COLUMBUS — The Mississippi University for Women recognized its athletes in a “Hoo’s Who” Awards ceremony at Poindexter Hall on Wednesday, handing out nine honors each to the school’s male and
female student-athletes. The night was highlighted by the Owl of the Year awards, which recognized senior student-athletes Conley Langford and Landon Clark as the Female and Male recipients of the honor.
Others nominated for the award include Hannah Owens, Sara Grace Ramey, Anacia Leyland, Riley Phillips, Sarah Kackley, Kalee Sanders and Avery Watts on the women’s side, and Josh Dukes, Tavonta Macon, Zach Riley, Ethan Barnes, Jaylen Lewis and Malachi Stafford from the men’s side.
This is the second consecutive Owl of the Year award for Langford, who is no stranger to receiving accolades for her performances on the court. She is a two-time All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honoree, receiving Second Team honors this season, and holds eight modern-era records for the Owls, including the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,092 points.
Clark has had a similarly impressive time as a two-way player with the Owls baseball team, compiling 11 career wins and 436 strikeouts as a pitcher and 114 hits with 15 home runs at the plate. As a junior, Clark earned a spot in the All-SLIAC First Team as a utility player, boasting a .310 batting average
This season, Clark has a 5-2 record on the mound with a .415 average at the plate for the Owls, helping the team to an impressive 11-3 record in conference play with four games to play.
Here are recipients of the eight other awards handed out during the evening.
Rookie Of the Year
Women: Brooklyn Rhodes (softball)
Men: Zach Johnson (baseball)
Ms. Clutch: Alex Moon (soccer)
Mr. Clutch: Eric Bass Jr. (basketball)
Hype woman: Keliyse Faulkner (cross country/track and field)
Hype man: Jaylen Lewis (tennis)
Best Individual Performance
Women: MC Brown (volleyball) – 22 kills, 47 attack attempts, .362 attack percentage vs. Crowley’s Ridge College (8-30-24)
Men: James Dukes (basketball) – 15-21, 32-points, 11 rebounds vs. Greenville University (2-21-25)
Comeback Athlete of the Year
Women: Anna Sandlin (softball)
Men: Tyler Bailey (tennis)
Best Team Moment
Women: Softball, 4-0 opening weekend in SLIAC play.
Men: Baseball, 6-2 win vs. nationally-ranked Webster University.
Team Community Engagement Award
Men’s Basketball, more than 350 volunteer hours.
Team Academic Excellence
Volleyball, 3.70 grade point average.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
