ASC Announces Fall Distinguished Scholar-Athletes

1/26/2012 1:35:39 PM

RICHARDSON, Texas –– University of the Ozarks’ Jeremy Provence and Tony Santoro, Concordia University Texas’ Lauren Browning and Kevyn Jackson, Louisiana College’s Stephanie Baer and Texas Lutheran University’s Allen Cain have all earned the title of Distinguished Scholar-Athlete in their respective American Southwest Conference 2011 fall sport, the ASC office announced on Thursday (Jan. 26).

Overall, a record 72 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 fifth 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 16 member institutions vote on a Distinguished Scholar-Athlete from each sport.

Provence (Mountainburg, Ark.), a senior cross country runner who is majoring in physical education with a 3.60 GPA, produced the 8K school record, the top ASC time at the NCAA III Regional, finished second at the ASC Championships and was named ASC runner of the week twice during the 2011 season. Provence transformed himself over the course of four years into one of the elite runners within the ASC. He helped Ozarks to its best finish at the NCAA III regional (top-10) and just missed qualifying for the NCAA national race by two spots. Provence posted a pair of individual wins during the year, and helped Ozarks finish second at the ASC championships. He received All-Region honors and First Team All-Conference honors this year. He finishes his career as a three-time ASC All-Academic honoree and was a member of the Dean’s List. His community service includes assisting local high school track and field programs at their meets.

Baer (Monroe, La.), a senior cross country runner who is majoring in English with a perfect 4.0 GPA, has now won three straight ASC Distinguished Scholar Athlete Award awards. She graduated in December and is now working at a church in Arkansas while awaiting her graduate program to begin. Baer played three sports while at LC. Three times she named LC runner of the year. Baer was a four-year letter winner in cross country, three-year letter winner in soccer and one-year letter winner in tennis. She was also a standout on LC’s nationally prominent debate team. Last year, Baer won the Kite-Caudell award at LC, which is given annually to the student athlete who best exemplifies excellence both on the field and in the classroom. She was also an active member in SAAC and helped guide LC to a Make a Change in 14 Days title.

Cain (San Antonio, Texas), a junior football player who is majoring in mathematics with a 3.48 GPA, was named to four playing All-America teams and the Capital One First Team Academic All-America Team. Cain was a First Team All-American by Beyond Sports, American Football Coaches Association and D3football.com. He was also named Second Team AP Little All-America. Cain is the first student-athlete in TLU history to claim four playing All-America honors and an Academic All-America award in the same season. He is the first TLU football player to claim first team All-America and first team Academic All-America honors in the same season. Cain led all of NCAA Division III in field goals made (17) and in field goals made per game (1.70). Cain's 17 field goals this year set ASC and TLU single-season records. Cain was a finalist for the 2011 Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award. Cain is heavily involved in the TLU campus community and in the Seguin community. He is a math grader, a resident assistant, a Student Government Association senator, a TLU Honors Program member, a Math Club member, a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a Student-Athlete Advisory Council representative, a Seguin Youth Services math tutor, and a youth football coach.

Santoro (Houston, Texas), a senior soccer player who is majoring in mathematics with a 3.62 GPA, was a three-year starter for the men’s soccer team and served as a team captain his senior season. Santoro excelled in the classroom and the field, earning a spot on the Capital One Academic All-District Team in 2011. It was the second straight year he was named an Academic All-District performer. A starter in 18 matches, he scored six goals and recorded one assist. Santoro ranked second on the team in shots (44) and third in goals. He posted a pair of two-goal performances during the season to go along with one game-winning goal. For his efforts in 2011, he was named to the All-ASC Honorable Mention Team. He finishes his career with 14 assists, tenth-most at Ozarks and was a two-time All-Conference performer. He was a three-time ASC All-Academic Team honoree. Santoro served as President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during his collegiate career and was also named to the Dean’s List.

