ASC Announces Winter-Spring Distinguished Scholar-Athletes

RICHARDSON, Texas – Ten student-athletes from six different member universities headline the 2020 American Southwest Conference Winter-Spring Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Teams, the league office announced on Monday. 

The Distinguished Scholar-Athlete of the Year recipients includes Matthew Williams of Concordia Texas in baseball, Kelden Pruitt of UT Dallas in men’s basketball, Victoria Pena from UT Dallas in women’s basketball, Ben Balen from Concordia Texas in men’s golf, Lindy Patterson of UTD in women’s golf, Hannah Wolfe of Mary Hardin-Baylor in softball, Giovanni Zamboni from UTD in men’s tennis, Elisa Kendall from East Texas Baptist in women’s tennis, Michael Harris of Ozarks in men’s track & field and Alexis Segura of LeTourneau in women’s track & field. 

Concordia Texas senior Matthew Williams was a four-year letterman for the baseball program. During that time, Williams set the school’s all-time wins record, tied for first in shutouts, second in strikeouts, and finished with a 3.38 ERA. In 2019, Williams had a historic season, setting the ASC’s single-season wins record, tying the program’s single-season wins record. He made an all-conference First Team selection, named ASC Pitcher of the Year, D3Baseball.com All-Region and All-American selection, and ABCA All-Region selection as earning Academic All-Conference honors for his work in the classroom. Williams led the Tornados to their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, where he tossed a no-hitter in the regional round as CTX made their best postseason run since 2002, concluding the season in the NCAA Super Regionals. Williams finished his career as a three-time All-ASC selection and earned Academic All-Conference honors twice. In the shortened 2020 season, Williams went 3-1 in five starts and registered a 1.24 ERA. In 36.1 innings of work, Williams racked up 55 strikeouts and only six walks, holding hitters to a .132 hitting average. In the classroom, Williams was an Academic All-Conference selection, posting a 3.90 cumulative GPA. 

UT Dallas junior Kelden Pruitt returned to the starting lineup this season for the Comets and would claim Second Team All-ASC East honors and set the school record with 44 blocked shots. Pruitt sparked UTD to back-to-back ASC East titles and a second consecutive trip to the NCAA D-III National Tournament this season and averaged 11.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game as a junior, scoring in double digits in 16 of 29 contests. Pruitt is a two-time Academic All-ASC honoree for the Comets.

UT Dallas senior guard Victoria Pena earned Distinguished Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. The Comets’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder wrapped up her final season at UTD as an Honorable Mention All-America selection by the WBCA for the second time. Pena averaged 14.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game while leading the Comets to a fourth consecutive ASC East Division title, qualifying for the NCAA D-III National Tournament her four seasons with the program. Named All-ASC and First Team All-ASC East for the third straight season, and listed as the ASC East’s Player of the Year after both her sophomore and junior campaigns. Pena was a two-time ASC East Player of the Week this season, giving her a school-record nine such awards over her career. Now a three-time Academic All-ASC honoree, she was listed CoSIDA Academic All-District for the second straight season.

From Concordia, Texas, senior men’s golfer Ben Balen earns the Distinguish Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men’s golf for the second time. His scoring average was 73.17 per round for the Tornados, competing in five tournaments, including a pair of top-10 finishes. In his final season, Balen won his second career individual title at the UMHB Crusader Intercollegiate. In contrast, the Tornados team won a pair of tournament team titles, including finishing off their shortened season with a win at the Schreiner Spring Shootout. Balen also received national recognition, named the PING All-America Team, and earned PING All-Region honors. Balen also succeeded in the classroom, accumulating a 4.0 GPA and earning ASC All-Academic honors. 

UT Dallas junior Lindy Patterson played in all four tournaments for the Comets in 2019-20, boasting a 77.63 scoring average through eight rounds. She recorded five of eight rounds in the 70s, including a one-under 71 in the second round of the Southwestern Christian Invitational in September. Patterson was named the ASC All-Tournament Team and listed Honorable Mention All-ASC in 2019. She was honored as the ASC Tri-Golfer of the Year and named the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2018 after placing fifth at the ASC Championships in her debut collegiate season. Patterson is now a two-time Academic All-ASC honoree.   

