The Howard Payne University athletic department honored four individuals with its four highest honors at the 2012 Academic Awards presentation in Mims Auditorium last week.
Howard Payne recognized Houston Chase Holmes and Shannon Costello as the men’s and women’s Outstanding Scholar-Athletes. This award is giving to the junior or senior HPU student-athlete with the highest grade point average. (pictured left – Chuck Boland (HPU FAR) presents award to Shannon Costello)
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.
As a midfielder Shannon Costello has been an Honorable Mention and 3rd Team All-Conference selection for the Howard Payne women’s soccer team. From Farmington Hills, Michigan, she has been among the ASC leaders in assists the past two seasons and an Academic All-Conference honoree. She also was named one of three Outstanding Lower Division Students in Chemistry at the ceremony boasting a 4.0 GPA.
The Outstanding Scholar-Athlete award is in reality the most prestigious recognition HPU athletics offers. HPU speaks of its athletes as student-athletes, meaning that the emphasis is on academic endeavors. The purpose of this award is to recognize the student-athlete, male and female, junior or senior, with the highest GPA.
Katie Poerner was honored as the Tami Pattillo Memorial Award winner and Brandon Irwin was recognized as the Paul J. Cunningham Memorial Award winner.
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 (pictured left – Chuck Boland (HPU FAR) presents award to Katie Poerner).
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 has also been an
Academic All-Conference selection. (pictured right – Chuck Boland (HPU FAR) presents award to Brandon Irwin)
The Tami Pattillo Memorial Award honors the memory and athletic/academic accomplishments of a female athlete who was also a real lady. Tami was exceptional in the classroom and on the basketball court, while battling the diabetes that took her life too soon. She held an abiding love for her Lord, her family, her friends and Howard Payne University. This award is presented to the female athlete who most represents the HPU spirit, as chosen by the University coaching staff.
The Paul J. Cunningham Memorial Award is an effort to perpetuate the memory of a bright, talented young athlete who represented the highest qualities of the student-athlete. In addition to being an outstanding athlete, Paul was a quality student, a leader on and off the field, and a professing Christian. He loved his school, his teammates, and proudly represented Howard Payne University. This award is given to the Howard Payne University male athlete who best represents these qualities as voted on by the university coaching staff.
