The Joplin Globe
JOPLIN, Mo. —
Kellen Cox, a junior football player from Mount Vernon, has been named the E.O. and Virginia Humphrey Award winner at Missouri Southern.
In addition, seniors Keane Thomann and Nicole Green were named male and female athletes of the year during the annual Missouri Southern student-athlete awards ceremony on Monday night in the Billingsly Ballroom.
The Humphrey Award is the highest honor given to an MSSU student-athlete. It is awarded based on leadership, athletic ability and respect for their teammates and school.
Cox, a two-year team captain, has a 3.62 grade point average as an education major. He has been a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the last two years, and he leads the MSSU chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
He has completed several mission trips, including to New York, Chicago, Alabama, Maine, Mexico, Nicaragua and Tanzania. Earlier this school year he was one of only two Division II football players named to the All-State Good Works Team for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The team was honored at halftime of the Sugar Bowl game.
Thomann, a senior from Olney, Ill., was named the MIAA and South Central Region basketball player of the year, and he was named to three All-America teams.
His 1,523 points rank sixth in school history, and he led the conference in scoring this season with a 21.5 average. He set MSSU records for field-goal percentage in a season (.633 as a senior) and career (.615).
Green, who prepped at Carthage, is a four-time All-American in the shot put (two indoor, two outdoor).
She is a provisional qualifier for the outdoor shot put, and she currently ranks seventh in the nation with a put of 48 feet, 5 1/2 inches in last month’s Bill Williams/Bob Laptad Invitational at Missouri Southern.
Kylie Cornman, a member of the women’s track and field team, received the Lion Service Award for logging the highest number of community service hours. Cornman and her teammates won the team award for having the highest average community service hours.
Team most valuable player award winners:
Men’s cross country — Eric Schott
Women’s cross country — Marlee Tegenkamp
Men’s track and field — Jeff Fraley
Women’s track and field Lion Pride Award — Nicole Green
Men’s basketball Don Gross Leadership Award — Keane Thomann
Women’s basketball top producer — Erin Rice
Golf Gary Player Award — Jared Essary
Women’s soccer — Randi Russell
Football John Ware Memorial Lion Heart Award — Brandon Williams
Volleyball — Rachel Olinyk
Baseball Warren Turner Team MVP — Cody Griebling
Softball Dr. Pat Lipira MVP — Brooke Hurley.
Lionbacker Awards of Excellence winners:
Baseball — Cullen Baxter
Softball — Breanna Volkmann
Football — Alex Wong
Women’s basketball — Haley Weathers
Men’s basketball — T.J. Williams
Women’s cross country — Rachel Schrader
Men’s cross country — Jake Benton
Women’s soccer — Shannon Kuhn
Men’s track and field — John Lowe
Women’s track and field — Lisa Vengels.
