Seniors
Baseball - Chris Craycraft, Marc Harmon, Daniel Hill, Cory Hodskins, Jason Laws, Alex Love, Seth McFarlin, Bryan Propst, Bradley Rowland, Kyle Tiernan
Men's Basketball - Tony Easley
Men's Cross Country - Theron Chalepah, Jack Findley, Andrew Smithson
Football - Chris Barry, Blake Booth, Tamar Butler, Derran Huff, Lamar Jones,
Charlie Jordan, DeAngelo Nelson, Nathan Partain, Tyler Sinclair
Men's Golf - Hunter Ford, Nick Newcomb, James Stevenson, Jared Wolfe
Men's Tennis - Ben Clos, Clay Waller
Women's Basketball - Mallory Luckett, Jasmyne Thornton, Kayla Vance
Women's Golf - Andrea Downer, Megan McKinney, Joyce Trus
Women's Tennis - Angela McGahee, Lyndsay Ottosen
Women's Track & Field - Taylor Crawford, Kristin Reffett
Volleyball - Cassie Chesney, Kelli Johnson
