June 19, 2011

Hayes, Meffert share Outstanding Female Athlete honors

Tacarra Hayes and Leah Meffert have been selected as co-winners of the 2011 Outstanding Female Athlete Award at Tennessee Tech,

Story written by Thomas Corhern
Cookeville Herald-Citizen

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Success is marked in several different ways. Whether it's a championship banner or seeing school records fall, it all comes down to one thing -- the athlete was the best in their field.

When it came to this year's nominees for Tennessee Tech's Female Athlete of the Year, it was a difficult decision. On one hand, you had a veteran player who brought the team together and led them to an Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship. On the other hand, there was a senior who had practically rewritten the record books.

A tough decision indeed.

But when all was said and done, the decision wasn't to honor one over the other, but to recognize both for amazing seasons as Tech Athletics awarded Golden Eagle women's basketball junior Tacarra Hayes and volleyball senior Leah Meffert as the university's co-Female Athletes of the Year.

The duo beat out a stellar group of nominees to win the award, including Melody Christian (sophomore, softball), Brittany Darling (junior, basketball), Kelsey Gray (sophomore, volleyball), Molly Heady (freshman, basketball), Katherine Lynn (senior, track and field), Ashley Mayhew (senior, track and field), Kerri Reid (sophomore, soccer) and Holly Thomas (junior, softball).

However, when it came to the vote, the numbers for Hayes and Meffert spoke for themselves.