Mitchell, Sherrer, Cooper, Harrell are top athletes

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on April 27, 2008 2:03 AM

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MOC Sports Information

MOUNT OLIVE -- Sam Mitchell repeated as the Outstanding Female Student-Athlete and Jason Sherrer copped the Male Student-Athlete award during the annual Mount Olive College athletic banquet.

The Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year award recognizes leadership, sportsmanship, athletics accomplishment and academice achievement.

Mitchell won the Murphy Osborne Award, the top award presented to a student-athlete in Conference Carolinas. The Wisconsin native was the volleyball player of the year and also received a NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship.

Sherrer, from Arizona, was named the Conference Carolinas baseball player of the year. The senior catcher earned player-of-the-week honors on three occasions this season. He's currently ranked nationally in six statistical categories, including all three triple crown categories -- average (.421), home runs (11) and RBI (66).

Senior shortstop David Cooper (baseball) and senior shortstop Bailey Harrell (softball) seized the Scholar Athlete of the Year awards.

A biology major, Cooper is a two-time, all-Conference Carolinas selection and won this year's MOC Best Science Research Award. On the diamond, Cooper garnered all-conference honors for the third consecutive season.

Harrell, who hails from Kinston, is an english communications major. A two-time all-conference pick, Harrell helped lead the Trojans to 29 wins this season and a runner-up finish in the Conference Carolinas tournament.

She was a three-time, all-conference honoree and received first-team accolades this past spring.

In addition, Mount Olive had 30 student-athletes recognized for academic achievement in Conference Carolinas. The Trojan men's and women's basketball and baseball teams received acknowledgment for advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships.

The Male and Female Sports Play of the Year awards were presented to Erik Lovett and Tomeka Prichard, respectively. Lovett's game-winning, three-run homer gave the Trojans their third consecutive Conference Carolinas tournament title. Prichard's go-ahead 3-pointer led MOC to an opening-round upset of top-seeded Indiana (Pa.) in the women's East Regional.