Brenau University softball players Tiffany Schandera, Morgan Smith and Jenny Shepherd have been named to the 2011 Louisville Slugger All-Region team, announced Wednesday by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Anna Maness was named to the second team for the Golden Tigers.
Also for Brenau, junior Brooke Bryant was named a 2011 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete for maintaining a grade point average at or above 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
CHEERLEADING: Dakota Carter, Kayla Childers, Kiah Davis, Kimberli Fleming, Bralee Griffin, Key'yanna Jones, Wrenn Kelly, Sarah McAndrew and Kristian Roebuck each signed letters of intent to join the newly created Brenau University competitive cheerleading squad.
In addition to those that signed, several others have been named to the roster for the 2011-2012 season. These include: Kiera Brewer, Chloe Golden, Kali Graham, Braiden Rudolph, Ginger Sailors, Leah Smith, Breanne Stevenson and Katoya Williams.
WOMEN'S TENNIS: Liubov Orlova, Kate Mazackova, Nelli Martirosyan and Lyn See Choo have each been named 2011 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes for the Breanu University tennis team.
Choo was also named a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics 2011 Women's Tennis All-American for her performance this season.
PIEDMONT: Emily Thomas has been hired to coach Piedmont University's newly created women's lacrosse program.
Thomas begins her tenure in June, with a track record of success as both a coach and player, with a pair of Division III Women's Lacrosse National Championships to her credit.
"We are extremely pleased to add Emily to our coaching staff at Piedmont," Piedmont's director of athletics John Dzik said. "Her background of experience in the sport of women's lacrosse coupled with her ability to start successful collegiate lacrosse programs in the Southeast made her natural for our situation."
"I would like to thank John Dzik and President Ray Cleere for the opportunity to start the women's lacrosse program at Piedmont," Thomas said. "I am very excited to take on the challenge of developing this program to be competitive in the USA South Athletic Conference."
A native of Collingswood, NJ, Thomas earned her Bachelor of Science in Corporate Fitness from the College of New Jersey in 2000, before moving on to earn her Master of Science in Health Promotion Management in 2003 from American University in Washington, D.C.
COAN NAMED AN ALL-AMERICAN: With the best teams in the nation coming together for the NCAA Division II College World Series, the best players in the country were recognized as the NFCA announced the Louisville Slugger All-American teams at the Banquet of Champions on Wednesday in Salem, Virginia.
Ranked No. 2 in the country and playing in a third straight World Series, North Georgia was once again represented as Lady Saints junior pitcherJessica Coanwas selected as a First-Team Louisville Sluger All-American by the National Fastpich Coaches Association.
All-American honors for the junior caps off a long list of awards for Coan, who has been named Peach Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year, Daktronics Southeast Region Pitcher of the Year, and NFCA First-Team All-Region.
She is in the midst of the one of the most dominating pitching seasons in North Georgia history with a 27-4 record and 0.95 earned run average. She has tossed 213.1 innings and recorded 326 strikeouts, while allowing just 29 earned runs on the year.
She has 25 complete game victories, including allowing just three hits in the Southeast Super Regional championship game to propel the Saints to a third consecutive College World Series.