All-Time Winners
 
RICHARDSON, Texas – Dedication to service within their campus and local communities was recognized by the American Southwest Conference Directors of Athletics who selected Gonzalo Sosa of LeTourneau and Abby Weaver of East Texas Baptist as the 2017-18 Community Service Award recipients.
 
The ASC Community Service Award is presented for the ninth time this year and 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 student-athletes to the conference-wide ballot.
 
Sosa, who will graduate in December in Business Administration from LeTourneau, was a part of the semi-annual Longview Green and Clean, a city-wide day that occurs twice a year with street cleanup of adopted roads by organizations. Sosa also helped with the collection and donation of supplies to families following Hurricane Harvey this past fall, and has spent time at both Texas Children's Hospital and Shriners Hospital to donate toys to children with special needs and in recovery of severe injuries. Sosa also participated in lawn maintenance and cleaning of homes for the elderly, as well as participation in special events with the YMCA and annual baseball fundraisers supporting breast cancer awareness. Sosa was also an All-ASC First Team baseball player and Academic All-Conference selection.
 
“Gonzalo has been an active member in the community, both in the Longview area, as well as his hometown of Houston,” said LeTourneau Director of Athletic Terri Deike. "His focus and diligence allowed him to maintain excellence in academics and athletics."
 
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.”
In addition to the community service work completed by Sosa and Weaver, an impressive list of projects undertaken and organizations assisted was compiled by the student-athletes nominated by their institution for the conference Community Service Athlete of the Year award.
 
"The amount of involvement by the award nominees and their fellow student-athletes over the course of the year is remarkable, and our member campuses and communities benefit from the interest the student-athletes have in bettering lives of others," said Amy Carlton, ASC commissioner.
 
 
2017-18 ASC Community Service Award Nominees
Biographical information provided by each student-athletes’ sports information director
 
MEN Landin Brown is one of the nicest people you will meet. He has a heart for people and the sport of basketball. As a student-athlete, he is a two-year starter that helped ETBU to a 21-7 record and ASC Tournament runner-up. As a point guard, he averaged 9.2 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game while leading the team with 58 assists. For his play, he was awarded All-ASC East Division Second Team. This past year, Landin has invested time into the Marshall community working at numerous events. For the fall semester he volunteered at Davey Crocket Elementary school once a week as a teacher's aide helping out with whatever the teacher needed including reading to the children. He also volunteered to ring the Christmas Bells for the Salvation Army. Another big project he volunteered for came after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston as he went and helped re-mud a house through the Texas Baptist Men's Association. In the spring semester, he has been helping run a local Kids Club at a local low income apartment complex. Landin is a great candidate for the Community Service Athlete of the Year for his heart for the community and also for children.
  DJ Godoy started his passion for service as a 7th grade boys leader for Young Life Tyler which is a youth organization that mentors kids through their faith and life. They met up once a week as a group to have a youth service at First Christian Church, and then would hold a bible study once a week and hangout with their kids for another few hours a week for one on one time. He was also on the event committee for the Tyler dance marathon where they raised money for the Children’s Miracle Network. Godoy also participated in Service with Swoop Yard Clean Up along with volunteering for the Arbor Day event planting trees on campus. Lastly, he participated in the Special Olympics event that happens annually and also is an Officer Candidate for OCC 228 in the United States Marine Corps.
  Brady has volunteered on numerous activities throughout the year while playing baseball.  He is always on time and very respectful towards peers and staff.  He is the first and last one to leave an event.  Brady take initiative on projects with minimum supervision.  He is very deserving of this award.
  Gonzalo Sosa has been an active member in the community, both in the Longview area, as well as his hometown of Houston. Sosa has been a part of the semi-annual Longview Green and Clean, a city-wide day that occurs twice a year with street cleanup of adopted roads by organizations. Gonzalo also helped with the collection and donation of supplies to families following Hurricane Harvey this past fall, and has spent time at both Texas Children's Hospital and Shriners Hospital to donate toys to children with special needs and in recovery of severe injuries. Other community service projects that Gonzalo has participated in include: lawn maintenance and cleaning of homes for the elderly...Participation in special events with the YMCA...Participation in annual baseball fundraisers supporting breast cancer awareness.
  Zach Walker has participated in a variety of community service activities over the past four seasons as a member of the baseball team. Walker has been involved as a campus Student Ambassador, assisted at the campus Food for Thought Garden, offered service at the local elementary school opening doors for children and participated in FCA activities.
 
