College Sports

The University of Texas at Tyler’s Lindsey Peters, a senior softball player from Shreveport, La., has been named the winner of the 2007-2008 American Southwest Conference Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award, the league announced Monday.

Peters was selected, along with Tyler Winford of Mississippi College, after a vote of the league’s athletics directors.

The ASC Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award honors a male and female student-athlete who best displays the attributes of sportsmanship, leadership, citizenship and academic integrity in their athletic, academic and life pursuits.

Each ASC member institution may nominate its campus Sportsmanship Award winner to the conference-wide ballot. This is the ninth year the ASC has presented its Sportsmanship Award and the third year the award is being presented after being renamed in honor of the Conference’s first commissioner, Fred Jacoby.

Winford and Peters, who become the first recipients of the award from their respective institutions, will represent the American Southwest Conference on the NCAA Division III National Sportsmanship Award ballot.

Peters, who attended Huntington High School strives to live her life by a set of principles and is the model, to which all coaches point, as the ideal collegiate student-athlete. She is the first person to encourage her teammates for great effort, and the first to be there to hug a teammate in despair, UT Tyler coach Mike Reed said.

Reed added, in the conference tournament against Howard Payne, with two outs in the last inning, one of the opposing team members was hit in the foot, by a pitch. Their young lady was barely able to move but had to stay in the game because the team was out of substitutes. She went to first base, which loaded the bases. The next batter ripped a base hit to centerfield which would have scored two runs; the injured runner was thrown out at second base. The last out was made and the Patriots began to celebrate the come-from-behind victory. Peters, however, went straight to the player and began to check on her injury and offer to help.

“At the moment of joy for UT Tyler, Peters put the worry and respect for the injured player above that of her team’s excitement,” Reed said.

Also, off the field, Peters weighs every decision based on the impact it will have on others. She is a self-less and is always serving others and thinking of others. During her sophomore year, the softball team seceded they wanted to divide into groups and adopt angels from the Salvation Army tree. After the team had returned the toys and clothes for four angels, Peters asked the team a question: “How can we do more?”

“She decided to challenge the other teams at our university to match the number of angels we had provided for,” Reed said. “That led to several more children being helped that Christmas, but Lindsey was still not satisfied. She asked that other conference softball teams challenge our team and in the end, nearly 50 angels had been adopted. Peters lives her life to help others. She has contributed hundreds of hours in community service by visiting hospitals, elementary schools, etc. Lindsey volunteered for every community service project offered by the softball team, instead of rotating with other student-athletes.”

UT Tyler baseball player Kendal Fox was nominated for the male award.

Winford, of Madison, Miss., has enjoyed a remarkable basketball career at Mississippi College while serving as a terrific example of what a collegiate student-athlete should be, MC officials said. His athletic accomplishments are numerous.

Despite the time required for his stellar athletic and scholastic accomplishments while at MC, Winford has been very active as a member of the MC Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Leadership Team and the college ministry of the First Baptist Church of Jackson. His community activities include speaking to a high school FCA group, speaking to a group of first through fourth graders regarding the importance of teamwork, and to a junior high basketball team. In 2005 he assisted in Hurricane Katrina clean-up efforts in Poplarville, Miss., as well as working with Habitat for Humanity. In 2007 he volunteered at Wingard House, a homeless shelter. Winford plans to become a doctor and will eventually work with children in pediatrics. His athletic and academic career at MC have only been overshadowed by his conduct off the court. He embraced his status as a role model and made every attempt to influence young people positively.

UT Tyler softball player Lindsey Peters slides safely into third base while George Fox Bruins third baseman Nikki Morrison waits for the ball during a 2007 game at the UT Tyler Baseball/Softball Complex.
(Staff file photo by Amy Peterson)