Borders' Senior Class Award Bio

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Jacksonville State senior Sara Borders has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2015 Senior Class Award for Softball.
 
Thirty of the top NCAA softball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected from a pool of nominated players on Thursday.
 
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. 
 
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
 
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2015 Women's College World Series.
 
Softball Candidates
Callie Alford, Georgia State
Jackie Bates, Rutgers
Emily Bausher, Lehigh
Farish Beard, South Alabama
Sara Borders, Jacksonville State
Erin Burner, St. John's
Ally Carda, UCLA
Cheyenne Cordes, California
Allison Cukrov, Stony Brook University
Michele Daubman, Fordham
Sara Driesenga, Michigan
Larissa Franklin, Western Kentucky
Amber Freeman, Arizona State
Lindsay Friedman, Saint Louis University
Chandler Howard, Rutgers
Griffin Joiner, Kentucky
Stephany LaRosa, UCLA
Sammy Marshall, Western Illinois
Kathlyn Medina, Florida
Krista Menke, North Dakota State
Hayley Miles, San Diego State
Kahley Novak, Central Florida
Sarah Onorato, Yale
Shelby Pendley, Oklahoma
Kaitlyn Richardson, Minnesota
Cydnee Sanders, Bucknell
Farrah Sullivan, Central Florida
Kaitlyn Thumann, Baylor
Lacey Waldrop, Florida State
Emily Weiman, NC State
 
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
 
Borders' bio for the award is below:
 
Classroom
Sara Borders carried a 3.86 GPA as an exercise sciences and wellness major with a minor in nutrition and earned her degree after three and a half years. She was named to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America Team and to the 2014 Academic All-America Second Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She was named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for 2014, the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll from 2011 to 2014, the President's List for Spring 2012 and Fall 2013, and the Dean's List for Fall 2011 and 2012 and Spring 2013 and 2014.
 
Character
A leader on and off the field, Borders has a drive to succeed in anything she does while leading her teammates and classmates to do the same. She is active in several organizations, including the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
Community
Borders is a volunteer with the V Foundation Cancer Research and Meals of Mercy feeding the homeless. She was a volunteer at a fishing tournament for special needs children and at Gamecock Gallop (Health, Physical Education, Recreation Department). She also has participated in the Samaritan's Purse Shoebox Project.
 
Competition
Borders has been an All-Ohio Valley Conference player in each of her three years of competition, including being named the 2014 OVC Player of the Year as a junior. She was a First-Team All-Region selection by the NFCA and led the Gamecocks to their first regular season OVC title since 2009. As a sophomore, she led the team to the OVC Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Regional.

As a junior in 2014, Borders led the Gamecocks with a 0.417 average and led the OVC in most of its offensive categories. She was second in average but first in slugging percentage (.780), on-base percentage (.515), runs scored (49), hits (70), RBI (50), doubles (15), home runs (14) and total bases (131). Her 30 walks were second in the league. She became the first Gamecock to be named the OVC's Player of the Year since 2009 after a season that saw her rank in the top five in JSU's single-season record book in average (fourth), slugging percentage (second) and runs (fifth) and in the top 10 in hits (10th), RBI (seventh), walks (eighth).