ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY HONORS ITS SENIOR
STUDENT-ATHLETES AT ITS ANNUAL RECOGNITION BANQUET

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – The Arkansas Tech University Athletic Department honored its 41 senior student-athletes here Wednesday night during its annual Senior Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet held in the Chambers East Banquet Hall on the Tech campus.

In addition to recognizing Tech’s 41 senior student-athletes from the 2007-08 school year, the department also announced the recipients of its third annual Outstanding Senior Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year and the winners of the award this year were Jantzen Black (baseball) and Courtney Collins (volleyball).

The Outstanding Senior Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award was created by the school’s Faculty Athletic Committee, which is headed up the Tech’s faculty athletic representative, Dr. Tom DeBlack. This year’s Outstanding Male and Female Student-Athlete awards were presented by Dr. Daniel Bullock, who is a member of the Faculty Athletic Committee.

Bullock said that every Tech head coach nominated an outstanding senior student-athlete from their respective teams and the winners were chosen by the committee based those student-athletes achievement in their sport, in addition to their scholarship, character and community service involvement.

“These student-athletes selected for this honor are expected to be just that – outstanding student-athletes,” Bullock told the assembled crowd.

Wednesday’s crowd at the banquet included Green and Gold members and several university officials, along with all the head coaches of Tech’s athletic teams and some parents of the senior student-athletes.

Black, a native of Greenwood, Ark., is a four-year letterwinner and four-year starter for the Wonder Boys baseball team. In his four years at Tech, Black is the school’s career leader in at-bats (690), is second all-time in career hits with 230, third in career doubles (48) and fourth in career runs scored (134). In addition, earlier this season he set a new school and GSC record with 11 hits in 11 consecutive at-bats and also had a school-record 30-game hitting streak. Black, who is majoring in history education, is a two-time member of the GSC Academic Honor Roll.

“This is a great honor and I’m surprised by receiving it,” Black said. “It is tough to be able to balance everything, but I’m thankful I’ve been able to do it throughout my college career.”

Collins, a native of Joplin, Mo., was a four-year member of the Golden Suns Volleyball team. In her four year career, Collins played in 118 matches and finished her career ranked sixth in career service aces with 140 and finished with 583 career digs. Along with her athletic accomplishments, she was a member of the Dean’s List for five semesters and was a four-time member of the GSC Academic Honor Roll. Collins carries a 3.62 cumulative grade point average in early childhood education.

“I’m excited to be able to come away with this outstanding award,” Collins said. “I’m completely honored and this puts a cap on my four years here at Arkansas Tech University.”

In addition to honoring Tech’s Outstanding Senior Male and Female Student-Athlete, each Tech head coach stood up and spoke about their senior student-athletes. The men’s golf and women’s cross country teams did not have any senior student-athletes this school year.

Tech Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Steve Mullins began by honoring the 17 seniors on this past season’s 5-5 Wonder Boys football team.

“I’m extremely proud of this group of seniors, they are hard workers and young men with high character,” Mullins said. “This group never had a losing season in their careers at Tech and that is something to them to be proud about.”

Following Mullins, Tech Head Volleyball Coach Kristy Bayer stood up and spoke about her team’s lone senior, Collins.

“Courtney was my first four-year here at Tech and it is hard to say goodbye to her,” the fourth-year Tech coach said. “She was very dedicated and always worked hard in the offseason.”

Bayer added that Collins was her team’s captain the past two seasons.

“She was a good players’ captain and will be missed by her teammates next year,” Bayer added.

Following Bayer was Golden Suns Basketball Coach Dave Wilbers. Wilbers spoke about his team’s three seniors that helped lead Tech to a 26-6 record and a second consecutive NCAA Division II South Region Tournament berth.

“This was a special group of seniors this season and I’m proud of them for buying into our system and playing the way they did this year,” Wilbers said. “They will always be a Golden Sun.”

Wonder Boys Basketball Coach Mark Downey followed Wilbers and thanked both of his seniors for helping turn around Tech’s program. This season, the Wonder Boys finished with a lot of accomplishments, including earning its first-ever win in the GSC Tournament and finishing the season with an 18-11 record, the best mark for the team since going 19-10 during the 1995-96 season.

“A lot of success wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication by Robert Kennedy and Jamill Jones,” the second-year Tech coach said. “I want to thank them for that.”

