Student Athletes Recognized For Work In Classroom
Jeff Graham
1/12/2010 4:34:26 PM
Macon, Ga. – With the spring 2010 semester set to begin this week, Mercer softball head coach Mike Raynor recognized nine of his student-athletes for being selected by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) as 2009 Academic All-American Scholar Athletes on Monday.
The nine players include seniors Stacey Condra, Brandy Keeter and Holly Oglesbee , junior Natalie Jones and sophomores Jenny Goodman and Ashlei Alig. Former players Nikki Bylak, Lacey Richardson, Cassy Neilson were also on the scholar list.
All nine players recorded a grade-point average of 3.5 or better throughout the 2008-09 school year. In a team meeting on Monday, Raynor lauded his team for their achievements and stressed the importance academics in the upcoming school year.
“Outstanding academics are a huge priority in our softball program at Mercer University and for our student athletes,” Raynor said. “Our team GPA of 3.428 is an excellent barometer of the status of our academic posture and our team goals include being the top academic and athletic team in the Atlantic Sun Conference.”
Oglesbee, who was named a NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete for the fourth consecutive year, started all 58 games for the Bears last season, finishing the year with a .309 batting average and 26 RBI.
Condra is majoring in engineering and finished the 2009 campaign batting .226 while knocking in 14 RBI and four homeruns. This is also not her first academic achievement while in a Mercer uniform. She was twice named to the Atlantic Sun Academic Honor Roll as a freshman and sophomore.
Keeter is majoring in math at Mercer and appeared in 40 games last season for the Bears. At the plate Keeter went .255 with five RBI on the season.
Jones was also an A-Sun All-Academic Honoree for the 2009 season. On the field, the Snellville, Ga. native appeared in three games for the Bears striking out five in six innings of work.
Goodman is majoring in engineering and showed her talents lie not only in the classroom but on the field as well last season. In her freshmen season, Goodman played in 53-of-58 games finishing with a .226 batting average and 15 RBI.
Alig, also a sophomore, graduated in the top ten percent of her high school class in 2008 and has continued her strong performance in the classroom as a Bear. The Brunswick, Ga. native appeared in 25 games last year and batted .333 at the plate.
The Bears began preparations for the 2010 season this week and start practice on Jan. 26. Mercer will travel to Tallahassee for the Florida State University Tournament beginning on Feb. 12.