WOMEN Selena Haunty has done considerable service with Rotaract as well as other local organizations. Her service trips with Rotaract have included Tijuana, Mexico, and El Salvador. During her overseas trips, Haunty assisted with building projects and other types of labor tasks involving children. She also helped plan a local Swim for Polio fundraiser to raise money to provide vaccinations to end polio. She has been heavily involved with campus community work days, including assisting with the campus Food for Thought Garden, Helping Hands and Needy Paws. She also regularly visits the local Clarksville Health and Rehab facility to participate in activities with the residents. In 2017-18, she participated in a Valentine's Dance and Basketball Game for adults with disabilities. 
  Allison Kuster has been an exemplary leader on campus and in the community.  She is very active in campus planning for events for students.  She is very organized and students listen to voice.  She is very creative with each her ideas in order to reach the
community.
  Alexandra McKissick has been the Community Service representative for SAAC this year. She organized and participated in Service with Swoop Yard Clean Up, along with volunteering for an event during Arbor Day. She also volunteered at green acres for a cornerstone community event, assisting in setup and clean up. Her largest service was organizing and participating in the Special Olympics event that happens annually. Additionally, McKissick is an honors student who submitted research and was accepted into the National Collegiate Honors Conference in Boston. Publishing (pending results) in Moral Panics and Community Member Perceptions Regarding Reductions in Sex Offender Recidivism. She made the President’s List and was a finalist for student athlete of the year and the captain of the team.
  Stefanie Polderman is the definition of a servant leader. She has taken the time to understand true ‘need’ and takes pride in getting herself and her team involved in helping those most in need of their help. This year, she took her efforts across campus and was able to get various student groups involved in aiding the DISD homeless children. Polderman is selfless and caring and has a giving heart. Her efforts will be felt in the community for years to come. She served as the community service liaison officer for the UTD SAAC and the Comet softball team claimed the Team Service Award each of the past three years. Overall, she helped to organize over 3,500 hours of service for department, including working with DISD Hygiene Drive, where UTD collected over 5,000 hygiene produces worth over $1,200 to give to DISD homeless kids.
  Abby Weaver is the all-around NCAA Division III student-athlete. She is strong in academics as a three-time ASC Academic All-Conference selection. She is a leader on and off the court as captain of the team along with leading Bible studies, pouring herself into the team. This year, she was also an All-ASC East Division Second Team selection. For her great and honest play, she was the ASC Volleyball East Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year. Abby has done numerous items in the community at ETBU and back in the Dallas area. 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, volunteered twice for service work outside at a horse therapy farm in Marshall, Texas. In Dallas area, 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 she also 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 has a heart for people and the community she lives in.
  Liz Williams spends a lot of time off the court giving back to her community and living up to the expectations set by LeTourneau University. In addition to volunteering at Thrive 360 (after-school kids program), Liz has volunteered her time by serving as a young adult leader on three mission trips with her church while also leading the 9th grade girls group on Sundays. As an education major, Liz also participates in clinical teaching and tutors second-grade children three times a week at a local elementary school.
 
 
ASC Community Service Award Recipients

Year	Male	Female
2008-09	Brandon Pierson, Ozarks	Lea Rana, Ozarks
2009-10	Michael Cucinotta, East Texas Baptist (co)	Kaela Parnell, Hardin-Simmons
	Seth Lynn, Mary Hardin-Baylor (co)
2010-11	Max Taylor, Mary Hardin-Baylor	Kaitlyn McCanna, Texas Lutheran
2011-12	James Fugate, East Texas Baptist	Yvonne Castillo, Texas Lutheran
2012-13	Spencer Turner, Mary Hardin-Baylor	Dalaine Whitlock, Concordia Texas
2013-14	Andrew Cummings, Ozarks	Whitney Lewis, Ozarks (co)
		Caitlin Cronan, Texas-Tyler (co)
2014-15	Brand Bignar, Louisiana College (tri)	Kayla Hines, McMurry (co)
	Nicolas Larzabal, East Texas Baptist (tri)	Chelsea Sartor, Texas Dallas (co)
	Zakk Revelle, Sul Ross State (tri)
2015-16	Xavier McFalls, Howard Payne	Jade Johnson, Louisiana College
2016-17	Gunner Gardner, Sul Ross State	Madison Fatheree, McMurry
2017-18	Gonzalo Sosa, LeTourneau	Abby Weaver, East Texas Baptist