Southland Conference

NSUDEMONS.COM REGIONALS ‘98 ‘00 ‘02 ‘13 ‘14 29 Well into its sixth decade ofservice, the Southland Conference continues to be a model of innovation, stability and consistent achievement as it celebrates the academic and athletic accomplishments of its member institutions and approximately 4,200 student-athletes. Having commemorated its 50th anniversary in 2013, the Southland Conference has transformed itselfinto a dynamic and respected consortium of13 memberuniversities in three states. Beginning with a historicmeeting offive institutions in Dallas on March 15, 1963, the Southland Conference set on an extraordinary course that has proven successfulwellintothe21stCentury. The successful transformation continues, as the Southland Conference welcomed four additional members in 2013: Abilene Christian University, Houston Baptist University, the University of IncarnateWord in San Antonio,and theUniversityofNewOrleans. In addition to its newest members, the Southland also consists of the University of Central Arkansas, Lamar University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, Sam Houston State University, Southeastern Louisiana University,StephenF.AustinStateUniversityandTexasA&MUniversity-CorpusChristi. An original Southland memberfrom 1963-73,AbileneChristian rejoined the league as one ofthe mostdecorated athleticprograms in NCAAhistory, and the addition ofHouston Baptist, UIWand New Orleans gives the Southland a regular competitive presence in the key metropolitan areas ofHouston, San Antonio and New Orleans. Southland cities encompass approximately 14 million people, and sixofitstelevision marketsrankamong thetop100in theU.S. All told, the membership ofthe Southland encompasses nearly 140,000 current students and an alumni base of nearly 800,000. Famous alums from current Southland Conference schools include former CBS news anchor Dan Rather (Sam Houston State), NBA executive Joe Dumars (McNeese State), ABC news anchor Robin Roberts(Southeastern Louisiana),MajorLeagueBaseball starWade Miley(Southeastern Louisiana), NBAlegend ScottiePippen (Central Arkansas), and trackand field Olympians Kenta Bell (Northwestern State),and BobbyMorrowand BillyOlson (both AbileneChristian). Other notable alums from current members include Grammy Award-winning musicians Frank Ocean (New Orleans), Don Henley and Rodney Crowell (both Stephen F. Austin), and Ronnie Dunn (Abilene Christian), television personality and actress Ellen DeGeneres(NewOrleans),currentNFLstandoutsLardariusWebb(NichollsState),TerrenceMcGee(NorthwesternState),andDaniel Manning (Abilene Christian), professional golfers Shawn Stefani and Chris Stroud(both Lamar) andColin Montgomerie(HBU),award-winning filmmaker Richard Linklater (Sam Houston State), American Idol winnerKrisAllen (Central Arkansas), NFLHall ofFamerJackie Harris (Northwestern State), former NFL standouts Bobby Hebert (Northwestern State), Gary Barbaro (Nicholls State),Wilbert Montgomery (Abilene Christian) and Gary Reasons (Northwestern State), former MLBstarsDarryl Hamilton (NichollsState) and Kevin Millar(Lamar), NCAA football coach Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas), actors John Larroquette(NewOrleans),RicardoChavira(UIW)andJesseBorrego (UIW), and thelateNFLcoaching legend O.A.“Bum”Phillips(Lamar and Stephen F. Austin). The Southland sponsors 17 full championship sports, all at the NCAADivision I level.Theeightmen’ssportsincludebaseball,basketball,crosscountry,football,golf,tennis,and indoorand outdoortrack and field.Thewomen competeforninechampionshipsin basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor and outdoor track andfield,andvolleyball.Theconferenceearnsautomaticqualification to NCAA championships in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, and volleyball. 2020 P R ESEASON FI R ST TEAM N a m e Cla ss Pos. Sch ool H om e t ow n Kaylyn Shepherd* Sr. 1B Central Arkansas Mechanicsville,Va. Ca yla Jon e s* Jr. 2B Nor t hwe st e rn St a t e Missou ri Cit y, Te x a s Cylla Hill* Sr. 3B Central Arkansas Henryetta, Okla. TiffanyThompson* Sr. SS Sam Houston State Montgomery,Texas. Ella Manzer* Jr. C Southeastern Alexandria, La. Jade Lewis* Jr. DP Lamar Mount Belvieu,Texas Megan McDonald* Sr. OF Sam Houston State Georgetown,Texas Madisen Blackford* Jr.. OF Southeastern Des Moines, Iowa Kayla Crutchmer* Sr. OF Central Arkansas Tulsa, Okla. KassidyWilbur* So. P Stephen F. Austin Bridge City,Texas Alley McDonald* Sr. P Southeastern Whitehouse,Tenn. Alexsandra Flores Sr. P McNeese Lufkin,Texas E.C. De la fi e ld * Jr. UT Nor t hwe st e rn St a t e St on e wa ll, La . SECON D TEAM N a m e Cla ss Pos. Sch ool H om e t ow n Sam Dares* Sr. 1B Nicholls Metairie, La. Bryana Novegil* Sr. 2B Stephen F. Austin Houston,Texas Brooke Malia Jr. 2B Sam Houston State Houston,Texas Caitlin Garcia* Jr. 3B Nicholls Spring,Texas Cory McCrary* Sr. SS McNeese McCarley, Miss. Ale x is Pe rr y So. C Nor t hwe st e rn St a t e Wylie , Te x a s Samantha Bradley* Sr. DP Abilene Christian Azle,Texas Kaylee Lopez* So. OF McNeese Indian Bayou, La. Elise Vin ce n t * Sr. OF Nor t hwe st e rn St a t e Ma u rice , La . LinseyTomlinson* Sr. OF Abilene Christian Huffman,Texas Ashley Kriesel* Jr. P Stephen F. Austin Houston,Texas Sammi Thomas* So. UT Texas A&M-CC Buford, Ga. 2020 P R ESEASON SOFTB ALL P OLL COACH ES & SI DS P OLL (fi rst -p la ce vot e s) P LACE TEAM TOTAL 1. Stephen F. Austin (11) 217 2. Sam Houston State (10) 210 3. McNeese (1) 202 4. Nicholls (2) 186 5. Southeastern Louisiana 177 6. Nor t hwe st e rn St a t e 152 7. Central Arkansas 122 8. Lamar 110 9. Abilene Christian 61 10. Houston Baptist 56 11. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 52 12. IncarnateWord 39