FRISCO, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana junior middle infielder
Katie Duhe added to her academic accolades on Thursday, as she was named the 2010 Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Softball Student-Athlete of the Year.
Duhe, an accounting major with a 4.0 grade point average, is the first Lady Lion in school history to be named Softball Student-Athlete of the Year by the Southland. Duhe, who was named to the league’s All-Academic first team for the first team for the second straight season, was joined on the first team by sophomore teammate
Meghan Gomez, a biology major with a 3.53 grade point average.
Duhe is the league-high fifth Southeastern student-athlete to earn league Student-Athlete of the Year during the 2009-10 athletic year. Duhe joins a group that includes
Cory Roberts (men’s outdoor track and field),
Cedric Scotto (men’s golf),
Dana Mayer (women’s soccer) and
Henry Rop (men’s cross country).
The accolade is the latest for Duhe, as she was named second team CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America last month, becoming one of 13 student-athletes in school history to earn that honor. The Lutcher native was also among the 24 Southland student-athletes to earn Southland Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. A first team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VI pick for the second straight season, Duhe was also named to both the All-Southland Conference and All-Louisiana teams as a second team pick.
Much like Duhe, Gomez has had her share of postseason accolades this season. The Alvin, Texas native was named to the All-Southland Conference and All-Louisiana squads as an honorable mention choice. The Lady Lion catcher was selected to the Southland All-Academic squad for the first time.
Fourth in the Southland with a team-high .363 batting average, Duhe finished the season ranked among the league leaders in multiple categories including slugging percentage (.556, 8th), on-base percentage (.416, 11th), hits per game (1.00, 13th) and fewest strikeouts per game (0.18, 2nd). Duhe also led the team with 23 runs batted in and seven doubles, while finishing tied for second with five home runs. In her three years with the program, she is hitting .338 with 144 hits, 68 runs, 16 home runs, 78 RBI and 31 doubles.
Duhe’s slew of postseason awards are due in large part to a torrid finish that saw her hit safely in the final 14 games, tying a school record. During that stretch, she hit .632 and raised her season batting average 119 points. Thanks to her tremendous final month of the season, Duhe ended the regular season with the Southland’s highest batting average (.444), slugging percentage (.722) and on-base percentage (.506) against league opponents.
For the second straight season, Gomez led the team in home runs (seven) and runs scored (25). All but one of her home runs came in league action, as did 14 of her 18 RBI. Her home run and home run per game (0.15) totals were both good for 12th in the Southland Conference, while her six bombs in league play were tied for third-most by a Southland student-athlete. In her two seasons with the Lady Lions, Gomez has hit 15 home runs with 42 RBI and 28 runs scored.
Established in the 2002-03 academic year, the conference honors one student-athlete from each of the 17 championship sports who achieves excellence in academics, athletics and community/campus service.
The student-athlete of the year, selected by the league’s awards committee, will have attained athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution, possess at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and demonstrated extracurricular service at her campus and or community.
The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators from each Southland university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competition to qualify for the all-academic squad.
Included in Capital One Bank’s support of the Southland Conference Academic Awards Program is the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship, the All-Academic Teams, the Student-Athlete of the Year, the Scholar-Athlete Award and the Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
2010 Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Softball All-Academic Teams
First Team
Name – School – Class – Hometown – GPA – Major/Minor
Katie Duhe – Southeastern Louisiana – Jr. – Lutcher, La. – 4.00 – Accounting
Sarah Garcia – Central Arkansas – Sr. – Sylmar, Calif. – 3.96 – Nutrition/Family & Consumer Sciences
Lindsey Langner – McNeese State – Jr. – Pearland, Texas – 3.87 – Health and Human Performance
Audrey Wood – Nicholls – Sr. – Lawton, Okla. – 3.66 – Nursing
Kelee Grimes – Northwestern State – So. – Pineville, La. – 3.94 – Business Administration
Samantha Roberts – Northwestern State – So. – Ruston, La. – 3.67 – Health and Human Performance
Briana Bishop – Stephen F. Austin – Sr. – College Station, Texas – 3.53 – Kinesiology/Psychology
Samantha Chumchal – UT Arlington – Sr. – Richwood, Texas – 3.28 – Pre-K Education
Leah Boatright – Texas State – Sr. – Baytown, Texas – 3.40 – Marketing
Rebecca Collom – UT Arlington – Jr. – New Boston, Texas – 3.55 – Kinesiology
Cara Hulme – UT Arlington – Sr. – Van, Texas – 3.68 – Kinesiology
Meghan Gomez – Southeastern Louisiana – So. – Alvin, Texas – 3.53 – Biology
Second Team
Name – School – Class – Hometown – GPA – Major/Minor
Courtney Zink – UT Arlington – So. – Highlands, Texas – 4.00 – Kinesiology
Dani Price – McNeese State – So. – Humble, Texas – 3.70 – Health and Human Performance
Heather Mosser – McNeese State – Sr. – Mount Belvieu, Texas – 3.44 – General Studies
Jenna Emery – Texas State – Jr. – Sugar Land, Texas – 3.15 – Respiratory Care
Margo Hurdt – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – Sr. – Boerne, Texas – 3.16 – Marketing
Katie Shumaker – McNeese State – Jr. – Beaumont, Texas – 3.70 – Health and Human Performance
Heather Fortenberry – UT Arlington – Sr. – Mesquite, Texas – 3.23 – Criminal Justice
Randi Stuard – Northwestern State – Sr. – George West, Texas – 3.41 – Athletic Training
Amy Brown – Sam Houston State – Sr. – Cypress, Texas – 3.20 – Mass Communication
McKenzie Baack – Texas State – Sr. – Round Rock, Texas – 3.14 – Marketing
Kelsey Kaiser – UT Arlington – So. – Pasadena, Texas – 3.79 – Architecture
Morgan Luksa – UTSA – So. – League City, Texas – 3.58 – Kinesiology
Southland Conference Softball Student-Athlete of the Year: Katie Duhe, Southeastern Louisiana