RICHARDSON, Texas - Ozarks' men's basketball senior Andrew Cummings, women's tennis senior Whitney Lewis and Texas-Tyler women' soccer junior Caitlin Cronan have been named winners of the 2013-14 American Southwest Conference Community Service Award, the ASC office announced Tuesday (June 10) after a vote of the league's athletic directors.

The ASC Community Service Award, in its sixth academic year, honors a male and female student-athlete who best displays leadership and action in fostering community service on their campus and local community. Each ASC member institution has the opportunity to nominate its campus community service award winner to the conference-wide ballot.

Cummings (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield HS) serves as the President of the campus Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter. Cummings has been actively involved in community service projects, including the Special Olympics, and spent three weeks in the summer of 2013 with News Release Basketball. For his efforts, Cummings was nominated for the prestigious All-State National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Good Works Team in December. During his summer tour with News Release Basketball, he was able to assist at youth basketball camps and had the opportunity to share his religious beliefs. Cummings, who wants to become a youth pastor, has also assisted with basketball camps on campus.

"Andrew has represented our program and university in a first class manner on and off the court," said Ozarks men's basketball coach David Farrell. "He is a great kid who gets out in the community, serves others, and has spent countless hours contributing in SAAC and FCA projects."

Lewis (Hartman, Ark./Clarksville HS) has been at the forefront of leading community service projects as the campus President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Lewis, who was recently featured on the cover of Ozarks' athletic alumni magazine, has been involved in a wide-range of community service activities, including a canned food drive, a visit to a local elementary school and the Special Olympics. She spearheaded a canned food drive in conjunction with the ASC "Make a Change" event, which netted 700 cans of food for Clarksville's Interfaith Service Network food pantry. Lewis also visited with local elementary school students in January, speaking about the importance of receiving a college education. She has been especially fond of helping at Special Olympic events. As SAAC President, she has involved SAAC with basketball, track and field, swimming and softball events for the Special Olympians over the last few years. Aside from her community service, Lewis is an All-Conference tennis player and has been ASC All-Academic three times. A two-time member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar-Athlete Team, Lewis was also voted by the campus student body to speak at the 2014 May Commencement.

"Whitney spent four years giving back to her school and community and this award is a fitting way for her to finish her collegiate career," said Ozarks Assistant Athletic Director and women's tennis coach Shaun Wiseman. "As SAAC President, she led by example and was at the forefront of all of our community service projects. Whitney's commitment to serve the community has been inspiring for fellow student-athletes and I know her only wish is that we continue to serve her community the way she has done."

Cronan (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound HS), the first Texas-Tyler student-athlete to receive the conference CSA award, recorded 94.5 hours of community service this academic year. She gained many of her community service hours at the FCA Weekend of Champions for a group of middle school boys and girls where she spent 48 hours from Friday until Sunday afternoon taking care of a group of 10 sixth and seventh graders. Cronan served as the camp huddle leader where she spent the majority of her time teaching them about God, playing sports with them, praying with them, sharing meals with them, and just growing with them. Cronan also received hours by volunteering Saturday mornings with the outreach ministry called "Church under the Bridge" where people gather Saturday morning to spend time serving and just hanging out with the homeless people of the area and has become a big part of where the Texas-Tyler Women's Soccer team is known for reaching out to the community. Cronan was also able to be a volunteer on Sunday nights at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Flint as volunteer underclassmen girls' youth leader for the youth group "Veritas" and was able to spend time teaching the youth as well as building community with them. She also served by painting the PATH (People Attempting to Help) houses in downtown Tyler.

"Caitlin's passion to truly invest in others is absolutely incredible," said Texas-Tyler women's soccer coach Stefani Webb. "She has done a tremendous job investing in her teammates and students on campus, through her work as a leader with FCA, as well as her investment in her community in various projects. I have never coached anyone with a more giving heart or desire to make those around her better."