Mary Hardin-Baylor senior Hannah Wolfe was a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection for the second straight year this spring, as well as an Academic All-America Third Team member. She batted .340 with one home run and 12 RBI when the season halted, and her play helped lead the Cru to a No. 10 ranking in the final NFCA Top 25 Poll of the season. She is a two-time All-Conference first baseman and is also a two-time Academic All-Conference selection. She played for a pair of ASC Championship qualifiers during her UMHB career and won the ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor this year. 

For the second straight season, UTD junior Giovanni Zamboni earns the men’s tennis Distinguished Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was named All-ASC and First Team All-ASC West as both a sophomore and a junior for the Comets and helped lead the Comets to just the second conference crown in program history as a junior. Zamboni played No. 1 singles for the Comets this spring and was part of the squad’s No. 1 doubles team. Now a two-time Academic All-ASC selection, he was also named CoSIDA Academic All-District as a senior. Zamboni closed his career ranked second all-time in singles wins with a school-record 85.0 singles winning percentage over his four-year career. As a junior, he was 14-0 in singles play at No. 2. 

East Texas Baptist senior Elisa Kendall was the ASC Medal of Honor recipient for the Tigers as a senior. She also earned ITA All-America honors, was the 2018 ITA Southwest Regional Singles Champion and 2019 runner-up. Kendall qualified for the 2018 ITA National Tournament, was the 2019 ASC East MVP, and selected as the 2020 ITA West Region Most Improved Senior. She is a four-time All-ASC selection (three singles, one double), seven-time ASC East Player of the Week, two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete, three-time Academic All-Conference selection, and 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree. Kendall is a two-time ASC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Team selection. She was the ASC East Freshman of the Year and individually ranked as high as No. 14 in the nation for singles play. She finished ranked No. 19 in the region this spring. Kendall helped ETBU to a first-ever ASC Championship in 2017 and a victory in the NCAA Championship over No. 23 Whitman. Kendall was inducted into the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society and has earned ETBU’s School of Professional Studies Rising Star Award twice. She was given the President’s Christian Scholar-Athlete award in 2017, and this year was the School of Professional Studies Most Outstanding Athletic Training student. 

Ozarks senior Michael Harris earned the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the fourth time – twice in both men’s and men’s cross countries. He set new program records in outdoor track in the 5,000-meter (15:36.63) and 10,000-meter (34:03.60) runs. He owns the indoor program record in the 3,000-meter (9:11.84) as well. Harris is a three-time individual ASC Track Champion. In his track and cross-country career, he earned multiple academic and athletic awards. They included USTFCCCA All-Region, ASC Cross Country Newcomer of the Year, ASC Runner of the Week, Track ASC Co-High Point Athlete of the Meet, USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and All-Conference. Harris has been on the school’s President’s List and Dean’s List multiple semesters. They chose him to attend the NCAA Career in Sports Forum this May virtually. He graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Senior Alexis Segura of LeTourneau also was the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete of the Year in women’s cross country in 2018 and 2019 and earned the award in track & field last season. She also made the DSA Team in women’s soccer. She has been Academic All-Conference in track, cross country and women’s soccer and was a CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-American as a junior in track as well as a CoSIDA Academic All-District in soccer and track. Segura was the LETU Female Scholar-Athlete of Year and earned ASC Track Athlete of Week on February 4. She finished third in the mile at UCO Alumni Classic and fifth in the mile at McNeese Indoor II with a time of 5:26.07. She was in a 4×400 relay team that finished fourth at McNeese Indoor II and broke a school record in 800 with a time of 2:29.159 to win YellowJacket Invitational. Segura won the 1,500 at YellowJacket Invitational. An All-South/Southeast Region selection in cross country, she has also earned First Team All-ASC in cross country and Second Team All-ASC in soccer. She was the LETU co-Female Athlete of Year as a junior. Overall, there were 100 student-athletes named to the American Southwest Conference 2020 Winter-Spring Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Teams. 

The Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Teams recognize student-athletes who achieve a high 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 12 ASC member institutions and one affiliate member select a Distinguished Scholar-Athlete in each game. 

