CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Four Austin Peay State University athletes were recognized Monday night with APSU’s most cherished athletic honors.
Senior basketball forward Drake Reed, who broke several Austin Peay career records en route to earning his third consecutive first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference honor, was named APSU’s Most Outstanding Male Athlete and shared the Legends Award as Austin Peay’s most valuable senior athlete with tennis player Lucas de Brito.

Meanwhile, senior forward April Thomas, who led APSU women’s basketball team to the OVC tournament championship and an NCAA tourney berth was named the female Legends Award recipient while Carrie Burggraf, who won the OVC Indoor pole vault championship and already has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Regionals in the event, was named Most Outstanding Female Athlete.

Meanwhile, Burggraf, a political science major with a minor in English writing; soccer player  Lauren Moon, Mass Communications major with a public relations concentration and a communication arts minor, and men’s tennis’ Leonardo Locatelli,a business major with concentrations in international management and economics, collected much of the hardware presented for academics. All three own a 4.0 in their respective majors. Moon and Burggraf were recognized as the Female Scholar Athlete recipients while Locatelli earned the same award on the men’s side.

In addition, all three are co-recipients of the Perkins Freeman/Governors Club Academic Achievement Scholarship, annually presented to the rising senior(s) with the highest grade-point average. Meanwhile, senior softball player Lacey Briscoe, who owns a 3.750 grade-point average in education (grades 4 to 8), was awarded the Perkins Freeman/Governors Club Academic Achievement Award for owning the highest GPA of a graduating senior.

Those awards highlighted Austin Peay’s annual athletics banquet in the Morgan University Center.

In being named Most Outstanding Male Athlete and co-Legends Award recipient, Reed recently was named CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major All-American. The Clarksville native was a three-time first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference choice.  As a senior, Reed averaged 21.9 ppg, finishing as the OVC’s second leading scorer. That scoring figure also was third highest in the nation among forwards. Reed totaled seven games as a senior with 30 or more points, including six double-doubles.

Reed left Austin Peay third on its all-time scoring list with 1,991 points. He became the first player in Austin Peay history to score 1900 or more points while grabbing at least 750 rebounds. The four-year starter left Austin Peay as its career record holder in free throws made (476), free throws attempted (694), starts (125), minutes played (4,093) and tied for first in games played (131). He also left Austin Peay ranked in the Top 10 in five other categories. Reed was the 2006-07 OVC Player of the Year and earned honorable mention Associated Press All-America honors that season. 

de Brito, meanwhile, played No. 1 or No. 2 singles along with No. 1 doubles for APSU’s tennis team over his four-year APSU career. He was the team’s MVP both as a freshman and sophomore. A three-time member of the OVC’s Commissioner’s Honor Roll (3.25 GPA for year), he was named to the President’s List (4.0 GPA) once and the Dean’s List (3.5 GPA) twice  while being a member of the Athletics Director’s Honor Roll (3.0) each semester. He owns a 3.37 GPA as a business major.

Thomas, meanwhile, compiled for Lady Govs basketball one of the finest senior campaigns since Brooke Armistead. Her 434 points in 2008-09 – doubling her junior season’s total – were the second most by a senior, behind Armistead. Her 290 rebounds were the most by a senior, breaking the mark held by Joanne Arnold (281) in 1979-80. She also finished second among seniors in free throws made (95) and attempted (135). She had 13 double-doubles during the season.
She saw marked improvement during the season’s final 21 games, nearly averaging a double-double – 15.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.

Thomas was named the OVC tournament’s “Most Valuable Player” after averaging 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in the Lady Govs remarkable tournament run. She was APSU’s first player to earn tourney MVP honors since Gerlonda Hardin did so in 2004.

Burggraf has enjoyed a phenomenal junior season both on and off the field to this point. Back in February she set the Austin Peay record in the indoor pole vault–while tying the OVC mark–with a vault of 12.0 to claim the championship. She then opened the outdoor season by reaching the NCAA qualifying height with a OVC-record vault of 12-7.5 at Florida A&M. That vault, recently tied by teammate Molly
Bartkiewicz, continues to rank first in the OVC during the outdoor season. Burggraf is the defending OVC Outdoor Track pole vault champion.

