Winthrop's Lauren Proctor Voted 2017-18 Female Athlete of the Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Winthrop junior tennis player Lauren Proctor (Bradenton, Fla.) has been voted the Big South Conference Female Student-Athlete of the Year for the 2017-18 season by the league’s Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Sports Information Directors, it was announced today by the conference office.
Proctor is the first tennis player ever to win the conference’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year award, as well as the second consecutive Winthrop student-athlete to receive the honor. She received 97 points and 12 first-place votes, ahead of Radford volleyball player Maddie Palmer, who was second with 60 points (four first-place votes). Campbell track & field athlete Sabina Allen was third with 43 points (three first-place votes), followed by High Point lacrosse player Erica Perrotta (36 points, three first-place votes). High Point cross country/track & field runner Famke Heinst finished fifth in the voting with 33 points (one first-place vote)
Proctor earned All-America honors after advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships with wins over Georgia and Wake Forest. She became just the third three-time Big South Women’s Tennis Player of the Year honoree in 2017-18, as she posted a 21-2 mark at No. 1 singles in the spring and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Singles Championships. Proctor also won the ITA Regional Championship in October -- the first in program history -- and was nationally-ranked as high as No. 14 during the year. She completed a perfect 7-0 run in Big South matches, and led the Eagles to the Big South’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with a 4-3 win over No. 20 Auburn. Proctor teamed with Megan Kauffman at No. 1 doubles in the spring season and the duo finished ranked No. 16 in the nation, as well as 24-1 overall (lone loss was in the NCAAs) and 4-1 against nationally-ranked opponents. Proctor also earned First-Team All-Conference honors in Singles and Doubles this past season -- the third time in her career with this distinction.
In March 2000, the Big South Conference Executive Committee voted to create an annual Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year award, and named the male award in honor of former Charleston Southern Athletic Director Howard Bagwell, who was one of the founders of the Big South Conference and an inaugural inductee into the league’s Hall of Fame. The annual candidates for the award consist of the Players of the Year from each sport for the season most recently completed.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR WINNERS
2017-18 - Lauren Proctor, Winthrop (tennis)
2016-17 - Marthaline Cooper, Winthrop (track & field)
2015-16 - Ednah Kurgat, Liberty (cross country/track & field)
2014-15 - Megan Baltzell, Longwood (softball)
2013-14 - Dequesha McClanahan, Winthrop (basketball)
2012-13 - Brooke Short, Longwood (softball)
2011-12 - Gabrielle Houston, Charleston Southern (track & field)
2010-11 - Natalie Pearson, UNC Asheville (track & field)
2009-10 - Kristen Shifflett, Radford (softball)
2008-09 - Megan Frazee, Liberty (basketball)
2007-08 - Megan Frazee, Liberty (basketball)
2006-07 - Aruka Felgueroso, Coastal Carolina (golf)
2005-06 - Tiffany Evans, Radford (track & field)
2004-05 - Katie Feenstra, Liberty (basketball)
2003-04 - Katie Feenstra, Liberty (basketball)
2002-03 - Amber Campbell, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
2001-02 - Heather Sagan, Liberty (cross country/track & field)
2000-01 - Amber Campbell, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
1999-00 - Anthonia Akpama, Liberty (volleyball)