June 30, 2009

Juden named College Female Athlete of the Year at area banquet

Culminating a dominating sophomore season, Cowley College softball pitcher Jacey Juden was named the College Female Athlete of the Year at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet held Friday at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita.

Over 450 people attended the 12th annual banquet, which recognizes the achievements and dedication of local youth, high school, college and professional athletes and coaches.

Juden was selected over Wichita State University’s Kellyn Johnson (track and field), and Butler Community College’s Leah Thompson (track and field).

The award had gone to a Wichita State University athlete each year but one, that being when Cowley College’s Lindsey Davis was the recipient of the award in 2001. That did not deter her head coach, Ed Hargrove, from believing his pitcher would win the award.

“I thought going in Jacey had a pretty good shot at winning,” Hargrove said. “I think this signifies what she has accomplished over the last two years.”

Juden recently completed a stellar two years at Cowley by being named the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year as she went 21-5 with a earned run average of 1.37 for the Lady Tiger softball team. The first-team All-American struck out 227 batters in 168 1/3 innings. Juden also helped her cause at the plate by batting .369 with nine home runs and 59 runs batted in.

She was also named the Cowley College Female Student Athlete of the Year, the school’s October Student-Athlete of the Month, and was a finalist for Queen Alalah.

She finished her softball career at Cowley with a record of 43-10. As a sophomore, she tossed three perfect games, including the program’s first ever seven-inning perfect game.

She helped lead the Cowley College softball team (52-7) to its sixth straight Jayhawk East title and an undefeated conference season (30-0), while the Lady Tigers also won the region tournament and placed fifth at nationals. She has signed to play softball next season at Northwest Oklahoma State.

While at Ark City High School, she helped the Lady Bulldog softball team capture back-to-back state championships. At Cowley, Juden devoted much of her time to softball and schoolwork. However, she was also a member of Phi Theta Kappa.

Juden, an education major, had a strong freshman season as well as she went 22-5 with a 1.89 earned run average on the mound, striking out 199 batters and walking only 38. She also batted .430 with three home runs and 40 runs batted in.

Johnny Bench, former Cincinnati Reds catcher and Hall of Famer, presented the Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award to University of Oklahoma catcher, J.T. Wise. Wichita State University head men’s basketball coach, Gregg Marshall, served as the keynote speaker.

Boomer Saia, another recent graduate of Cowley College, was one of three finalists for the College Male Athlete of the Year award, which went to Wichita State University’s Ramon Clemente.

“Very seldom do we get both a male and female athlete as finalists for the award,” said Tom Saia, Cowley College athletic director and father of Boomer Saia. “This is a great honor for Cowley College and I could not be happier for Jacey.”

Boomer Saia, a sports administration major from Arkansas City, was a member of the nationally ranked Tiger Men’s tennis team for the past two years. His tennis accomplishments started at Ark City High School where he won back to back state doubles titles as well as two team state runner-up finishes his junior and senior year. 

He continued his tennis success during his tenure at Cowley. Saia teamed with doubles partner, Roger White, to advance to the semifinals of No. 3 doubles at the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championships this past May.  

He competed at the national tournament in both singles and doubles each of the past two seasons and won three singles matches and six doubles matches in national tournament play. The Tiger Men’s tennis team finished 9th nationally this season and finished 11th last year. 

Saia’s success extended beyond the tennis court and into the classroom. He was on the President’s Honor roll every semester and was a member of the Mu Alpha Theta and Phi Theta Kappa academic honor societies. He graduated from Cowley with a 3.85 grade point average.

Saia was recently named a 2009 NJCAA Distinguished Academic All-American and was named Academic All-Conference and All-Region in 2008 and 2009.  

In addition to his tennis and classroom achievements, Saia was recognized by the college as a student leader. At Cowley, he was selected as a Student Ambassador and  a Cowley Captain Orientation Leader. He was named the Cowley College February Student of the Month and was the school’s Student-Athlete of the Month in November, 2008. 

 He recently captured the coveted Cowley College Mr. Cinderfella title and was well known as the intramural King at Cowley as he was a part of football, basketball, softball, dodgeball and volleyball championship teams. 

Hoping to one day become an athletic director like his father, Tom, he recently received a Phi Theta Kappa transfer scholarship from the University of Kansas and will attend there next fall.

Award Winners:
College Female Athlete of the Year – Jacey Juden, Cowley College College Male Athlete of the Year – Ramon Clemente, Wichita State University Barry Sanders High School Male Athlete of the Year – Matt Byers, Wichita East Lynette Woodard High School Female Athlete of the Year – Joanna McFarland, Derby Professional Athlete of the Year – Kevin Hooper, Wichita Wingnuts Women’s High School Coach of the Year – Rita Frakes, Andover Central Softball Men’s High School Coach of the Year – Joe Auer, Wichita Heights Gene Stephenson Coach of the Year – Troy Morrell, Butler Community College Special Award for Community Contributions – Wink Hartman Johnny Bench Award – J.T. Wise, University of Oklahoma