Five Howard Payne student-athletes earned a spot on the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Team in their respective American Southwest Conference 2011-12 winter/spring sport, the conference office announced on Thursday.
Overall, 101 student-athletes from ASC men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, men’s golf, women’s golf, softball, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track and field and women’s track and field were named to the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Team. Link to full ASC release
MEN’S BASKETBALL – Brandon Irwin finished his basketball career at HPU scoring a total of 1,737 placing him sixth all-time at Howard Payne. This season, Irwin was named to the ASC West Division First Team and 2nd Team All-South Region after finishing second in the ASC in scoring at 21.6 points per game. He was named HPU’s Paul J. Cunningham Award winner and was an Academic All-Conference selection.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL – Abby Parmelly helped lead HPU to their ninth consecutive 20+ win season. Starting in all 26 games for the Lady Jackets, Abby was third on the team in assists with 2.1 per game. Her 1.4 assist/turnover ratio was among the leaders in the ASC.
BASEBALL – Houston Holmes hit .262 for the Yellow Jackets baseball team this season. The Brownwood native drove in 22 runs on 34 hits. Holmes is an Exercise and Sport Science major with a 3.85 GPA and will be an Academic All-Conference selection this season. He was named HPU’s Outstanding Scholar-Athlete for the highest GPA among male junior and senior student-athletes.
SOFTBALL – Katie Poerner finished this season with a .392 batting average and was 16 of 16 on stolen base attempts for the Lady Jacket softball team. Her 3.97 GPA has also earned Katie Academic All-Conference honors. At the conference championship tournament this season, she was named to the All-Tournament Team. She was also HPU’s Tami Pattillo Award winner.
WOMEN’S TENNIS – Gabriela Crunelle was 7-14 overall playing the number one singles spot for the Lady Jackets. She also went 12-10 in number one doubles for HPU with partner Joan Burks .
The honor, in its fifth academic year, recognizes student-athletes that achieve a higher level of academic achievement (a 3.20 grade-point average or better) while competing as a starter or important reserve on their team. From that list – limited to one nominee per school in each ASC championship sport – the sports information directors from the conference’s 16 member institutions vote on a Distinguished Scholar-Athlete from each sport.