The ASC Community Service Awards by Andrew Cummings and Whitney Lewis are the third and fourth awarded to an Ozarks student-athlete, giving UO the most by an ASC member. Cummings and Lewis are also the second Ozarks duo to receive the award since Brandon Pierson and Lea Rana received the first CSA awards in the inaugural year (2008-09).

All-Time ASC Community Service Award Winners

Year	Male	Female
2013-14	Andrew Cummings, Ozarks	(co) Whitney Lewis, Ozarks
		(co) Caitlin Cronan, Texas-Tyler
2012-13	Spencer Turner, Mary Hardin-Baylor	Dalaine Whitlock, Concordia Texas
2011-12	James Fugate, East Texas Baptist	Yvonne Castillo, Texas Lutheran
2010-11	Max Taylor, Mary Hardin-Baylor	Kaitlyn McCanna, Texas Lutheran
2009-10	(co) Michael Cucinotta, East Texas Baptist
	(co) Seth Lynn, Mary Hardin-Baylor	Kaela Parnell, Hardin-Simmons
2008-09	Brandon Pierson, Ozarks	Lea Rana, Ozarks

2013-14 ASC Community Service Award Honorees
Biographical information provided by each student-athletes' sports information director or head coach

Men

Brett DeMetrotion
Class: Junior
Sport: Basketball
Hometown: Allen, Texas
School: Concordia University Texas
DeMetrotion worked at the settlement home garage sale, worked with Athlete for Athletes, volunteered at the retirement home for SAAC, and he worked in the preserve on our campus for both semesters.

Landon Price
Class: Sophomore
Sport: Cross Country/Track & Field
Hometown: Mount Vernon, Texas
School: East Texas Baptist University
Price is one of the most unselfish people that you will meet. He spends a majority of his time giving back working with several organizations at ETBU and in his spare time. The All-ASC runner participates in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is a representative for his team on SAAC. He is a resident assistant and also helps with the TUPAS guys discipleship program on campus. As part of SAAC, he helped coordinate the "Make a Change" event for the basketball season and then the community service project for Div. III Week for the cross country team. He is very active in service with the Phi Theta Kappa honor society and the Alpha Chi honor society. He also volunteers regularly at the Clothes Closet in Marshall helping sort clothes and organize. In his time away from ETBU, he has run in several charity 5Ks raising money for non-profits while also being a mentor for Discipleship Now (D-Now) weekends. He sponsors a child through Compassion International and took a week out of his schedule at the beginning of the spring 2014 semester to take a mission trip to Costa Rica. As active as he is, he is an ASC All-Academic award recipient and carries a 3.8 grade point average.

Nik Valley
Class: Sophomore
Sport: Soccer
Hometown: Albuquerque, N.M.
School: Hardin-Simmons University
Valley is a very conscientious about giving back to the community. On his own, Valley set up a weekly time to read to the students at Dyess Elementary. He has also been a part of the free soccer clinics the HSU men's soccer team has put on for kids in the area and also volunteered for the HSU Athletics Special Olympics day.

Garrett Methvin
Class: Graduate
Sport: Baseball
Hometown: Longview, Texas
School: LeTourneau University
Methvin served as the Youth Pastor at New Heights Baptist Church in Longvew. Methvin and his baseball teammates assisted the church with its move during the 2014 season. He also helped participated in the City of Longview cleanup during NCAA Div. III Week.

Fernando Paz
Class: Senior
Sport: Cross Country/Track & Field
Hometown: New Orleans, La.
School: Mississippi College
Paz has been a leader on the MC cross country and track and field teams since he stepped on campus four years ago. He also been a large part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, helping coordinate outreach ministries such as going to local apartment complexes and taking food to families as well as playing with the children in the community.

Nolan Hoskins
Class: Senior
Sport: Baseball
Hometown: Amarillo, Texas
School: Sul Ross State University
Hoskins served as president of the SRSU Baptist Students ministry and was a member of Fellowship Christian Athletes.

