2014-15 Pete Tolbert Night of Champions Photo GalleryMOBILE, Ala. – One individual who has helped her program reach three straight NCAA Regionals and another who will likely qualify for the national singles championship in his sport led the honorees Monday at the sixth annual Pete Tolbert Night of Champions, held at the Mitchell Center. The event recognizes the achievements — both in competition and academically — of the nearly 400 individuals who make up the University of South Alabama athletics program.
Kaitlyn Griffith (Centre, Ala.) and Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany) were named the Jaguar Female and Male Student-Athlete of the Year, respectively, honoring the most outstanding individuals based on scholarship, athletic ability and citizenship at the ceremony.
Griffth, a senior shortstop for the Jaguar softball team — which has been ranked among the top 25 nationally throughout the 2015 season — is hitting .296 with a team-high 11 home runs, adding 38 RBI and 25 runs as USA has put together a 33-9 overall record. A three-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Scholar Athlete, she is set to receive her degree in May in exercise science and has a 3.82 cumulative grade-point average.
Leitner is the reigning two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in men's tennis, having earned the award this spring after compiling a 28-5 overall singles record and a 22-6 mark in doubles, playing primarily the first position in both. The senior was named first-team all-league in both singles and doubles and — as the highest-rated individual in the SBC — is slated to earn a berth to the NCAA Singles Championships in May, while he will graduate with a 3.89 GPA in exercise science next month.
A pair of Griffith's teammates also received awards. Farish Beard (Fairhope, Ala.) was chosen the school's NCAA Woman of the Year Nominee while Blair Johnson (Kimberly, Ala.) earned the Jimmy Taylor Scholarship.
Beard, who is carrying a 3.39 GPA, was selected to be nominated for an award that goes to a varsity letterwinner completing her intercollegiate eligibility by the end of the spring sports season, and who has excelled in academics, athletics, service and leadership with a minimum cumulative 2.5 grade-point average. A finalist for both the Senior CLASS and 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player-of-the-Year awards, she is 9-3 with a 2.37 earned-run average and 87 strikeouts in 71 innings this season.
Johnson picked up the award going to a student-athlete who holds a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA, has completed their NCAA eligibility, and with the assistance of the fund will graduate from USA within two consecutive semesters after earning all-Sun Belt honors twice during her career. This year, the senior is batting .254 with 12 extra-base hits, 25 RBI and more walks (14) than strikeouts (eight).
Sophie Haywood (Hull, England) earned the Auralia Crowell Freshman Scholar-Athlete Award, presented to the most outstanding freshman based on excellence in academics and athletics. In addition to posting 19 points — on seven goals and five assists — to be named first-team all-conference and help the Jaguar soccer team win the league title and advance to the NCAA Tournament, she has recorded a 4.0 grade-point average as an exercise science major.
The Denny-Gottfried Scholarship Award — presented to a student-athlete who has exhausted their eligibility, maintained an outstanding GPA and achieved significant athletic accomplishment — was given to Adam Ballew (Oxford, Ala.). In his final season at USA, the outfielder has help the Jag baseball squad to a 29-16 mark while batting .275 with five extra-base hits, 26 RBI and eight stolen bases. Ballew, an exercise science major, has a 3.38 grade-point average.
Derek Westbrook (Diamondhead, Miss.) received a pair of awards at the event, earning the Shirley Holt Scholarship Award as well as the Male Jaguar Athletic Fund Award. The former is given to a student-athlete who has exemplified "Team Spirit" and who has shown great character and concern for his or her fellow student-athletes, while the latter recognizes overall support of Jaguar Athletics.
Caroline Beebe (Daphne, Ala.) earned the Female Jaguar Athletic Fund Award, marking the second year in a row that both she and Westbrook have garnered JAF Award honors.
Hunter Soleymani (Pelham, Ala.) was presented the Tom and Barbara Corcoran Scholar-Athlete Endowed Scholarship Award, given to the USA junior who most excels in sports while maintaining at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. The right-handed pitcher has a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average in biomedical sciences, and on the field he is 1-0 with a 0.59 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 15.1 innings for the Jaguar baseball team.
Jimmie Gipson III (Coldwater, Miss.) earned the Wilson Durgin Memorial Scholarship Award — which goes to a minority student-athlete who has excelled in both the classroom and competition — while the Female and Male Perseverance Awards went to Nikki Gittens (Nashville, Tenn.) and Ucambre Williams (Phenix City, Ala.), respectively. After suffering a stress fracture in her tibia that forced her to redshirt in 2013, Gittens ranked third on the volleyball team with 243 kills, and led the squad with a .250 attack percentage and 83 total blocks, in helping the Jags qualify for the SBC Tournament despite playing with tendinitis in her knee and hitting shoulder. During his career Williams underwent three separate surgical procedures requiring six-plus months of rehabilitation, and after surgery on his right knee in September the offensive lineman returned in just 15 days; he would go on to start 11 contests in a row, posting a team-best 90 percent overall grade to be named second-team all-Sun Belt Conference, as USA played in its first-ever postseason bowl game.
Teammate Brandon Bridge (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) was presented the Mayer Mitchell Quarterback Endowment Fund Award as the Jaguars starter last fall. Matt Bolger (Madison, Ala.) earned the Clifton Inge Endowed Baseball Award, with Davis Knapp (Tallassee, Ala.) collecting the Forrest W. and Beverly B. Crowder Endowed Scholarship for Baseball and Mark Watts (Snellville, Ga.) chosen for the McKinney Family Endowed Scholarship Fund for Track and Field Award. Emily Newton (Dothan, Ala.) was elected the recipient of George Smith Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund Award as well.
The Matt Smith Award — which goes to a member of the athletic staff who consistently goes the extra mile, has the spirit of commitment, strong work ethic, and a deep sense of pride in their job — was presented to Greg Keel, Assistant Athletic Director for Ticket Operations and the Annual Fund. The award is named in memory of former USA Sports Information Director Matt Smith, who passed away December of 2004.
Each sport program also presented awards at the event. The winners of those honors included: Eddie Stanky Award (baseball), Bolger; Goldie Ungar Heart of Gold Award (men's basketball), Dionte Ferguson; Jaguar Women's Basketball NCAA Award (women's basketball), Breanna Hall; Female Distance Award (women's cross country), Nicole Durham; Male Distance Award (men's cross country), Christoph Graf; Jim Yance Heart of a Jaguar Award (football), Jesse Kelley; Heath Slocum Award (men's golf), Tyler Klava; Beth Barry Award (women's golf), Ingrid Hagen; Lindsay Rogers Award (soccer), Alyssa Mayer; Extra Mile Award (softball), Stephanie Pilkington; Lubel Family Award (men's tennis), Leitner; Marilyn Lubel Award (women's tennis), Laura Matuskova; Most Outstanding Women's Track & Field Student-Athlete Award (women's track and field), Kaitlyn Beans; Most Outstanding Men's Track & Field Student-Athlete Award (men's track and field), Jan-Louw Kotze; and, Jaguar Volleyball Award (volleyball), Gittens.
Prior to the naming of the Jaguar Student-Athletes of the Year, 46 current and former student-athletes who will graduate at the conclusion of the semester received gifts from the department.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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