MOBILE, Ala. ? Four former University of South Alabama standouts were inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame Sunday, while the Department of Athletics handed out numerous awards at the school’s annual banquet afterwards.
Mike Dull (baseball, 1985-86), Estelle Gevers (women’s tennis, 1993-96), Greg Jones (men’s golf 1985-87, men’s golf head coach 1993-99) and Annie Witherington (women’s basketball, 1980-81) comprise the 16th class elected to USA’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Their induction brings the total to 48 former student-athletes, coaches and administrators who have been inducted.
Dull earned numerous honors on and off the field as a senior in 1986, when he was named third-team All-America and first-team all-South Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association, First-team all-Sun Belt Conference and was also chosen a GTE Academic All-American. Dull holds school season records with 102 hits and 176 total bases, while his career .389 batting average ranks third in the school’s record books. One of six players in USA history to post 70 or more RBI in a season, he was selected by the Montreal Expos in the Major League Baseball Draft at the conclusion of his career.
Gevers was a member of the Sun Belt Conference’s 30th Anniversary All-Time Women’s Tennis Team, and she was selected the All-Time Player in league history in addition to being named all-league in singles and doubles all four years of her career. A three-time Sun Belt Tournament MVP, Gevers helped lead USA to four SBC championships and one berth in the NCAA Tournament, and she also was invited to the 1995 and ’96 NCAA Doubles Championships. She ended the year ranked nationally in singles twice and doubles two times, including finishing in the top 25 in the country in doubles each of her last two seasons.
Jones played golf for the Jaguars from 1985-87, then returned to lead the team as its head coach from 1993-99. As a player, Jones was named to the Sun Belt Conference’s 30th Anniversary All-Time Team after winning four tournaments during his career and also qualifying for the 1986 NCAA Championships as an individual. He would go on to finish with a career 73.6 stroke average. Jones would later guide the Jags to five Sun Belt titles and two NCAA Championship appearances, as he would be selected the league’s Coach of the Year four times while helping USA players earn all-conference honors on 18 occasions.
Annie Witherington was the school’s first All-American in women’s basketball after making the Kodak Region III team in 1980, and she helped lead USA to a pair of regional tournament appearances in her two seasons with the program. One of two players in school history to average better than 20 points per game, she ranks eighth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,352 points despite playing just two years. Witherington still stands second on the season scoring list with 768 points in 1980, is fifth all-time with 581 field goals made and is ninth with a 50.1 career field-goal percentage.
Baseball player David Doss and men’s basketball player Ronald Douglas each picked up to honors to lead the student-athlete contingent.
Doss, who hails from Cantonment, Fla., claimed both the President’s Award ? presented to the most-outstanding student-athlete based on scholarship, athletic ability and citizenship ? and the Eddie Stanky Award, which is given annually to the Jag baseball player who best exemplifies the spirit of former Major League player, coach and manager and former USA head coach Eddie Stanky.
This year Doss has broken three career baseball records previously held by USA Hall of Fame members, setting new standards with 290 hits, 184 RBI and 66 doubles. He also ranks in the top 10 in six other categories in the Jaguar record books. He entered play this week ranked in the top15 in 10 different categories in the Sun Belt Conference, and after this weekend’s series against Middle Tennessee he leads the team with 16 doubles, nine home runs and 46 RBI while batting .371.
A 44th-round draft pick in last year’s Major League Baseball draft who carries a cumulative grade-point average over a 3.00, Doss was one of just two players from the Sun Belt named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, an honor presented to the nation’s top Division I catcher at the end of the season.
A native of Baton Rouge, La., Douglas earned both the Goldie Ungar Heart of Gold and the Perseverance Award ? the former is Presented annually to a Men’s Basketball Player who gives 110 percent to the sport, represents tireless effort, deep desire and total dedication during practice and competition, the latter for succeeding in the classroom or in competition while overcoming adversity.
The Jaguars dropped all three games Douglas missed after suffering a shoulder injury in practice, but won nine of 12 contests after he returned while advancing to the SBC Tournament championship game. He ended the year averaging 5.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while leading the team ranking third in the SBC with 62 blocked shots. That was the fourth-highest in school history and the most by a USA player since 1994.
Douglas ? who was also credited with 27 assists and nine steals ? scored five of his season-high 13 points in overtime in a win at Southern Mississippi, and he also matched a career high with 11 rebounds in a victory over UALR in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament.
He and his family also had to battle through following Hurricane Katrina.
