June 2, 2009

RICHARDSON, Texas - West Texas A&M basketball star Emily Brister and Central Oklahoma baseball standout Andrew Foshee were chosen as the 2009 Lone Star Conference Fred Jacoby Academic Athletes of the Year. The awards were announced Tuesday following a vote of the league's sports information directors.

WTAMU's Brister and UCO's Foshee are just the second recipients of the award bearing the name of Jacoby, the long-time LSC commissioner who passed away in March 2008. The nominees included the Academic Player of the Year in each sport as selected during the year.

Brister earned Female Academic Athlete of the Year honors ahead of Texas Woman's soccer standout Aly Vincent-Evans, UCO hoops star Mallory Markus and Cameron softball standout Jenna Boren.

Charly Martin

Foshee received the most votes for LSC top male academic athlete followed by Buffs football star Charly Martin, Midwestern State soccer standout Tyler Murphy and Abilene Christian track & field star Camille Vandendriessche.

Brister, who also claimed the inaugural academic award, concluded her notable career by helping the Lady Buffs claim the South Central Region, LSC and South Division titles with a 28-6 overall and 10-2 league mark. The first four-time LSC South Division Player of the Year in league history averaged 23.4 points a contest despite missing the last four regular season games and postseason with a knee injury. Brister is the only WTAMU basketball player to surpass 2,000 points with a career total of 2,645, which is the second highest total ever in the LSC.

Her play in the Lady Buffs' first 23 games of the season was enough to earn a spot on the 2009 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II State Farm Coaches' All-America Basketball Team and 2008-09 NCAA Division II South Central Region Player of the Year honors for the third straight season and four-time first team all-region acclaim.

The Amarillo, Texas, native finished her season fifth in the nation in scoring and 10th in steals (3.6 per game). A senior marketing major from Guthrie with a perfect 4.0 grade point average, Foshee earned second-team honors on the 2009 ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-America Baseball Team, along with LSC baseball Academic Player of the Year and UCO's Senior Male Student-Athlete of the Year acclaim. A four-year letterman for the Bronchos, the outfielder-first baseman hit .341 this season and led the team in home runs (13) and runs batted in (43) while adding 14 doubles and scoring 51 runs.

LSC MALE ACADEMIC ATHLETE OF YEAR (Name, School, Sport, Points): Andrew Foshee, Central Oklahoma, baseball, 22; Charly Martin, West Texas A&M, football, 20; Tyler Murphy, Midwestern State, soccer, 13; Camille Vandendriessche, Abilene Christian, track & field, 10; Steve Day, Southwestern Oklahoma State, football, 8; Jeff Cox, Northeastern State, golf, 6; Cristian Easton, Cameron, tennis, 4; Julius Nyango, Abilene Christian, cross country, 1; David Thomas, Central Oklahoma, basketball, 0.

LSC FEMALE ACADEMIC ATHLETE OF YEAR (Name, School, Sport, Points): Emily Brister, West Texas A&M, basketball, 35; Aly Vincent-Evans, Texas Woman's, soccer, 15; Mallory Markus, Central Oklahoma, basketball, 11; Jenna Boren, Cameron, softball, 9; Alix Dean, Angelo State, softball, 7; Jami McAdoo, Southeastern Oklahoma, softball, 5; Winrose Karunde, Abilene Christian, cross country, 3; Zuzanna Osinska, Northeastern State, tennis, 3; Sara Hooker, Angelo State, track & field, 1; Jessica Crow, Texas Woman's, volleyball, 1; Raelynn Farthing, Central Oklahoma, golf, 0.