For the season, Burggraf owns a 110-22-8 record in the pole vault. In addition to capturing last season’s OVC outdoor pole vault--setting the championship record in the process–she also qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional for the first time. 

Off the field, Burggraf became the first Lady Govs junior athlete to ever receive the prestgious OVC Scholar-Athlete Award, given annually to three male and three female student-athletes of junior or senior status for their accomplishments in both the classroom and athletic arena, and because of their leadership qualities.

The initial presentation of the Legends Award continues APSU’s long-standing tradition of honoring the most valuable male and female senior athletes, respectively. The Legends Award, sponsored by Legends Bank, assumes the place of the Joy Award, which was originated in 1947 by the late Wilson Goodrich, then owner of Joy’s Jewelers. From 1947-96, one APSU senior athlete was honored each year. However, beginning in 1997 a male and female senior athlete, respectively, was honored by Joy’s and that continued through 2008. However, Joy’s Jewelers closed its business last spring, with Legends Bank now continuing the tradition of honoring athletics excellence.

Award Reciipients

Individual Awards
 
Legends Award (men)—Drake Reed, basketball; Lucas de Brito, tennis
Outstanding Male Athlete—Drake Reed, basketball
Legends Award (women)—April Thomas, basketball
Outstanding Female Athlete—Carrie Burggraf, track and field
Female Scholar-Athlete Award— Carrie Burggraf, track and field
    Lauren Moon, soccer
Male Scholar-Athlete Award—Leonardo Locatelli, tennis
Governors Club Academic Achievement Award—Lacey Briscoe, softball
Governors Club Academic Achievement Scholarship—
 Carrie Burggraf, women’s track and field
 Lauren Moon, women’s soccer
 Leonardo Locatelli, men’s tennis

Team Awards
Baseball: Most Valuable—Rafael Hill (2008), Pitcher of the Year––Daniel Tenh older (2008), Most Improved—Matt Kole (2008), Scholar-Athlete—Brian Bernatowicz
Men’s Basketball: Most Valuable—Drake Reed, Most Improved—Wes Channels, Scholar Athlete—Drake Reed
Women’s Basketball: Most Valuable—April Thomas, Most Improved–Nicole Jamen; Scholar Athlete—Brooke Faulkner
Men’s Cross Country: Most Valuable—Tim Hall, Ryne Sexton, Scholar Athlete—Lukas Siska
Women’s Cross Country: Most Valuable—Bertha Castillo, Newcomer–Janelle Avery, Scholar Athlete—Tracee Gruskiewicz
Women’s Indoor/Outdoor Track: Field Athlete of Year–Carrie Burggraf, Track Athlete of Year–Chiamaka Obi, Scholar Athlete–Carrie Burggraf
Football: Most Valuable Offense—Travis Dumke, Most Valuable Defense—Kevis Buckley, Most Valuable Special Teams—Terrence Holt,  Scholar Athlete—Stanley Brooks
Men’s Golf: Most Valuable—Erik Barnes, Most Improved—Matt Coles, Scholar Athlete—Erik Barnes
Women’s Golf: Most Valuable—Chelsea Harris, Most Improved—Ashley Wathen,  Scholar Athlete—Staci Lynch
Women’s Soccer: Most Valuable—Carley Newman, Most Improved—Mary Beth Burchett, Scholar Athlete—Lauren Moon
Softball: Most Valuable—TBA, Most Improved—TBA, Scholar Athlete—Lacey Briscoe
Men’s Tennis: Most Valuable—Leonardo Locatelli, Most Improved—Dusty Brady, Scholar Athlete—Leonardo Locatelli
Women’s Tennis: Most Valuable—Mariana Pagan, Most Improved—Alex Pyle, Scholar Athlete—Michelle Liew
Volleyball: Most Valuable—Stephanie Champine, Most Improved—Taylor Skinner, Scholar Athlete—Kirstin Distler
Pom Squad: Most Valuable—Lauren Laugeness, Most Improved––Kayla Wallace, Scholar Athlete—Bethany McCaslin
Cheerleading: Most Valuable —Ashley Crum, Most Improved—Erin Sutton, Haley Lail, Scholar Athlete—Erin Sutton

-AP-