IRVING, Texas – Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced that Old Dominion women’s soccer senior forward, Jessie Klamut, was one of 14 student-athletes that received the C-USA Fall Spirit of Service award today. The C-USA Spirit of Service Award is designed to recognize the community service efforts of the league’s student-athletes, based upon significant community service, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport.
The Spirit of Service award will be presented three times throughout the season, with today’s honorees representing Conference USA’s fall sports: football, soccer, volleyball and cross country.
Old Dominion senior captain Jessica Klamut showed her leadership, not only on the soccer field, but also in the community. The star striker tallied 12 points this year on five goals, including two game-winners, and two assists to earn All-C-USA third-team honors. Off the pitch, Klamut spent time at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter, the after school program Care Now and at children’s ministry at her church. The Virginia Beach, Virginia, native also helped at a Sportable Adapted Sports & Recreation Camp for local kids with physical disability and the Hoedown Throwdown, an outing for participants with various disabilities. Klamut is a C-USA All-Academic second team member with her 3.65 GPA in therapeutic recreation and a part of the National Society of Leadership and Success.
2014-15 FALL C-USA SPIRIT OF SERVICE HONOREES:
Morgan Richards, Charlotte, Women’s Cross Country
Sara Stewart, FIU, Women’s Soccer
Amanda Odato, Florida Atlantic, Women’s Soccer
Hunter Lee, Louisiana Tech, Football
Sammie Bane, Marshall, Volleyball
Chelsea Ross, Middle Tennessee, Volleyball
Cyril Lemon, North Texas, Football
Jessica Klamut, Old Dominion, Women’s Soccer
Gabriela Iribarne, Rice, Women’s Soccer
Rebecca Ulrich, Southern Miss, Women’s Cross Country
Hunter Weber, UAB, Men’s Soccer
Aleah Davis, UTEP, Women’s Soccer
Dempsey Thornton, UTSA, Volleyball
Heather Boyan, WKU, Volleyball
Charlotte junior Morgan Richards finished 22nd at the Conference USA Cross Country Championship, missing all-conference honors by one spot with a time of 17:55.7. She was the 49ers’ top finisher at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. A marketing major, Richards maintains a 3.89 GPA. Additionally, the Hermitage, Pennsylvania, native is an active representative of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She volunteered during the fall semester with both the Project Life Movement, collecting names for the bone marrow donor registry, and the Second Harvest Food Bank.
A 2013 C-USA Spirit of Service winner, FIU soccer player Sara Stewart continues her drive towards helping those in her community. The redshirt junior originally from Oakville, Ontario, holds a 3.72 GPA in biological sciences and is on pace to graduate this spring. During the summer, Stewart completes close to 200 hours of community service at a veterinarian’s office back home in Canada. The defender also devotes her time in the Miami area by tutoring students at a nearby elementary school, feeding the homeless and volunteering for the Special Olympics. Stewart started in 16 matches this past season, helping the Panthers back-line record six shutouts.
Florida Atlantic senior midfielder Amanda Odato has served as a four-year member on the women’s soccer squad and as a consistent helper in the local area. The veteran competed in 53 games over her career for the Owls. The Sanford, Florida, native spent life away from soccer doing activities with children at AD Henderson Elementary Field Day, reading to elementary school children and coaching a youth soccer team in Boca Raton. Odato also assisted needy families at the North Texas Food Bank and helped raise money for the Devon Walker Fund, a privately funded project providing needed materials and services for injured Tulane football player Devon Walker. She is a six-time Florida Atlantic All-Academic Team selection from her studies in BBA Hospitality Management and served as SAAC President from 2012-2014.
Louisiana Tech senior Hunter Lee is one of three football representatives on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and serves as the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. His genuine commitment to service and the community is contagious. He has participated in various events throughout his career including canned food and toy donation drives, speaking at community events, and is a role model for other student-athletes and future Bulldogs. An industrial engineering major, Lee is on track to graduate in the Spring. A native of Flower Mound, Texas, Lee started his career at LA Tech as a true freshman walk-on and garnered All-Conference USA Honorable Mention honors following this season.
Senior setter Sammie Bane is a three-time Academic All-Conference selection for the Marshall volleyball team. For the past three years, she has volunteered with a youth volleyball league, coaching young athletes for two hours very Sunday for 20 weeks during the spring semester. Bane has also been a member of SAAC all four years, serving a term as president this year, and helped sponsor a food drive every year for the Marshall University Food Pantry. The Brownstown, Indiana, native earned C-USA Setter of the Week honors four times during her career. A member of the Capital One Academic All-District Team, Bane maintains a 3.95 GPA as a double major in exercise science and psychology.