Browning (Georgetown, Texas), a senior soccer player who is majoring in education with a 3.80 GPA, was a four-year starting defender who graduates as the program’s record holder for games played and as a member of the winningest class in school history. She is the first soccer player in school history – male or female – to be named NSCAA All-West Region. Browning was also one of the first two players in program history to be named to the All-ASC First Team as well as the ASC All-Tournament Team this past fall for role in CTX’s first-ever postseason win. She anchored a back line that set a single-season school record for shutouts (11) this past fall, breaking the old mark of 10 set in 2010. She has made the ASC Fall Academic Honor Roll three times and has garnered All-ASC honors three times in career. Browning had a perfect 4.0 GPA during 2011 fall semester while team was in season. She came into a program that had never won more than four matches and helped Concordia Texas set a single-season school record for wins in sophomore, junior and senior seasons, which included winning 10 matches in 2010 and 14 in 2011.

Jackson (Baytown, Texas), a senior volleyball player who is majoring in nursing with a 3.94 GPA, is Concordia Texas’ first player to make the Capital One Academic All-District First Team by CoSIDA in 2011. She had a perfect 4.0 GPA during 2011 fall semester while team was in season. Jackson was a three-year captain and four-year starter who transitioned to playing the libero position after being an outside hitter for first three seasons. She ranked second in the league in digs per set (5.07) to garner All-ASC Third Team recognition this past fall a libero. Jackson was honorably mentioned for All-ASC accolades in 2010 as an outside hitter. She helped CTX become the only ASC school to be named an AVCA All-Academic Team last summer. She will graduate ranked third in digs (1,263), fourth in service aces (104) and seventh in kills (562) during the program's ASC and NCAA Division III era, which began in 1999.

All honorees were also named to the Fall 2011 ASC Academic All-Conference Team.

ASC FALL 2011 DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR-ATHLETE TEAM
(+Sport’s Distinguished Scholar-Athlete)

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Jeremy Provence	Ozarks	Sr.	Physical Education	Mountainburg, Ark.
Mark Giardinelli	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Communication	Boerne, Texas
Nick Meyers	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Business	Jacksonville, Texas
Brendan Palmer	LeTourneau	So.	Mechanical Engineering	Westerville, Ohio
Joshua Jee	Louisiana College	So.	Applied Mathematics	Mandeville, La.
Robert Jaramillo	McMurry	Jr.	History	Brownsville, Texas
Shane Brogdon	Mississippi College	Jr.	Kinesiology	Birmingham, Ala.
Tom Pappas	Schreiner	Sr.	Exercise Science	Houston, Texas
Tripp Smitham	Texas Dallas	Gr.	Accounting	Dallas, Texas
Jake Waddingham	Texas-Tyler	Sr.	Journalism	Macksburg, Iowa

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Stephanie Baer	Louisiana College	Sr.	English	Monroe, La.
Mellynn Baker	Centenary	Sr.	Political Science	Alexandria, La.
Haley Phillips	Concordia	Sr.	Pre-Med	Port Lavaca, Texas
Kara Linn Beall	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Chemistry	Kavieng, New Guinea
Whitney Browning	Hardin-Simmons	So.	Undeclared	Seymour, Texas
Baillie Trumble	Howard Payne	So.	Biology	Granbury, Texas
Hollie Bryant	LeTourneau	Jr.	Christian Ministry	Howe, Texas
Alaisha Guerra	McMurry	Sr.	Business Admin.	Hamlin, Texas
Taylor Masson	Mississippi College	So.	Elementary Ed.	Metairie, La.
Tadera Garland	Ozarks	Sr.	Early Childhood Edu.	Pelsor, Ark.
Heather Pan	Texas Dallas	Jr.	Psychology	San Antonio, Texas
Ginny Murphy	Texas-Tyler	Jr.	Psychology	Ovilla, Texas
Ashley Meadows	Texas Lutheran	So.	Biology	Schetz, Texas

FOOTBALL

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Allen Cain	Texas Lutheran	Jr.	Mathematics	San Antonio, Texas
Seth Hubbard	East Texas Baptist	Jr.	Education/History	Beckville, Texas
Travis Sugar	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Biology	Leander, Texas
Thomas Head	Howard Payne	Jr.	Psychology	Alvarado, Texas
Ben Feibel	Louisiana College	Sr.	Biology	Shreveport, La.
Elijah Hudson	Mary Hardin-Baylor	So.	Pre-Physical Therapy	Albany, Texas
Kyle Wayne Kelley	McMurry	Sr.	Management	Mineral Wells, Texas
Jeremy Bertrand	Mississippi College	Sr.	Biology/Pre-Med	Abbeville, La.

