• All-Time OVC Scholar-Athlete Award Winners
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference has selected six individuals to receive its prestigious Scholar-Athlete Award for 2012-13. The award is the highest individual honor that can be earned by OVC student-athletes, and is given annually to three men and three women student-athletes of junior or senior status for their accomplishments in both the classroom and athletic arena, and because of their leadership qualities.
The six winners were selected from a group of 22 finalists by a vote of OVC Faculty Athletics Representatives. Honorees must have performed athletically with distinction, earned at least a 3.25 grade point average and conducted themselves in a manner which has brought credit to the student-athlete, his or her institution, intercollegiate athletics and the OVC. The award is based on academic and athletic criteria/accomplishments achieved during the 2012-13 school year.
The 2012-13 Ohio Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete winners are:
Chase Brookshire of Belmont (baseball),
Heather Butler of UT Martin (basketball),
Delaney Howson of Murray State (golf),
Rebekah Lawson of Southeast Missouri (cross country/track & field),
Dennis Ogbe of Tennessee Tech (basketball) and
Ben Stansfield of Austin Peay (football).
Chase Brookshire – Brookshire completed his eligibility with the Belmont baseball team in 2012-13. In his final year (the team’s first in the OVC) he was named an All-OVC second-team selection after compiling a 2.18 E.R.A. and striking out 82 batters and was a member of the OVC All-Tournament team after striking out 14 in a complete game victory over Jacksonville State. The year prior he helped the Bruins to its first NCAA Regional victory. Following the 2013 season he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 20th Round of the MLB Draft. In the classroom Brookshire completed his bachelor’s degree in management with a 3.70 grade point average. He was named to the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and bestowed the Presidential Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, the Graduating Student-Athlete Award, the Betty Wiseman Inspiration Award and the Team Academic Achievement Award. Brookshire was also one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, given to a student-athlete with notable achievements of community, classroom, character and competition. He was Co-President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Co-Founder and President of the Belmont chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was also a NCAA Leadership Conference participant and volunteered at the Nashville Rescue Mission.
Heather Butler – Butler is in her final season with the UT Martin women’s basketball team and has led the Skyhawks to three-straight OVC Tournament Championships in her first three years with the program. She has been a three-time first-team All-OVC selection and a three-time OVC All-Tournament team pick, including being named Tournament MVP in 2012. As a sophomore in 2011-12 she ranked fourth nationally in scoring (23.8 points/game) and a year ago she was sixth nationally in scoring (22.4 points/game). She also became the first player in UT Martin history to register 2,000 career points and set an NCAA record by making a 3-pointer in 80 consecutive games. In the classroom she has a 3.83 grade point average as a health and human performance (K-12 licensure) major. She has been a multi-year selection to the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and the UT Martin Chancellor’s Honor Roll. She is a member of the College of Education, Health & Behavioral Sciences Student Ambassadors organization, the UTM Athletics Board and the UT Martin Shape Club. She is also active with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Elementary School Reading Program, the Can Caravan Food Drive and a DARE program graduation speaker among many activities.
Delaney Howson – Howson is in her final year of eligibility with the Murray State golf team. She has been a three-time first-team All-OVC selection and earned OVC All-Tournament honors each of the last two years, including finishing as the event’s runner-up in 2012. The team captain, she ranked second in the OVC in stroke average during each her sophomore and junior seasons. She has 15 career Top 5 tournament finishes during her career, including three collegiate tournament titles. In the classroom Howson has a perfect 4.00 grade point average in finance and has been a three-time OVC Medal of Honor and OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient, a three-time Women’s Golf Coaches All-Scholar Team honoree and been named to the MSU Dean’s List three times. Howson is also a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society, Chi Alpha Sigma and the Murray State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She is also helped coordinate the Athletic Food Drive and the Hoops for Heroes programs, and served as a volunteer at Needline of Murray and with various youth golf clinics.
Rebekah Lawson – Lawson is in her third season with the Southeast Missouri State track and field and cross country programs. In her first two seasons with the Redhawks cross country team she earned a sixth place (2011) and a seventh place (2012) finish to achieve first-team All-OVC honors each year. During the 2012 outdoor track season she earned second-team All-OVC honors in the 5000 and 10,000 meters. In 2013 she broke the school record and earned second-team All-OVC honors in the 5000 meters and followed that with a fourth place finish in the 5000 at the OVC Outdoor Championship. In the classroom Lawson has a 3.91 grade point average as a human environmental studies/dietetics major. She has earned the OVC Medal of Honor and been a two-time OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection, in addition to being a Southeast Scholar-Athlete and a multi-time Dean’s List selection. She is active with the Dietetics Club, Campus Outreach and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as well as volunteering at the Southeast Missouri Hospital and several food packing events. Lawson was also involved with Tampa Project 2013, spending 10 weeks in Tampa with 106 other Campus Outreach students.
Dennis Ogbe – Ogbe is in his final year with the Tennessee Tech men’s basketball program. The power forward had his best season with the Golden Eagles in 2012-13, leading the OVC in field goal percentage (61.3%) while averaging 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds/game, both of which ranked second on the TTU team. Ogbe was also deadly from long range, connecting on 40.6 percent of his 3-point attempts and he scored a career-high 26 points against Morehead State in early March. In the classroom he holds a 3.9 grade point average with a major in electrical engineering and a minor in mathematics. He has earned a pair of OVC Medal of Honor and Commissioner Honor Roll awards and been named to the TTU Dean’s List each semester he has been enrolled in school. Ogbe is a member of the Eta Kappa Nu international electrical engineering society and has been a volunteer with elementary school reading programs and the First United Methodist Church Food Bank.
Ben Stansfield – Stansfield is in his fourth season with the Austin Peay football team. An offensive tackle, Stansfield appeared in nine games as a freshman, helping the Govs to the third-best rushing attack in the OVC. The following year APSU’s offensive line ranked 13th nationally in sacks allowed and 37th in rushing offense, and a year ago he started all 11 games and was part of a line that allowed just 10 sacks the entire season. In the classroom he has a 4.00 grade point average in psychology (with a minor in general business). Stansfield has been a three-time recipient of the OVC Medal of Honor and OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll awards, a six-time member of the APSU President’s List and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and the 2012-13 APSU male Scholar-Athlete award winner. He is a member of the APSU Honors College, the Gamma Beta Honor Society and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Stansfield is active with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a volunteer with Govs Give Back and the Read Across America program.
Other nominees for the Scholar-Athlete Award were:
Tatiana Ariza of Austin Peay (soccer),
Cameron Berra of Eastern Illinois (football/baseball),
Aryn Bohannon of Morehead State (volleyball),
Nicole Donnelly of Eastern Kentucky (soccer),
Zachariah Elliott of Morehead State (cross country/track & field),
Kevin Farley of Southeast Missouri (track & field),
Tiffany Harbin of Jacksonville State (softball),
Max Holcombe of Jacksonville State (football),
Tyler Horn of Eastern Kentucky (football),
Ellie Iaciofano of Tennessee Tech (soccer),
Ben Johnson of UT Martin (football),
Cierra Joshua of Tennessee State (track & field),
Allison McCoy of Belmont (volleyball),
Patrick Miller of Tennessee State (basketball),
Jade Riebold of Eastern Illinois (track & field) and
Ty Stetson of Murray State (baseball).