TECH’S McDEARMON, ECU’S EWY NAMED GAC SCHOLAR ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Press release

 

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – A pair of Academic All-Americans, Arkansas Tech’s Dylan McDearmon and East Central’s Mariah Ewy received the 2018-19 Great American Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year awards, the conference office announced on Thursday.

 

The league’s faculty athletic representatives or designees voted on the Male and Female Scholar Athlete of the Year awards. They could not vote for their own student-athletes.

 

2018-19 GAC MALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – DYLAN McDEARMON, ARKANSAS TECH, BASEBALLMcDearmon became the second student-athlete from Arkansas Tech in as many years to receive the Male Scholar Athlete of the Year as he matched the feat of former quarterback Ty Reasnor. Additionally, he joined former Harding catcher Davis Richardson as the only baseball players to capture this honor.

McDearmon owns a 4.00 grade point average as he completes his master’s in business administration. McDearmon became the first Arkansas Tech baseball player to earn Google Cloud Academic All-America honors since David Ciesla, garnered three consecutive selections from 1996 to 1998.

 

In the community, McDearmon has offered his time to multiple service projects. In all four of his years in Russellville, he helped with Paint the Town Green & Gold, the Russellville Fall Festival, Arkansas Tech’s Move-in Day Event, the Russellville Floating Parade, multiple park clean ups and the 2019 Journey Church Fear Factor Event

 

On the diamond, he earned All-Region honors and a spot on the All-GAC First Team for the second time in his career. He hit .349 with a team-leading 11 home runs. He drove in 39 runs and went 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts. For his career, he finished ranked second in GAC history in doubles, third in total bases and fourth in runs scored. Additionally, he became the fifth player in league history to collect 200 base hits.

 

Other nominees for the 2018-19 GAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award included Arkansas-Monticello junior Kinley Lee (Golf), East Central junior Larry Filer (Cross Country/Track & Field), Harding senior Justin Kucera (Soccer), Henderson State senior Joshua Jones (Basketball), Northwestern Oklahoma State junior Daschal Johnson (Baseball), Oklahoma Baptist junior Michael Stewart (Soccer), Ouachita senior Matthew Ward (Basketball), Southeastern Oklahoma State junior Danrich Kruger (Tennis), Southern Arkansas junioe Jordan White (Football), Southern Nazarene senior Noah Starkey (Basketball), Southwestern Oklahoma State senior Brandon Roe (Football).

2018-19 GAC FEMALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – MARIAH EWY, EAST CENTRAL, SOFTBALL

Ewy became the third East Central softball player named GAC Scholar Athlete of the Year as she matched the feat previously achieved by Emily Kennemer in 2011-12 and Autumn Suydam in 2015-16.

 

The senior, who completed her time at East Central with a perfect 4.00 GPA in biology, claimed the GAC Elite Scholar Athlete award in each of her final two seasons. She added Google Cloud Academic All-America honors in both 2018 and 2019 as she joined Suydam as the only two-time Academic All-America in school history.

 

Ewy, a finalist for the school’s George Nigh Award as the institution’s top graduating senior, earned the distinction of presenting her research work at the Oklahoma state Capitol at the 2019 Oklahoma EPSCoR Research Day.  She joined an elite group of just 20 students from across all Oklahoma colleges and universities asked to attend. This event represented the conclusion of her two-year McNair Scholars Program Internship. The event fell on the same day as a doubleheader with rival Southeastern Oklahoma State. After demonstrating her findings, she returned in time to start game two.

On the field, she hit .305 with nine doubled and 27 runs scored. She finished her career as a two-time All-GAC performer and she set the school record for games played while ranking inside the top 10 in runs scored and walks.

 

Other nominees for the 2018-19 GAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year award included Arkansas-Monticello senior Kali Bolter (Softball) Arkansas Tech senior Sydnie Henson (Softball), Harding senior Peyton Mills (Softball), Henderson State senior Sydnee Parker (Tennis), Northwestern Oklahoma State senior Cassidy Hackett (Volleyball), Oklahoma Baptist senior Sydney Lawrence (Cross Country/Track & Field), Ouachita senior Katie Camp (Volleyball), Southeastern Oklahoma State senior Destiny Riddle (Softball), Southern Arkansas sophomore Carley Hale (Cross Country/Track & Field), Southern Nazarene senior Madeleine Schroepfer (Women’s Basketball) and Southwestern Oklahoma State senior Erica Brunet (Soccer).