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CTX's Lya Morfitt and Dalaine Whitlock / LETU's Leslie Lee / UMHB's Seth Lynn and Sara Hayward

SAN ANTONIO, Texas –– Mary Hardin-Baylor junior volleyball player Sara Hayward, LeTourneau senior golfer Leslie Lee, Concordia Texas senior soccer player Lya Morfitt, Mary Hardin-Baylor junior baseball player Seth Lynn and Concordia Texas sophomore soccer player Dalaine Whitlock recently had the opportunity to attend the 2011 NCAA Convention, held Jan. 12-15 at the San Antonio Grand Hyatt.

Made possible through the NCAA Division III Strategic Initiative Grant, the five student-athletes participated in all activities ranging from education sessions to business sessions to the NCAA Honors Celebration that airs on ESPN2. The student-athletes got to hear NCAA President Mark Emmert speak on the state of the Association as well as witness Penn State football coaching legend Joe Paterno accept the Gerald R. Ford Award.

“The opportunity to share the NCAA Convention with students is one of the best experiences the ASC has provided its membership,” ASC Commissioner Amy Carlton said. “The five made the most of not only the education aspect of Convention, but also took advantage of networking with other students, administrators and sports business professionals.”

In addition to experiencing the sit-down sessions, Hayward, Lee, Morfitt, Lynn and Whitlock were able to have a working-lunch meeting with the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

“It was really interesting to see that as a student-athlete, it is important to voice your opinion,” Lynn said. “Just to see the affect the national SAAC has on the whole NCAA, it was really cool.”

The student-athletes also had the pleasure of meeting NCAA award winners such as former NFL/MLB star Bo Jackson, current New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, PGA star Scott Verplank, five-time U.S. women’s basketball Olympic champion Teresa Edwards and Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy. General Ann E. Dunwoody was presented with the NCAA’s highest honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Award. The student-athletes were also able to personally talk with the U.S. Army four-star general.

“Seeing how athletics influenced all these successful people’s lives just made me appreciate the whole experience and everything I’ve learned in my four years of playing golf at LeTourneau,” Lee said.

Out of the entire NCAA Division III membership, only 10 current student-athletes – also four from the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and one from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – were in attendance. Each student-athlete sat with representatives from their own school during the legislative voting on the final day.

“It is encouraging to see all the great things that are happening on the national level,” Whitlock said. “It really motivates you to want to do more to make our campus better, make our conference better and just make the all-around student-athlete experience better.”

The 2012 NCAA Convention will be held in Indianapolis, followed by the 2013 event in Grapevine, Texas.