[April 30, 2008]

By: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Kristina Daily and Cody Jones were honored Wednesday with the coveted Auburn Smith Awards at the annual Southern Arkansas All-Sports banquet in the Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Also receiving laurels were Rachel Vinsant and Johnny Fields, being named this year’s Scholar-Athlete Award winners. Director of Athletics, Jay Adcox, presented the annual honors.

The Auburn Smith Award, given annually to both a female and male student-athlete, is the most prestigious honor a student-athlete can receive at SAU. The award is named in memory of Auburn Smith, who served as athletics director, administrator, coach, and instructor at Southern Arkansas. Athletic ability, performance, character, and scholastic achievement are all considerations by a selection committee of head coaches and athletic administrators at the university who select the honorees.

Daily is a 5-9 middle blocker for the Lady Mulerider volleyball team. A senior from Houston, Texas, she sports a 3.62 GPA in accounting, with a minor in political science.

Daily was named a First Team All-Gulf South Conference selection this season after being a Second Team All-GSC pick her junior year. She was named to both the West Florida Regional Crossover and Christian Brothers All-Tournament Teams in 2006. Daily finished her four-year career at Southern Arkansas as the all-time leader in total attacks with 2,934, and total kills with 1,224.

She has been selected to the GSC All-Academic Team the past two years, and is a four-time member of the GSC Academic Honor Roll. Daily has twice been named to the SAU President’s list, with perfect 4.00 GPA’s in those two semesters, and is a three-time member of the SAU Dean’s List.

A 6-2, 180-pound starting pitcher on the Mulerider baseball team, Jones is the second consecutive baseball student-athlete to win the Auburn Smith honor. A senior out of Springhill, La., Jones is majoring in health, kinesiology and recreation.

With a 9-0 win-loss record on the mound this year, Jones has helped lead Southern Arkansas to a 41-8 record and an earlier national No. 1 ranking, the first in the program’s storied history. His nine pitching victories thus far have enabled him to tie the career record at SAU with 32 wins.

Injured most of his junior season, Jones was still named Second Team All-Gulf South Conference in 2007. That followed a sophomore season, when as the ace of the staff, he guided the Muleriders to the GSC championship. That 2006 season, he was named third team All-America by both the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches’ Association and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association. Jones was also a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week in 2006, and was named First Team All-South Central Region by both the Rawlings/ABCA and NCBWA. That season he was also honored as First Team All-GSC, was named to the GSC All-Tournament Team, and was three times named the GSC West Division Pitcher of the Week. Jones also holds the Southern Arkansas season record with 115 strikeouts. He is a two-time member of the SAU Dean’s List.

The esteemed Scholar-Athlete Award is also given to both a female and male student-athlete. The nominee must have a minimum of a 3.00 GPA, have completed at least 56 semester hours, with at least one semester at SAU. Selection of the honorees is done by a committee considering GPA, athletic accomplishments, and citizenship.

Vinsant, a senior with the Lady Mulerider tennis program, hails from Greenville, Texas, and carries an impressive 3.94 cumulative GPA in biological science, with a minor in Spanish.

Vinsant was named last year to the prestigious ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI First Team. She is a three-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete, has been named twice to the Gulf South Conference All-Academic Team, and is a three-time member of the GSC Academic Honor Roll, and should add to those accolades when this year’s honors are awarded. Vinsant is a five-time member of the Southern Arkansas President’s List carrying a 4.00 GPA for each of those semesters, and is a two-time member of the SAU Dean’s List. On the court, she has been a four-time All-GSC selection, being named first team in her freshman and junior seasons, and was a second team pick in her sophomore year and this season.

Fields is a 6-0, 236-pound tight end for the Mulerider football team. Out of De Soto, Texas, Fields graduated in December with a 3.25 GPA and a B.B.A. in business administration-management.

Fields was named this year to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI Second Team and to the Gulf South Conference All-Academic Team. He is also a four-time member of the GSC Academic Honor Roll. Fields was rewarded for his efforts on the field this past season by being named Honorable Mention All-America by the Football Gazette, was a Football Gazette Second Team All-Southeast Region selection, and a First Team All-GSC pick. In his sophomore year, he was a Football Gazette Third Team All-Southeast Region honoree, and was named Second Team All-GSC.

In other honors, outstanding athletes were named in their respective fields by their head coaches or sponsors. Daily was named for volleyball, Jones for baseball, Vinsant for tennis, and Fields was named in football. Jada McBryde received the accolade for athletic training, Whitney Taylor for women’s golf, Matthew Martin in men’s golf, Chad Fryar for men’s rodeo, Kendall Mears in both women’s cross country and women’s track, Josh Mitchell for men’s cross country, Michael Wooten in men’s track, Joanna Jones for softball, Kirby Turner in cheerleading, Cory Green for men’s basketball, and Goldie White in women’s basketball.

Dan Gregory, with KVMA/KVMZ radio served as emcee for the evening’s event.

Photos by Aaron Morris, SAU sports information