The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Softball Team Receives SEC Sportsmanship Award
6/15/2011 | Rebel Ready
June 15, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -The Ole Miss softball team and University of South Carolina track and field athlete Louis Day have been named recipients of the fourth annual SEC Sportsmanship Award, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive announced Wednesday. The winners will be forwarded for nomination to the NCAA for its national sportsmanship awards, to be announced in July.
The two were chosen by a vote of the SEC Directors of Athletics.
"Participation in sport teaches life's lessons that benefit our student-athletes," said Slive. "Demonstrating good sportsmanship is something that will benefit student-athletes for years after their playing careers are over. I congratulate the Ole Miss softball team and Louis for showing good sportsmanship and earning this prestigious honor."
After the tornadoes that struck Alabama and Mississippi in April 2011, the Ole Miss softball felt it important to reach out to their counterparts at the University of Alabama to help in any way possible. The Rebels and the Crimson Tide were scheduled to play a three-game series in Oxford just nine days after the devastation hit Tuscaloosa.
During the week leading up to the matchup, members of the team led by captains Brittany Barnhill and Amanda Hutcheson, went to the coaching staff and decided that a contribution to the tornado relief efforts would be the best way to rally around their friends.
Before the series opener, Barnhill and Hutcheson presented the Alabama softball team with a donation for the University of Alabama's tornado relief efforts on behalf of the entire team. The donation, presented to Crimson Tide seniors Kelsi Dunne and Whitney Larsen, was designated for the University of Alabama's Acts of Kindness Fund that provided financial assistance to employees and students who qualify under the guidelines of this emergency-assistance program.
"The recent tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama demonstrated to us that softball is just a game," Barnhill said. "We may be competitors on the field, but we are all members of the SEC and that makes us a family."
"The team felt compelled to help their fellow SEC students and should be congratulated on receiving this honor," said Executive Associate Athletics Director Lynnette Johnson. "I think this award shows the type of student-athlete we have at Ole Miss. They are competitors on the field but understand that there are more important issues off the field."
Louis Day's act of sportsmanship was at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships. On one of his throws in the preliminary rounds of the weight throw competition, the official misread his mark and gave two extra meters to his throw.
Day knew the mark to be inaccurate and he informed his coach, Mike Sergent. After the discussion, his coach approached the officials to acknowledge the mistake. The officials decided that the mark was indeed inaccurate and honored the protest. The competitor who initially did not make the mark to be in the top 12 was allowed to participate in the finals and the officials expanded the final number of participants to include Day.
"Although Louis did not win a championship during this event," said South Carolina Director of Athletics Eric Hyman, "his sportsmanship is that of a champion."
This marks the second-straight year Ole Miss has been recognized with the SEC Sportsmanship Award, as former running back Rodney Scott was honored for his sportsmanship after Auburn safety Zac Etheridge was injured during the Rebels' game against the Tigers in 2009.
Last year, Scott along with South Carolina softball player Sam Arbaugh were recipients of the SEC Sportsmanship Award. In 2009, the University of Alabama women's tennis team and University of Arkansas track & field athlete Dorian Ulrey were recipients of the SEC Sportsmanship Award and in 2008, Florida golfer Jessica Yadloczky and Tennessee basketball player Chris Lofton were recipients of the honor.
