Winthrop's Lauren Proctor Voted 2018-19 Female Athlete of the Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Winthrop senior tennis player Lauren Proctor (Bradenton, Fla.) has been voted the Big South Conference Female Athlete of the Year for the 2018-19 season by the league’s Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Sports Information Directors, it was announced today by the conference office. The candidates for the annual award consist of the Players of the Year from each sport.
Proctor is the just the third back-to-back recipient of the conference’s Female Athlete of the Year Award and fourth overall multiple winner. She received 98 points and 13 first-place votes, ahead of Hampton basketball player Ashley Bates, who was second with 62 points (four first-place votes). USC Upstate softball pitcher Christina Biggerstaff was third with 56 points (three first-place votes), followed by High Point cross country/track & field runner Famke Heinst (48 points, two first-place votes). High Point volleyball player Molly Livingston finished fifth in the voting with 37 points (two first-place votes).
Proctor became just the fifth student-athlete in Big South Conference history to be voted Player of the Year all four years, and is the second women’s tennis player ever with that distinction. She posted a 24-8 overall record in 2018-19, with a 20-3 match record during the spring at No. 1 singles -- her fourth consecutive year with at least 20 victories. Proctor finished the season as the nation’s 62nd-ranked player, reached as high as No. 32 and had an average ranking of 49 during the campaign. She was undefeated in Big South matches at 9-0 -- winning all contests in straight-sets, including five 6-0 victories. The 2019 graduate defeated two nationally-ranked opponents during the spring, in addition to winning two matches in the Oracle ITA Masters Tournament in the fall and one match at the ITA Fall National Championships. Proctor again teamed with 2018 All-American partner Megan Kauffman at No. 1 doubles this past season, and the nationally-ranked duo compiled a 21-11 overall record (16-7 in the spring, 8-1 in the Big South) with five wins over nationally-ranked doubles tandems (Arizona State, N.C. State, Syracuse, Texas and North Carolina) in 2018-19. Proctor earned First-Team All-Conference honors in singles and doubles -- the fourth time in her career with this achievement, qualified to compete individually at the NCAA Championships in both singles and doubles for the second time, and led the Eagles to the Big South regular-season and tournament championships.
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. Below are the past winners of the Female Athlete of the Year Award.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
2018-19 - Lauren Proctor, Winthrop (tennis)
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)