Zack Hansen
Class: Junior
Sport: Soccer
Hometown: Kingwood, Texas
School: University of Texas at Dallas
Hansen is the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) president and is greatly involved with the Special Olympic community. He has helped organized events such as volunteering at a local food pantry and raising funds and awareness for the campus community. Hansen has also volunteered at the NCAA national level and is a great ambassador for Texas-Dallas.

Women

Emma Clifford
Class: Senior
Sport: Volleyball
Hometown: Magnolia, Texas
School: Concordia University Texas
Clifford helps with Special Olympics, Operation Christmas Child and Self 30 on campus, and does mission work in and outside of the states.

Maranda Westbrook
Class: Junior
Sport: Softball
Hometown: Rusk, Texas
School: East Texas Baptist University
Westbrook stands a mighty 4-9, but her heart is the biggest part of her body. The campus SAAC president has been a big part in helping bridge the gap with non-profits this year working with Mission Marshall, Special Olympics, and ETBU chapels to represent athletics. She helped put together the "Make A Change" night for the basketball season collecting canned goods for the Marshall Food Pantry and helped organize Div. III Week. In the fall, she helped with the Trinity Fall Festival and the JH Moore Fall Festival at the local elementary schools. The past three years she has also helped organize the ETBU Softball "Strike Out Cancer" series helping raise awareness and funding to help ETBU families with cancer. A delegate from the softball team for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, she is a key leader in the Monday night meetings for the students. She also participated in the reading program at the local elementary school reading on a weekly basis. The All-ASC player is also an ASC All-Academic recipient.

Paige Goen
Class: Sophomore
Sport: Track & Field
Hometown: Patillo, Texas
School: Hardin-Simmons University
Goen has been active in the community with the HERO program, the Global Samaritans and also the Special Olympics. She was the 2014 ASC champion in the 400 meter hurdles.

Samantha Guerrero
Class: Senior
Sport: Tennis
Hometown: Big Lake, Texas
School: Howard Payne University
Guerrero led Howard Payne with 10 overall wins in singles play and had a team-best 6-3 mark against conference opponents. On campus this year, she was a member of the Howard Payne cheer team (2 years), was a student intramural director (2 years) and a member of Delta Chi Rho sorority (4 years). In the fall of 2013, she worked at the Boys & Girls Club teaching three weekly dance/cheer classes to girls ranging in age from 7-18. With a 3.24 Cum GPA, she should be a three-time Academic All-Conference honoree at the end of the year. She was also named the female sportsmanship athlete of the year for women's tennis in the ASC.

Annie Morris
Class: Junior
Sport: Cross Country
Hometown: Winnsboro, Texas
School: LeTourneau University
Morris was the recipient of the R.G. LeTourneau Award at the Winter/Spring Sports Banquet. The award is presented to the student-athlete who portrays Christian leadership in the community, on campus, in the classroom -- all traits that were exemplified by the founder of the University. She has been a valuable contributor to the women's cross country team while also balancing jobs at a local hospital and the athletic department.

Holly Tupper
Class: Junior
Sport: Volleyball
Hometown: Baton Rouge, La.
School: Mississippi College
Tupper has been a captain for the last two seasons on the volleyball team. She has also headed up the outreach ministry team in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at MC. While leading that team, she has coordinated events such as going to local apartment complexes and taking food to families as well as playing with the children in the community.

Maile Hoyt
Class: Junior
Sport: Softball
Hometown: Toyah, Texas
School: Sul Ross State University
Hoyt served as president of the Sul Ross State University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Avery McHugh
Class: Junior
Sport: Softball
Hometown: Uvalde, Texas
School: University of Texas at Dallas
McHugh organized the "Friends of Jaclyn" game for a softball team which benefited children with pediatric brain tumors. She also assisted in the UTD softball team adoption of Megan, a UTD student who is afflicted with a medulla blastoma (brain tumor) and is no longer able to play softball, among other things. McHugh has also been involved with Special Olympics and pet rescue communities.