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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thomas Candidate For Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
8/25/2011 | Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - Senior middle blocker Regina Thomas, a member of the Ole Miss volleyball team, has been selected as a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award it was announced on Thursday.
Thomas is one of 30 candidates nationwide for the award. To be eligible for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - the community, the classroom, character and in competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Thomas enters her senior season with the Rebels after redshirting for her first year at Ole Miss in 2007 and is coming off a season-ending ACL injury a year ago. Despite the injury that cut short her season and caused her to miss four weeks of competition, including the NCAA Tournament, Thomas became Ole Miss' first volleyball player to earn All-America honors when she was named a third team selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Thomas also earned her undergraduate degree with a B.A. in Psychology. With degree in hand, she could have chosen to forego her final year of eligibility and walk away from the sport following her injury. Instead, she worked hard in rehab and returns to the court in 2011 to compete in her final season for the Rebels.
The senior is also a visible presence in the Ole Miss and Oxford community, participating in many community outreach programs throughout the years. She is active in the Reading With The Rebels program and visits local elementary schools to read with school children. She also participates in the Rebel Rerun program to collect athletic shoes for youths in Africa. Thomas also went out into the community with her teammates following the tornados that hit the South in the spring of 2011 to help clean up and tend to the needs of victims of the storms that swept through the area.
In the classroom, Thomas has repeatedly been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll, the various honor rolls on campus at the University of Mississippi. She is also currently working on a post-graduate degree after completing her undergraduate degree earlier this year.
The 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans who will select the one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