Middle Tennessee junior outside hitter Chelsea Ross was named to the All-Conference USA first team and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-South Region honorable mention. Ross led the Blue Raiders in nine different categories including double-doubles (16), kills (490), kills per set (4.22), points (548) and points per set (4.73). Ross' 490 kills in 2014 rank eighth in team single-season history, and her 1,380 career kills rank fourth all-time time in program history going into next season. The Murfreesboro native also gives back to her hometown with a variety of community service projects, including a canned food drive. Ross is an exercise science major.
Cyril Lemon has anchored the North Texas offensive line for four seasons, garnering four all-conference nods and a mention on the Lombardi Watch List in 2014. Atop his dominance on the field for the Mean Green, the senior from Marble Falls, Texas, has been heavily active in the DFW community. Lemon has worked with Denton Fight Hunger, Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, the “Let’s SAAC Hunger” food drive, Salvation Army, WFAA Santa’s Helpers Food Bank, the North Texas Food Bank and participated in the Special Abilities of North Texas 5K Color Run. Lemon has been just as outstanding in the classroom, where he completed his bachelor’s in kinesiology with a 3.42 in three and a half years. He was named to the 2014 C-USA All-Academic football team.
Rice senior Gabriela Iribarne helped lead the Owls to the 2014 C-USA women’s soccer championship title, earning Offensive MVP honors for the tournament. The Mission Viejo, California, native finished her Rice career among the top 10 for assists (12) and points (40). She also identified a way to use the sport she loves to help others. Along with her sister Nicolette, the Iribarnes co-chair a charity called Futbol 4 Dreams, where soccer balls, cleats, uniforms and other soccer equipment is collected and sent to underprivileged children around the world. To date, the charity has sent more than 3,000 soccer balls and other equipment to more than 20 countries. A kinesiology and psychology double major, Iribarne holds a 3.46 GPA and is a two-time selection to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Rebecca Ulrich studies elementary education at Southern Miss, where she maintains a 3.77 GPA and is a two-time All-C-USA Cross Country third team member. In the classroom, the junior is a two-time C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection, a President’s List honoree and a USTFCCCA All-Academic squad member. Ulrich visits Longleaf Elementary weekly as part of a mentorship program, where she helps organize a cross country event for the students. She also assists in Operation Christ Child through SAAC and volunteered to help weight, sort and organize canned good during the “Let’s SAAC Hunger” food drive. Hailing from Van Alstyne, Texas, Ulrich finished 19th at the C-USA Cross Country Championship was a first-place finisher twice for the Golden Eagles.
Junior Hunter Weber is the SAAC representative for the UAB men’s soccer team, leading the 17th Annual “Soccer for a Cure” initiative at Children’s of Alabama Hospital. With “Soccer for a Cure,” Weber visited with young cancer patients, sharing gifts and stories of the sport he loves. Weber is also active at a child development center as well as the reading mentors program through Better Basics at Glen Iris Elementary. He is a two-time Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll honoree and has earned Athletic Director Academic Honor Roll distinction in each of his semesters at UAB. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Weber was a member of the Blazers soccer squad that earned an at-large bid to the 2014 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
All-Conference USA first team midfielder Aleah Davis was a dominant player for UTEP women’s soccer this season, but also showed an importance to activities off the field. The redshirt sophomore led the Miners with five goals, including three match-winners, and also contributed with a helper to land on the NSCAA Division I Women’s All-Central Region Team. Davis spent her time off the pitch volunteering in the El Paso area. Activities have included the UTEP Alumni Association Picnic, greeting donors at home football games and conducting drills with kids at a UTEP soccer clinic. The Hewitt, Texas, native is a two-time member of the Conference USA Academic Honor Roll with a 3.43 GPA in kinesiology.
Dempsey Thornton finished her career at UTSA with a team-high 416 kills en route to back-to-back C-USA volleyball regular-season titles for the Roadrunners, but her work off the court has been just as impressive. The senior has traveled internationally as part of the Athletes for Action, and she is a member of UTSA’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where she’s spoken to more than 25 local schools. Furthermore, Thornton is the co-founder of “The Locker Room,” which is a similar organization to the FCA and specific to UTSA. The Corpus Christi, Texas, native also leads weekly Bible studies, is a volunteer leader for YoungLife College and an active member of the Rowdy Readers youth mentoring program. In the classroom, Thornton maintained a 4.0 GPA in sport, event and tourism management, and is a 2014 C-USA All-Academic Team selection as well as a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree.
Heather Boyan has been a standout volleyball player for WKU throughout her career atop the hill. Sporting a 3.8 GPA in exercise science, Boyan was named to the C-USA All-Academic Team in 2014 and was tabbed to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. In the community, the senior participates in the United Way Day of Caring each summer. In addition to her work with United Way, the WKU volleyball team adopted a child battling cancer in Harlie Bryant through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. Boyan has been Harlie’s teammate for three seasons. A native of Munster, Indiana, Boyan finished her career at WKU as a four-time regular-season conference champion along with three NCAA Tournament appearances.