NKU’s Krystal Lewallen

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Northern Kentucky University’s Krystal Lewallen has been named the 2004-05 Collegiate Women Sports Awards NCAA Division II Athlete of the Year.

Lewallen, a junior pitcher from Crestwood, Ky., posted a 32-1 record this past season as NKU advanced to the NCAA Division II World Series. NKU also set a collegiate softball record by winning 55 consecutive games in 2005 and finished with an overall mark of 55-2.

Lewallen struck out 335 batters this season and finished with a 0.36 earned run average. In addition, the South Oldham High School graduate posted 20 shutouts this spring and was named the most valuable player of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional.

The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 29th year.

To receive this honor, Lewallen was first named as the softball nominee nationally. She was then one of 12 sports nominees on the overall ballot, which is voted on by senior women’s administrators throughout the country. That ballot represented the elite of nearly 30,000 female student-athletes competing at the NCAA Division II level.

Lewallen will be flown to New York City for a June 29 press conference at the Low Library on the campus of Columbia University. Lewallen will also be honored at a luncheon following the press conference.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. will donate $5,000 to NKU in honor of the accomplishment and will place congratulatory advertisements in a number of popular and highly-regarded national publications starting this Friday in USA Today.

Lewallen was named first team All-American and Division II National Player of the Year in 2005. She also earned Great Lakes Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year honors. Lewallen is the Norse’s career leader in wins (79) and strikeouts (836).

She is the first NKU performer to ever receive the Collegiate Women Sports Awards NCAA Division II Athlete of the Year honor.

DIVISION II ATHLETE OF THE YEAR RECIPIENTS
1987-88 Angela Brinton, volleyball, Cal State University, Northridge
1988-89 Janet Cobbs, volleyball, North Dakota State University
1989-90 Chrystal Hardy, basketball, Delta State University
1990-91 Tracy Saunders, basketball, Norfolk State University
1991-92 Kristina Hand, basketball, Cal Poly State University, SLO
1992-93 Christie Allen, cross country, Pittsburg State University
1993-94 Stacy Metro, volleyball, Northern Michigan University
1994-95 Charlaine Coetzee, golf, Longwood College
1995-96 Jennifer Clarkson, basketball, Abilene Christian University
1996-97 Kasey Morlock, basketball, North Dakota State University
1997-98 Danielle Penner, softball, Cal University of Pennsylvania
1998-99 Melinda Almazan, volleyball, Regis University
1999-2000 Jayne Even, basketball, North Dakota State University
2000-2001 Jessica Martin, swimming, Truman State University
2001-2002 Nicole Duncan, track and field, Cal State University, Los Angeles
2002-2003 Missy Gregg, soccer, Christian Brothers University
2003-2004 Zoila Gomez, track and field, Adams State College
2004-2005 Krystal Lewallen, softball, Northern Kentucky University