MEN’S SOCCER

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Tony Santoro	Ozarks	Sr.	Mathematics	Houston, Texas
Marcos Rodriguez	Centenary	Sr	Health/Exercise Science	Mineola, Texas
Jacob Stern	Concordia Texas	Gr.	Education	Bellaire, Texas
John Salazar	East Texas Baptist	Jr.	Business/Marketing	Livingston, Texas
Isaiah Hicks	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	3Finance/Management	Waco, Texas
Jesus Vazquez	Howard Payne	Sr.	Spanish/Education	Ennis, Texas
Martin Pflaum	LeTourneau	So.	Aeronautical Science	Chingola, Zambia
Nic Philpot	Louisiana College	Jr.	Athletic Training	Pineville, La.
Michael Teague	Mary Hardin-Baylor	So.	Exer. & Sport Science	Cypress, Texas
Ryan Prince	McMurry	Jr.	Finance	Garland, Texas
Ben Cross	Mississippi College	Sr.	Spanish	Santa Rosa, Calif.
Mark Brooks	Texas Dallas	So.	Global Business	Richardson, Texas
Justin NeSmith	Texas-Tyler	Sr.	Civil Engineering	Wiley, Texas

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Lauren Browning	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Education	Georgetown, Texas
Candace Rushing	Centenary	Sr	Elementary Education	Memphis, Tenn.
Danica Saxon	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Biology	Tyler, Texas
Caitlin Cramer	Hardin-Simmons	So.	Exercise Science	Abilene, Texas
Shannon Costello	Howard Payne	Jr.	Ex. and Sport Science	Farmington Hills, Mich.
Jamie Malinaric	LeTourneau	So.	Biomedical Engineering	Keller, Texas
Emily Breaux	Louisiana College	Jr.	Pre-Physical Therapy	Lafayette, La.
Angel Kemmerer	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Cellular Biology	Little Elm, Texas
Miranda Nguyen	McMurry	So.	Pre-Med	Rowlett, Texas
Hannah Langley	Mississippi College	Jr.	Psychology	Madison, Miss.
Morgan O’Neil	Ozarks	Jr.	Environmental Studies	Marion, Ill.
Desiree Frausto	Schreiner	Jr.	Elementary Education	Waller, Texas
Leah Bowyer	Texas Dallas	Sr.	Geography	Lubbock, Texas
Emily Bechdol	Texas-Tyler	Sr.	Kinesiology	Cedar Hill, Texas
Rachel Schafer	Texas Lutheran	Sr.	History	Albuquerque, N.M.

VOLLEYBALL

Name	School	Cl.	Major	Hometown
+Kevyn Jackson	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Nursing	Baytown, Texas
Caitlin Neese	Centenary	Sr.	Psychology	Grapevine, Texas
Jade Laurence	East Texas Baptist	So.	Kinesiology	Midlothian, Texas
Madison Reyes	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Exercise Science	Abilene, Texas
Tamika Heline	Howard Payne	Sr.	Business Admin.	Spring Branch, Texas
Morgan Baker	Mary Hardin-Baylor	So.	Ex. & Sport Science	Richmond, Texas
M.J. Vickers	McMurry	Jr.	Marketing	Albany, Texas
Courtney Creamer	Mississippi College	Sr.	Biology	Cape Coral, Fla.
Jamie Burns	Schreiner	So.	Pre-Med	LaVernia, Texas
Josette Delgado	Sul Ross State	Jr.	Animal Science	El Paso, Texas
Dana Hilzendager	Texas Dallas	Jr.	Criminal Justice	Red Oak, Texas
Danika Waldrep	Texas-Tyler	Sr.	Psychology	Arlington, Texas
Brooke Basey	Texas Lutheran	Sr.	Biology	Buda, Texas

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