Michael Hunter Bledsoe

Vanderbilt University

Baseball

Athletics Excellence

1999 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.

1999 SEC batting champion with a .459 average.

SEC leader in hits and on-base percentage.

Vanderbilt leader in almost every offensive category.

Academic Excellence/ Community Service

1999 baseball GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year.

1998 SEC baseball academic honor roll.

Member of SEC's Good Works Team.

Volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House, Children's Hospital Outreach and local elementary schools through the Adopt-A-School program.

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member.

Debbie L.E. Ferguson

University of Georgia

Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field

Athletics Excellence

1996 Olympic silver medalist in the 400-meter relay.

1999 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award winner as the nation's top female collegiate track and field performer.

Four-time Division I champion in the indoor 60- and 200-meter dashes and outdoor 100- and 200-meter dashes.

One of eight finalists for the 1999 NCAA Outstanding Sportsperson of the Year award.

Combined eight-time Southeastern Conference individual champion in indoor and outdoor track.

1998 SEC female outdoor track and field athlete of the year.

Academic Excellence/Community Service

University of Georgia Presidential Scholar; member of Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Medicine Honor Society.

Four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society.

Winner of a 1999 Peach of an Athlete Award for community service in the state of Georgia.

Participatant in the Clarke County mentor program.

Volunteer for teen-pregnancy, homeless-shelter and Adopt-A-Highway programs.

Recipient of Georgia's 1999 campus-wide Senior Leader Award.

Brian D. Moorman

Pittsburg State University

Football/ Track and Field

Athletics Excellence

Pittsburg State's first four-time football all-American.

1997 NCAA statistical champion in punting with an average of 46.0 yards per punt; 1998 runner-up.

Four-time first-team all-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association punter and the league's all-time career leader in punting average.

Three-time Division II men's outdoor track and field champion in the 400-meter hurdles.

United States Track Coaches Association's 1999 Division II Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Won two MIAA championships in the indoor 55-meter hurdles, and three each in the outdoor 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles.

Academic Excellence/Community Service

1999 NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient.

Six-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Named to the 1999 USA Today All-USA Academic second team.

1998-99 Pittsburg State University Outstanding Senior Man; 1999 commencement speaker.

Three-year volunteer for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

Two-year youth educator for the Great American Smoke Out elementary education program.

Two-year camp assistant for the National Youth Sports Program.

Stephanie Nickitas

University of Florida

Tennis

Athletics Excellence

Two-time Division I champion (1997 and 1996) in both singles and doubles.

Teamed with doubles partner Dawn Buth to become the first duo in the 16-year history of the championships to win two consecutive titles.

Six-time all-American; won four collegiate Grand Slam titles.

One of six collegiate athletes from the United States to participate on the inaugural U.S. Tennis Association All-American Summer Team in 1996.

Three-time Southeastern Conference champion.

Academic Excellence/Community Service

1999 NCAA postgraduate scholarship winner.

Two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Won the 1998 Dorothy Anderson Scholarship, which is provided to a women's tennis player who demonstrates excellence in integrity, leadership, character and academics.

Member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, Alpha Gamma Delta Honor Society and Adopt-A-Highway.

A "Goodwill Gator," volunteering at a pediatric hospital in 1998.

Sally Northcroft

Ball State University

Field Hockey

Athletics Excellence

Set the Division I field hockey single-season scoring record with 52 goals in 1999.

National leader in four offensive categories

First-team all-American.

Mid-American Conference record-holder in career goals (126) and career points (270).

One of three players in MAC history to earn first-team all-league honors four times.

Academic Excellence/Community Service

Three-time National Academic Team member.

Two-time Honda Award nominee.

1998 GTE/ CoSIDA Fall/Winter At-Large All-District pick.

Volunteer with the Muncie Youth Opportunity Center, Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Big Brother/Big Sisters and literacy programs in local elementary schools.

Chad Pennington

Marshall University

Football

Athletics Excellence

Quarterbacked Marshall to an undefeated regular season in 1999, its third consecutive Mid-American Conference title and a second straight berth in the Motor City Bowl.

Selected to participate in the Hula Bowl in January.

Among the top 10 in various passing categories during the regular season, including passing efficiency and total offense.

1998 Most Valuable Player of the Motor City Bowl and MVP of the Mid-American Conference Championship game.

Washington Post's National Comeback Player of the Year in 1999.

Set two Division I-A single-season records in 1997, one for most touchdown passes, same passer and receiver (24); and the other for most touchdown passes by a sophomore (39).

Academic Excellence/Community Service

1999 Rhodes Scholarship nominee.

1999 first-team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American.

The only two-time recipient of the Cam Henderson Scholarship Award, which honors the top student-athlete at Marshall.

NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference participant.

Has spoken at numerous churches, hospitals, schools and youth sports organizations.

Member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Michael D. Ruffin

University of Tulsa

Basketball

Athletics Excellence

Ranked eighth in 1998-99 in rebounding and 18th in blocked shots, leading Tulsa to its third consecutive NCAA tournament bid.

Led the Western Athletic Conference in rebounding (10.4) and was second in blocked shots (2.6).

Finished his career as Tulsa's all-time leader in rebounding (1,211), blocked shots (266) and games played (128), and ranks among the school's top 12 in career points (12th, 1,209) and steals (sixth, 153).

Only player in school history to reach the 1,000 plateau for both points (1,209) and rebounds (1,211).

Three-time all-Western Athletic Conference selection.

Academic Excellence/Community Service

1999 first-team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American.

1999 College Hoops Insider Student-Athlete of the Year.

1997-98 Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars Award nominee.

Member of Tulsa's Mortar Board.

Worked with mentally and physically limited individuals during Special Olympian Day, and made holiday visits to area children's hospitals.

Kelly L. Schade

Simpson College

Softball

Athletics Excellence

Set six Division III records in 1999 for career wins (113), career strikeouts (1,121), career shutouts (77), most wins in a season (37), most strikeouts in a season (371) and most shutouts in a season (25).

Led Simpson to its second national championship in three years.

Pitched the fifth 18-strikeout game in Division III history.

Pitched 6 2Ž3 consecutive scoreless innings as a junior, the third longest such streak in Division III, and posted 32 wins, the third best in Division III history.

Fourth pitcher in Division III history to reach 700 career strikeouts.

Softball nominee for the 1998-99 Honda Division III Collegiate Woman of the Year.

Academic Excellence/Community Service

1998 GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American Player of the Year.

1997 second-team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Treasurer of the campus chapter of Phi Beta Phi.

Adopt-A-School D.A.R.E. speaker and leader of high-school youth group.