ASC 2020 Winter-Spring Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Teams

+ Designates the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete in each sport

Baseball

Matthew Williams*	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Accounting	Austin, Texas
Trip Benson	Belhaven	Sr.	Biology	Ripley, Miss.
Chase Edwards	Ozarks	Sr.	Business Administration	Chandler, Ariz.
Derrick Findley	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Criminal Justice	Livingston, Texas
Xavier Haines	Howard Payne	Sr.	History	Belton, Texas
Brett Hudspeth	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	Business Mgmt/Accounting	Plano, Texas
Ashton Leech	Sul Ross State	Jr.	Kinesiology & Human Perf.	Whitney, Texas
Hunter McQuary	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Jr.	Biology	Magnolia, Texas
Andrew Robinson	Louisiana College	Sr.	Business Administration	Shreveport, La.
Ethan Schmidt	McMurry	So.	Accounting	Amarillo, Texas
Austin Smith	LeTourneau	Jr.	Business-Finance	North Richland Hills, Texas
Isaiah Swann	UT Dallas	Sr.	Neuroscience	Marietta, Ga.

Men’s Basketball

Kelden Pruitt *	UT Dallas	Jr.	Finance	Heath, Texas
Cole Avery	Sul Ross State	Sr.	MBA	Lenorah, Texas
Jaylan Ballou	Howard Payne	Jr.	Info. Systems Management	Nederland, Texas
Landin Brown	East Texas Baptist	Gr.	Kinesiology	Houston, Texas
Zaid Harris	Concordia Texas	So.	Biology	Houston, Texas
Justin Lovvorn	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Business Administration	Dallas, Texas
Josh Roberts	Belhaven	Sr.	Sports Management	Baton Rouge, La.
Korrin Taylor	LeTourneau	So.	Kinesiology	Plano, Texas
Aedan Welch	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Jr.	Biology (Pre-Med)	Georgetown, Texas
Cory Wilhelm	Ozarks	Sr.	Biomedical	Ratcliff, Ark.

Women’s Basketball

Victoria Pena *	UT Dallas	Sr.	Accounting	Helotes, Texas
Kerigan Bradshaw	Ozarks	So.	Biomedical	Harrison, Ark.
Kim Childress	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Sports Management	Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Vanessa Cruz	LeTourneau	Sr.	Marketing	Hercules, Calif.
Kaycie Dunkerley	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Nursing	Azle, Texas
Chelsea Harris	Howard Payne	Jr.	Athletic Training	Waco, Texas
Hannah Holt	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Marketing	Lumberton, Texas
Jesyka Lee	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Biology	Ovilla, Texas
Alexis Lege	Louisiana College	Sr.	Nursing	Erath, La.
Keke Lyles	Belhaven	Jr.	Exercise Science	Sawyerville, Ala.
Skyler Reyna	McMurry	Sr.	Psychology	San Antonio, Texas
Jackie Saucedo	Sul Ross State	Jr.	Psychology	El Paso, Texas

Men’s Golf

Ben Balen *	Concordia Texas	Sr.	Undecided	Freeland, Mich.
Matt Andrus	Louisiana College	Sr.	Finance	Lafayette, La.
Elliot Bourke	McMurry	Sr.	Business	London, England
Jake Clarke	Belhaven	Jr.	Accounting	Clinton, Miss.
Riley Griffin	East Texas Baptist	So.	Marketing	Beach City, Texas
Harrison Hicks	UT Dallas	Sr.	Nueroscience	Frisco, Texas
Ryan Newell	LeTourneau	Sr.	Engineering	Grayson, Ga.
Kaden Treybig	Mary Hardin-Baylor	So.	Finance	Bellville, Texas
Nick Vella	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Business Administration	Colleyville, Texas

Women’s Golf

Lindy Patterson *	UT Dallas	Jr.	Biomedical Engineering	McKinney, Texas
Mara Anunciacion	UC Santa Cruz	So.	Human Biology	Lodi, Calif.
Jordan Daggs	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Ministry	Killeen, Texas
Kendalyn Ferguson	McMurry	Sr.	Mathematics	Childress, Texas
Annie Hasselbach	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Jr.	Interdisciplinary Studies	Rockdale, Texas
Madison McGarrh	Howard Payne	So.	Elementary Education	McKinney, Texas
Tiana Shobe	Concordia Texas	So.	Political Science	Lubbock, Texas
Baylee Van Houten	LeTourneau	So.	Accounting	Spring, Texas
Emily Watson	East Texas Baptist	So.	Athletic Training	Canton, Texas

