BIRMINGHAM, AL --- After a superb season where the University of Arkansas at Monticello Cotton Blossoms captured their sixth Gulf South Conference-West Division championship in eight years and qualified for the NCAA tournament for just the second time in program history, third baseman Sarah Reed (Sr., McKinney, Texas) has been recognized as one of the top ten student-athletes in the Gulf South Conference. As one of ten recipients of GSC “Top Ten” honors, Reed is a finalist for the Gulf South Conference Commissioner’s Trophy, the conference’s most prestigious honor.

The awards presentation will take place at the GSC’s annual awards banquet, Thursday, June 28, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Pensacola Beach, Fla. At that time the conference will reveal the winners of the Commissioner’s Trophies, recognize All-Sports trophy champions, and bid farewell to departing administrators.

The “Top Ten” awards, now in their 11^th year of existence, recognize the top five male and female student-athletes in the conference, with the top male and female student-athlete awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy.  Selections are made by an advisory committee representing Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators, Sports Information Directors, Faculty Athletics Representatives and Presidents from randomly selected GSC schools; with the final decision on the awards made by the GSC Commissioner.

Reed becomes the second Top Ten/Top Eight (the award expanded from eight honorees to ten after 2004) honoree in UAM history, following former Cotton Blossoms pitcher Lindsey Kight, who was recognized as a Top Eight honoree in 2004.

Reed was recognized as a CoSIDA / ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-District selection and an Academic All-Gulf South Conference honoree after posting a 3.81 grade point average and earning a degree in English. On the field, Reed earned Second Team All-Gulf South Conference honors after hitting .376 with 14 home runs and 49 RBI, adding 19 doubles and 137 infield assists.

Over the course of her senior year, Reed was also named to the Chancellor’s List (4.0 grade point average) for the fall 2006 and spring 2007 semesters.

She also served as president for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, vice president of Sigma Tau Delta (national English honor society), and as historian of Alpha Chi national honor society.

“Sarah is truly a model student-athlete,” said UAM Director of Athletics Alvy Early. “She is well known on campus for both her academic and athletic accomplishments, and without question is someone who successfully balanced athletic and other extracurricular activities with her academic responsibilities and excelled in all of those areas. She is not only an outstanding ambassador for our athletic program, but she is a credit to the University as a whole.”