Hardy, Johnson selected APSU Most Valuable Athletes for second straight year; Schlader, Haynes
named Joy Award Recipients
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sp-06 BK/bk 4/24/180
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Four Austin Peay State University athletes were recognized Monday night with APSU's most
esteemed athletic honors.
Senior pitching star Rowdy Hardy, Austin Peay's all-time win leader, including seven so far this year, was named Most
Outstanding Male Athlete for a second straight year.
Senior track star
Sherlonda Johnson, who was named the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track Female Athlete of the Year
and later the OVC Indoor Track Championship Female Athlete of the Meet, was named Most Outstanding Female Athlete. In
fact, it also was the second straight year for her to win the award.
Meanwhile, women's basketball star Ashley Haynes, who led the Lady Govs to an OVC tourney berth while ranking second
in the nation in rebounds, has been named Female Joy Award recipient as the most valuable senior athlete.
And men's basketball standout Zac Schlader, who was earned first-team All-OVC as a senior while earning third-team
Academic All-America, was named Male Joy Award recipient.
In addition, junior soccer player Adonia Bivins, who has a 3.961 grade-point average as a pyschology major, has been
named Female Scholar-Athlete while junior tennis player Ankur Singla, who has a 3.793 GPA as an accounting major, has been
named Male Scholar-Athlete.
Also, Bivins was named the Governors Club Academic Achievement Scholarship recipient for the rising senior with the
highest grade-point average. And women's tennis player Elizabeth Whelpley, who has a 3.942 grade-point average as a busi-
ness adminstration major with a marketing concentration, was named the 2005-06 Governors Club Academic Achievement
Award recipient as the graduating senior with the highest grade-point average.
Those awards highlighted Austin Peay's annual athletics banquet in Dave Aaron Arena.
In being named Most Outstanding Male Athlete, Hardy is on his way to another remarkable pitching season, owning a 7-2
record. He will finish his career as Austin Peay's most successful pitcher, recording a school-record 30 victories, tying for the
most in OVC history. The slender 6-4 lefthander from Bethel Springs, Tenn., opened 2006 with six consecutive wins. He
currently ranks among the league's top pitchers in ERA (4th), wins (t-1st), games started (t-1st), complete games (3rd), innings
pitched (1st) and fewest walks allowed per nine innings (1st). In 2005, was named OVC Pitcher of the Year and earned his
second-straight All-OVC honor after winning 11 games as a junior. He was named OVC Rookie of the Year in 2004 after winning
12 games. He is one of only three OVC pitchers to record double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons.
Johnson, meanwhile has emerged as one of APSU's all-time greats along the same vein as former track stars Ayesha
Maycock and Sheena Gooding, who were former Most Outstanding Female Athletes. Back in the winter, she was selected OVC
Indoor Field Athlete of the Year. Then, after scoring 29 of her team's 49 points at the OVC Indoor Championships, the Fort Hood,
Texas native was named OVC Female Athlete of the Indoor Championship. In doing so, she won the 55-meter dash, long jump
(second straight year) and finished sixth in the triple jump.
She is a four-time OVC Champion: 2006 indoor 55-meter dash, 2005 & 2006 indoor long jump, 2004 outdoor long jump. She
also is the school record-holder in the long jump (20-01.75). Johnson also provisionally qualified for the 2006 NCAA Indoor
Regional Championship.
Haynes, meanwhile, placed her name all over the APSU women's basketball record book in earning the Joy Award. The
Clarksville native became only the eighth OVC women's basketball player to record 1,000 career rebounds and finished her
career ranked second all-time with 1,080 career rebounds.
Haynes scored more than 1,000 points and grabbed more 1,000 rebounds during her career, making her the only APSU
basketball player ? male or female ? to reach both plateaus. She finished ranked among the conference's top 10 in single-
season rebounding each of her four years, finishing ninth her freshman year, second her sophomore and junior seasons and first
her senior season. She was a two-time first-team All-OVC selection (sophomore and senior seasons).
As a senior in 2005-06, she was ranked among the nation's top seven in rebounding all season and finished the season
ranked No. 2 nationally. Haynes finished her final season ranked third in OVC scoring, first in rebounding, first in field-goal
percentage, third in assists, fourth in steals, fourth in blocked shots and first in minutes played, just to name a few categories.
Haynes broke the APSU single-season rebounding record (374). She led APSU in scoring 15 times, rebounding 26 times,
assists 12 times, steals 12 times and blocked shots 19 times. Haynes also led the Lady Govs in all five categories twice during
the season. Haynes recorded 22 double-doubles in 28 games in 2005-2006, including a school-record streak of nine after
Christmas.
(more)
Hardy, Johnson selected APSU Most Valuable Athletes for second straight year; Schlader, Haynes
named Joy Award Recipients--add oneOff the floor, Haynes was named
ESPN The Magazine second-team Academic All-District. She owns a 3.67 GPA in public
management with a criminal justice emphasis.
Schlader capped a strong APSU basketball career with a first-team All-OVC selection after being named preseason second-
team All-OVC. As a senior, he averaged 14.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, shooting 50.4 percent from the floor and 73.6
percent from the free-throw line.
The Columbia, Mo., native finished his career with 1033 points and 514 rebounds, becoming only the 13th player in school
history in the 1000-point, 500-rebound club.
He was named all-tournament at South Padre Island Invitational after being selected OVC all-tourney a year ago along with
the Paradise Jam all-tourney team honors.
This winter, Schlader also was named third-team
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America, as selected by the College
Sports Information Directors of America. In doing so, he became first basketball player in school history to earn Academic All-
America
A health and wellness promotion major, Schlader owns a 3.71 grade-point average and is a finalist for the NCAA Post-
Graduate Scholarship. He was a nominee for the prestigious OVC Scholar-Athlete Award and has been featured in the HCA-
OVC Scholar spotlight, sponsored by HCA's TriStar Family of Hospitals. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society
and is vice-president of the student-athlete advisory council.
The Joy Award originated in 1947 by the late Wilson Goodrich, owner of Joy's Jewelers, with the individual award being a
watch. Widow Alice Goodrich continued the tradition through 1989 and current Joy's Jewelers owner David Baggett has sus-
tained the presentation each spring after a vote of all head coaches, athletics director and athletics admininstrative staff. A
permanent plaque display with recipients names is located in the Govenors Club Room in the Dunn Center.
Nine years ago, with Baggett's blessing, it was determined to name both a male and female Joy Award recipient. Last year's
recipients were football player Ryan Taylor and women's basketball player Cassandra Peek.
The first Joy Award recipient in 1947 was Dr. George Fisher, who also is a member of both the Austin Peay and Ohio Valley
Conference Halls of Fame.