Softball

Hannah Wolfe *	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Accounting	Robinson, Texas
Kayla Anderson	Howard Payne	Sr.	Kinesiology	Sherman, Texas
Corley Carpenter	East Texas Baptist	So.	Education	La Vernia, Texas
Brittany Chetta	Belhaven	Sr.	Biology	Slidell, La.
Sidney Cox	Hardin-Simmons	So.	Non-Profit Management	Frisco, Texas
Halie Guillen	Sul Ross State	Jr.	Biology	El Paso, Texas
Katie Hoke	Concordia Texas	So.	Behavioral Science	Houston, Texas
Briley Johnston	Louisiana College	Sr.	Accounting	West Monroe, La.
Megan Madden	Ozarks	Jr.	Accounting	Flower Mound, Texas
Kollin Morris	McMurry	Sr.	Psychology	Grapeland, Texas
Nicole Peters	UT Dallas	Jr.	Speech Pathology	Allen, Texas
Maycie Walton	LeTourneau	Sr.	Criminal Justice	Conroe, Texas

Men’s Tennis

Giovanni Zamboni *	UT Dallas	Sr.	Finance	Milan, Italy
Dominic DeNardo	Howard Payne	Sr.	Business Administration	Phoenix, Ariz.
Andrew Deutsch	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Business Administration	Greenwood, La.
Joseph Diaz	McMurry	Jr.	Nursing	Fort Stockton, Texas
Christian Farris	LeTourneau	Sr.	Biology	El Paso, Texas
Matt Geisel	Louisiana College	Jr.	Missions & Ministry	Groves, Texas
Cole Lankford	Ozarks	Sr.	Accounting/Bus. Admin.	Knob Noster, Mo.
Keenan Nash	Hardin-Simmons	Sr.	Accounting & Finance	Odessa, Texas
Zachery Presnall	Belhaven	Sr.	Nursing	Meridian, Miss.
Cole Weiss	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Sr.	Marketing	Frisco, Texas

Women’s Tennis

Elisa Kendall *	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Athletic Training	Houston, Texas
Cassidy Ainsworth	Belhaven	Sr.	International Studies	Denham Springs, La.
Maddison Brackenreg	LeTourneau	Sr.	Criminal Justice	Melbourne, Australia
Alexandria Corona	Ozarks	Sr.	Psychology	Willis, Texas
Neah Garza	McMurry	Sr.	Bus., Comp. Sci. & CIS	Abilene, Texas
Kathy Joseph	UT Dallas	Sr.	Biomedical Engineering	Williston, Vt.
Kelyn Likiaksa	Sul Ross State	Jr.	Psychology	El Paso, Texas
McKenna Raines	Louisiana College	Sr.	Psychology/Business	League City, Texas
Alejandra Rueda	Concordia Texas	Jr.	Pre-Nursing	Eagle Pass, Texas
Emily Shaffer	Hardin-Simmons	So.	Exercise Science	Southlake, Texas
Alondra Torres Diaz	Mary Hardin-Baylor	So.	Exercise Physiology	Franklin, Texas

Men’s Track and Field

Michael Harris *	Ozarks	Sr.	Health Science	Elkins, Ark.
Mack Broussard	East Texas Baptist	Jr.	Business	Hankamer, Texas
Damian Doyle	Louisiana College	Jr.	Criminal Justice	Shreveport, La.
Will Hilscher	LeTourneau	So.	Mechanical Engineering	Round Rock, Texas
Sammy Magallan	Hardin-Simmons	Jr.	Athletic Training	Sanderson, Texas
Hunter Magno-Hester	Belhaven	Sr.	Business Administration	Brighton, Tenn.
Alejandro Salazar	Concordia Texas	Jr.	Biology	Galveston, Texas
Jacob Williams	McMurry	Jr.	Physics	Goldthwaite, Texas

Women’s Track and Field

Alexis Segura *	LeTourneau	Sr.	Business Management	Austin, Texas
Brooklen Butler	East Texas Baptist	Sr.	Hospitality Management	Chireno, Texas
Norde Galloway	Belhaven	Jr.	Social Work	Ocean Springs, Miss.
Gracie LaCroix	Louisiana College	Jr.	Criminal Justice	Jeta, La.
Bayli Luke	Concordia Texas	Jr.	Biology	Houston, Texas
Areli Moreno	Ozarks	Sr.	Health Science	Katy, Texas
Britni Starr	Hardin-Simmons	So.	Undecided	Abilene, Texas
Kelby Tidwell	McMurry	So.	Mathematics	Post, Texas