GAC announces Athletes of the Year

RUSSELLVILLE -- Henderson State's Pink Jones and Taylor Langston, Ouachita Baptist's Sarah Johnson and Drew Harris, and Harding's Gavin De Los Santos were among nominees announced this week for the 2017-18 Great American Conference Athletes of the Year honors.

The conference office announced a pair of First-Team All-Americans, Southern Arkansas' Brooke Goad and Southeastern Oklahoma State's Zach James, received this year's awards.

Goad established Division II career records for home runs, with 90, and walks, with 219, as well as single season records with 32 home runs and 91 walks. She finished her career as the GAC's all-time leader in on-base percentage, .534; slugging percentage, .849; runs scored, 262; doubles, 51; and total bases, 570.

The Lady Muleriders (60-11) won their first GAC regular season title and returned to the Division II Softball Championship for the second time in three years, losing out in the semifinals, as Goad posted GAC single season highs with 80 runs, 72 RBI, 172 total bases, a .994 slugging percentage and a .613 on-base percentage.

Goad was named to the All-America First Team by National Fastpitch Coaches Association and the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association. She was also named the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year and a finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year award.

Jones led Henderson (21-9, 16-6) with 16.3 points per game as the Reddies tied for the fourth-most wins in program history. The sophomore from Fayetteville was an All-GAC First-Team selection.

Johnson was second for Ouachita (25-29, 21-23) in batting average at .358 and led the Tigers with 11 home runs for a .642 slugging percentage. Ouachita qualified for the 2018 GAC Softball Championships tournament in Bentonville, but the Tigers were eliminated after two games. Johnson, from Mount Vernon, Texas, was one of five seniors on the team.

Other nominees for the 2017-18 GAC Female Athlete of the Year award were Macy Mitchell, senior, Arkansas-Monticello; Madison Nagel, senior, Arkansas Tech; Marisa Meza, senior, East Central; Zoe Hardin, junior, Harding; Jennifer Eubanks, sophomore, Northwestern Oklahoma State; Abby Hoover, senior, Oklahoma Baptist; Elexis Watson, freshman, Southeastern; Katelyn Brown, senior, Southern Nazarene; and Hailey Tucker, junior, Southwestern Oklahoma State.

James' junior season included a dramatic win in the 2018 GAC Men's Golf Championships tournament at the Hot Springs Country Club in April, when he holed out from off of the green for an eagle on the final hole for a one-shot victory. He finished sixth or better in every event of the season leading up to the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships in May in Alabama, where he turned in a 26th-place finish. It is the highest national finish ever by a Southeastern player and the second-best result by a GAC golfer. James was a finalist for the Division II Jack Nicklaus Award for player of the year.

Langston transferred to Henderson (30-20, 21-12) this season from Barton Community College in Kansas to earn nine saves in 19 appearances with a 1.63 ERA, allowing just five runs in 27 2/3 innings. The junior from El Dorado was named an honorable mention All-American and All-Region First Team selection by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association

Harris led the Tigers with 20 rushing touchdowns in 2017, running for 489 on 77 attempts. The junior from Benton also caught 42 passes, second on the team, for 723 yards and another six touchdowns. He was a utility player selection to the 2017 All-GAC First Team for football.

De Los Santos, a graduate of Lake Hamilton, redshirted his first season in Searcy, played in nine games as a freshman, started all 11 games of the 2015 season and played in 28 of the team's 29 games the past two seasons, winning 24 games to tie for the most among NCAA Division II teams in the last two years. The Bisons were 11-4 this season as De Los Santos started all 15 games at right tackle.

Harding ranked second in Division II with 341.9 rushing yards per game. De Los Santos was named to the Don Hansen All-America Second Team, D2Football.com All-America honorable mention, D2CCA All-Super Region 3 First Team, Don Hansen All-Super Region 3 First Team and All-GAC First Team.

Other nominees for the 2017-18 GAC Male Athlete of the Year award were Jalen Tolliver, senior, Monticello; Ty Reasnor, senior, Arkansas Tech; Ontario Douglas, freshman, East Central; Maurice Wright, sophomore, Northwestern; Saleem Fadel, sophomore, Oklahoma Baptist; Jacob Richardson, senior, Southern Arkansas; Jhonathan Dunn, sophomore, Southern Nazarene; and Alex Pimental, junior, Southwestern.

Sports on 07/05/2018

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