Crimson Choice Award Winners Announced
Paul W. Bryant Award Winners
Haylie McCleney (left) & Retin Obasohan (right)
Photo credit: RollTide.com/Amelia B. Barton
Last night was a big night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Alabama Athletics Department held their annual Crimson Choice Awards Banquet, presented by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Tuesday evening at the Bryant Conference Center.
The SAAC president, senior swimmer Travis Kerner, opened the gathering by welcoming all of the student-athletes, coaches, staff and administration to this celebration of Crimson Tide excellence in sports and curriculum.
Winners of the Paul W. Bryant Award was senior SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Retin Obasohan and senior All-American and Academic All-American softball player Haylie McCleney. The Paul W. Bryant Award is given annually to the top male and female student-athlete. The award was created by the Tuscaloosa County Chapter of the University of Alabama Alumni Association in 1985.
The teams with the highest grade point average were the gymnastics and the men's swimming and diving teams. Gymnastics was honored for their 3.74 team GPA, with the men's swimmers and divers compiling a 3.25 GPA.
Also being recognized during last night's festivities were the Athletics Department's community outreach efforts. University of Alabama student-athletes gave almost 3,000 hours toward community service this year. Earning the honor with the most community outreach hours was the women's golf team and the men's basketball team.
Numerous other Crimson Choice Awards were given out last night, including:
Team of the Year - Football and Softball
Coach of the Year Award - Patrick Murphy, Softball and Nick Saban, Football
Comeback Athlete of the Year - Kenyan Drake, Football
Athlete of the Year - Derrick Henry, Football and Emma Talley, Women's Golf
Rookie of the Year - Alexis Osorio, Softball and Calvin Ridley, Football
Faculty Member of the Year - Angela Billings, Communication Studies
Support Staff Member of the Year - Terry Jones, Strength & Conditioning
Fan Favorite - Derrick Henry, Football
Congratulations to each and every one of these. Roll Tide!
Crimson Choice Award-Female Team Highest GPA
Alabama Gymnastics
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Amelia B. Barton
Crimson Choice Award-Male Team Highest GPA
Men's Swimming & Diving
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Amelia B. Barton
Crimson Choice Award-Community Outreach Female
Alabama Women's Golf
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Amelia B. Barton
Crimson Choice Award-Community Outreach Male
Alabama Men's Basketball
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Amelia B. Barton
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Tide Softball 4th For 3rd Consecutive Week
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The Alabama softball team maintains its No. 4 national ranking for the third-consecutive week in both the USA Today/NFCA poll and
the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
The Crimson Tide now boasts a 38-8 record overall and is 10-5 in SEC play. The series win
over the 16th-ranked Aggies improved Alabama’s record to 11-7 against
top-25 opponents, with seven of those 11 wins coming in conference play.
Alabama will host South Alabama for a single tonight, and the 11th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at Rhoads Stadium
for a three-game series starting Friday, April 22nd at 6:30 p.m. CT. The
Wildcats are the highest-ranked home opponent for the Tide so far this
season.
The top four spots in the polls again this week are Florida, Michigan, Auburn and Alabama. Louisiana-Lafayette dropped out of the top
five after being swept by the Gators in Gainesville. Pac 12 leader
Oregon entered the No. 5 spot left vacant by the Ragin’ Cajuns. Georgia fell out of the top 10 in both polls after dropping its weekend
series against Tennessee.
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Bama Baseball Rallies To Beat Troy 5-3
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Alabama Crimson Tide baseball (23-14 overall) rallied in the eighth inning last night to beat the Troy Trojans 5-3 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide was trailing the Trojans in the eighth inning, but Bama picked up a one-out, two-RBI single from Taylor Poe to take the lead and eventual win.
Tide baseball head coach Mitch Gaspard said, "Taylor Poe is another guy that's taken advantage of some opportunities and
obviously that leads to more opportunities when you do that. On the offensive end, he's done a really good job, but
his catching, in my eyes, has really improved. He's done a good job
running the game when he's back there, so hats off to Taylor: Every time
we've called on him, he's done a nice job for us."
Starting freshman Bama pitcher Brock Love worked 5.0 innings, the longest of his career, allowed two runs on four hits and a pair of walks with a season-high nine strikeouts. Love was followed by Jon Keller (2-1) who three for 3.0 innings, allowing one run while matching his season-high mark for strikeouts with four.
The Crimson Tide hosts South Alabama tonight. The Tide and Jaguars will throw the first pitch at 6:30 pm CT.
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Tide Softball Hosts South Alabama Tonight
The fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide softball team (38-8) will host South Alabama (26-12) tonight at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CT.
This will be the 12th meeting between the two teams, with South Alabama yet to defeat the Crimson Tide who leads the series 11-0. The Tide won the last contest on April 2, 2014 by a score of 3-0.
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Women's Tennis Begins SEC Tournament Today
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The 2016 Southeastern Conference Women's Tennis Tournament begins today in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Alabama Crimson Tide (4-17) will take on the Missouri Tigers (16-11) in the first round beginning this morning at 10 a.m. CT. The tournament is being held at the LSU Tennis Complex. Alabama is seeded at No. 14 in this year's tournament, and Missouri is the 11th see.
Missouri defeated Alabama 4-3 during their regular season contest
The winner of today’s match will advance to Thursday’s second round match against sixth-seeded Texas A&M.
