Radford, Va. -- Junior Lara Wohlgemuth (Centreville, Va./Chantilly) was one of four Radford Highlanders named to the Big South Conference's All-Conference team as the second baseman was named to the first team.
Rightfielder Ashley Smith (Roanoke, Va./Northside), thirdbaseman Hallie East (Roanoke, Va./Glenvar) and designated player Lindsay Woody (Annapolis, Broadneck) all earned second team honors. Senior Donita Brady (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) was a member of the All-Academic Team.
Coastal Carolina University took home all of the top softball awards, which were presented with the All-Conference and All-Academic Teams, at the annual Softball Awards Banquet which kicked off the 2003 Big South Conference Softball Championship.
The Chants garnered the top two athletics awards, as Coastal Carolina's Holly Lee was named the 2003 Most Valuable Player and Christine Doyle was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year. Coastal Carolina's Morgan Tolleson was named the Scholar-Athlete for softball, the fourth straight year the Chanticleers have earned the award. Jess Dannelly, also from Coastal Carolina, earned Coach of the Year for leading his team to an 8-2 Conference record and the No. 1 seed in the Championship. Dannelly also recorded his 500th career win during the 2003 season.
The MVP, Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year and All-Conference teams are chosen by the head softball coaches and sports information directors at each member institution which sponsors softball. The All-Academic Team and Softball Scholar-Athlete are chosen by the League's sports information directors.
The 2003 Big South Conference Softball Championship gets underway today at Winthrop University's softball complex in Rock Hill, S.C. The seven-team double elimination tournament will conclude Saturday with the winner earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Every game of the championships can be viewed via live StatCasts. A real-time display of statistics and play-by-play, the StatCast allows Big South softball fans to follow each pitch of the 2003 Championship. The live StatCasts will be available at BigSouthSports.com.
The Big South is a NCAA Division I Conference with nine member institutions across the Southeast. Birmingham-Southern College, Charleston Southern University, Coastal Carolina University, Elon University, High Point University, Liberty University, Radford University, UNC Asheville and Winthrop University comprise the 19-year-old League, which is based in Charlotte, N.C. The Big South is online at www.BigSouthSports.com.
2003 Big South Conference Softball Awards
First Team All-Conference
Outfield
Kimberly Josephson, Coastal Carolina University
Holly Lee, Coastal Carolina University
Janiva Willis, Winthrop University
First Base
Jenny Gustin, Elon University
Second Base
Lara Wohlgemuth, Radford University
Third Base
Katie Evans, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Shortstop
Kelli Julg, Coastal Carolina University
Catcher
Amanda Maska, Liberty University
Designated Player
Morgan Tolleson, Coastal Carolina University
Pitcher
Christine Doyle, Coastal Carolina University
Sarah Pauly, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Most Valuable Player
Holly Lee, Coastal Carolina University
Freshman of the Year
Christine Doyle, Coastal Carolina University
Coach of the Year
Jess Dannelly, Coastal Carolina University
Scholar-Athlete
Morgan Tolleson, Coastal Carolina University
Second Team All-Conference
Outfield
Jessica Swearengin, Elon University
Lauren Hahn, Liberty University
Ashley Smith, Radford University
First Base
Amanda DeGrendele, Coastal Carolina University
Second Base
Jen Foster, Charleston Southern University
Third Base
Hallie East, Radford University
Shortstop
Mary Beth Kennell, Liberty University
Catcher
Lori Notaro, Elon University
Designated Hitter
Lindsay Woody, Radford University
Pitcher
Ali Thompson, Liberty University
Kelli Johnson, Winthrop University
All-Academic Team
Shannon Cantrell, Birmingham-Southern
Kelly Backert, Charleston Southern
Morgan Tolleson, Coastal Carolina
Lori Notaro, Elon
Amanda Goc, Liberty
Donita Brady, Radford
Katie Evans, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Janiva Willis, Winthrop