Following Downey was Golden Suns Tennis Coach Abby Davis, who praised her team’s three seniors. Davis’ team achieved a program-first this season as they earned their first-ever berth in the GSC Tournament and finished with an 11-10 record, its first winning mark since going 12-11 during the 2003 season.

“A lot of our success this season wouldn’t have been possible without the positive contributions of these three outstanding young ladies,” Davis said. “They will be missed next year and they mean a lot to me as a coach.”

Among the seniors was Whitney Simmons (Pottsville, Ark.), who was just the second Golden Sun to earn All-Conference honors for three consecutive seasons and the first to do so since Tech joined the GSC in 1996.

Golden Suns Golf Coach Amy White followed Davis and honored her team’s lone senior, Cassie Bartley (Shirley, Ark.).

“Cassie had many ups and downs in her four years at Tech, but she matured into a fine collegiate golfer and an outstanding young woman,” White said.

Following White was Golden Suns Softball Coach Gidget Pambianchi. Pambianchi honored her team’s three seniors that have helped lead the Golden Suns to a 37-14 overall record and a 19-8 mark heading into Saturday’s home regular season finale against Henderson State. Among the three seniors is shortstop Molly Schweigert (Salem, Ore.), who is the team’s only four-year letterwinner and one of just six four-year letterwinners in the program’s brief six-year history.

“Words can’t explain what these three seniors have done for this program and how they’ve helped build the foundation for years to come,” the third-year Tech coach said. “There is no doubt that 90 percent of what we are this season is because of this senior class.”

The final coach to speak was Wonder Boys Baseball Coach Billy Goss, who honored his team’s seven seniors.

“These seven seniors have contributed a lot over their time here at Arkansas Tech and have represented themselves and the program with nothing but class,” Goss said.

In addition to honoring 37 student-athletes, Tech also honored three seniors in the Sports Information Office and one senior in the Athletic Training Room.

          Listed below are the seniors that were honored at Wednesday’s recognition banquet.

          ATHLETIC TRAINING (1): Corey Bush (Hampton, Ark.).

BASEBALL (7) – Black, pitcher Blake Bailey (Malvern, Ark.), catcher Justin Bollig (Moore, Okla.), pitcher Craig Cameron (Knoxville, Iowa), first baseman/pitcher Brad Green (Cabot, Ark.), pitcher Zach Weiss (Barnhart, Mo.) and pitcher Cody Taylor (Jacksonville, Texas).

FOOTBALL (17) – linebacker Arthur Douglas (Shreveport, La.), defensive tackle Clayton Elliott (Dickinson, Texas), running back Marcus Godfrey (Junction City, Ark.), receiver Herb Grigsby (Mayflower, Ark.), receiver Chris Gunter (Beebe, Ark.), linebacker Zach Hall (Irving, Texas), defensive tackle Hollis Hoskins (Batesville, Miss.), offensive lineman Chad Langdon (Waynesboro, Miss.), offensive lineman Shane McCaa (Waynesboro, Miss.), receiver Justin McCutcheon (Harrison, Ark.), defensive tackle Milan McDaniel (Morrilton, Ark.), defensive end Andrew Murphy (Booneville, Miss.), linebacker Zach Noel (Paragould, Ark.), defensive tackle Travion Scott (Crossett, Ark.), center B.J. Tilley (Lucedale, Miss.), running back R.J. Vanhook (Prescott, Ark.) and Jonathan Webster (Batesville, Miss.).

MEN’S BASKETBALL (2) – Jamill Jones (Philadelphia, Pa) and Robert Kennedy (Madison, Ill.).

SOFTBALL (3) – Schweigert, pitcher Dana Aldrich (Palm Harbor, Fla.) and leftfielder Terra Brenner (Belleville, Ill.).

SPORTS INFORMATION (3) – Drew Buffington (Mountain Home, Ark.), Micah Higgins (Rudy, Ark.) and Nathan Smith (Russellville, Ark.).

VOLLEYBALL (1): Collins.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (3) – forward Krishna Baker (Little Rock, Ark.), forward Daiane Domingos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and center Ruby Vaden (Blytheville, Ark.).

WOMEN’S GOLF (1) – Cassie Bartley (Shirley, Ark.)

WOMEN’S TENNIS (3): Simmons, Renee Malcuit (Lakeside, Calif.) and Puja Paul (Kolkata, Bengal India).

              -- Tech Athletics --