Kelly Tarrant, a women’s soccer player from Petersfield, England, also earned a Perseverance Award. After earning first-team all-Sun Belt honors as a freshman, Tarrant suffered an injury that cut her year short. She received a medical redshirt during the 2007 season due to tarsal tunnel injury, which required two surgeries to repair the damage.
She responded with a senior campaign in which she ranked second in the SBC with 0.39 assists per game and tied for second in the conference with seven assists to be selected second-team all-league.
The Jimmy Taylor Award, presented to the student-athlete who has exhausted eligibility, maintained an outstanding GPA and achieved significant athletic accomplishment, was given to women’s golfer Shirley Harvey.
Off the course, the Belfast, Northern Ireleand, resident maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout her USA career. On the course, she ranked second on the team with a 77.78 stroke average as a junior, then finished tied for 12th at the Ole Miss Rebel Intercollegiate before leading the Lady Jags at the Sun Belt Championships with a 27th-place finish in the final two events of her senior season.
Two softball players ? Kristen Hayes from Sylvan Springs, Ala., and Corey Race, a native of Tomball, Texas ? both earned the Denny-Gottfried Athletic Scholarship Award, which expresses appreciation and recognition of Joe Gottfried for his many contributions to the USA athletic program. It is given to a student-athlete who holds a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA, has completed their NCAA eligibility, and with the assistance of this fund, will graduate from the University of South Alabama within two consecutive semesters.
Hayes, who over her career at USA, has recorded the second most starts in school history with 137, and she also holds the program career record in putouts while ranking in the top five in games played, doubles, RBI, walks and fielding percentage. In 2008 she was named to the Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll and the Dean’s List, and as a sophomore was selected second-team all-league in 2007.
Race, who has played both first and third base for the Jaguars, ranks in the top five on the program’s career list in games played, games started, hits, RBI, home runs, total bases, assists and putouts. In 2008, she was named a national National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Scholar-Athlete, to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List, and she also made the Dean’s List as a sophomore.
Women’s track and field athlete Emily Sawyer picked up the NCAA Woman Of The Year Award. Presented to a varsity letterwinner who has completed her intercollegiate eligibility by the end of the spring sports season and has excelled in academics, athletics, service and leadership with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5, the Mobile native has earned two all-Sun Belt honors in the pole vault during her career. She set a personal record in the indoor pole vault this season at the 2009 Sun Belt Championships, and has also qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regionals during the outdoor campaign in the event as well.
Lindsay Schwartz was the recipient of the Auralia Crowell Award, given to the school’s most outstanding freshman based on excellence in academics and athletics. A resident of Watertown, Wis., Schwartz ranked third on the volleyball team in both kills with 204 and kills per set with 2.12 while setting a new USA freshman record for block assists ? she finished the year with 100, leading the team with 109 total blocks and ranking second in the Sun Belt with 1.14 set. Schwartz also has competed in nine meets in the 55-meter hurdles, 100-meter hurdles and the high jump for the track and field team as well.
Katie McGuire from the softball team along with men’s basketball players Charles and Philip Tabet earned the Jaguar Athletic Club Awards, which go to the male and female student-athletes who best exemplify enthusiasm and support for the total athletic program.
This season, McGuire ? who hails from Alabaster, Ala. ? leads the team in both doubles and triples while ranking in the top five on the team in runs scored, total bases, hits and stolen bases. On the career record charts at USA, she is second in games played, fourth in batting average, second in runs scored, and she is also among the top five in hits, doubles, triples and home runs.
Charles Tabet appeared in 16 games and shot 66.7 percent from the field in 2009 for a Jag team that won 20 games for the fourth straight season, while Philip Tabet ? who earned the Goldie Ungar Heart of Gold Award last spring ? averaged 2.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game after appearing in 28 contests. The twins are from Bloomfield Hill, Mich.
The Matt Smith Award was presented to Associate Athletic Director Hal Williams. Over the last 21 years, Williams has been an integral part in the steady running of the athletic department working on special projects, serving as the game operations manager at many home events and an athletic department liaison with numerous offices around the campus, along with his regular duties.
This award is presented to a member of the athletic staff who consistently goes the extra mile. The honored individual is as an example of the spirit of commitment, strong work ethic, and a deep sense of pride in their job, and is dedicated to achieving the highest goals and objectives of the Department of Athletics and the University of South Alabama. This is the third year the award, which was created in the memory of the school’s former Sports Information Director who passed away in December of 2004, has been given out.
The school also recognized the numerous accomplishments of its 16 programs competing in 2008-09 as well as recognized 47 seniors who have already or will complete their athletic eligibility by the end of the academic year.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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