William Penn Athletics News–November 19
William Penn University Athletics
Bailey, McReynolds Garner NAIA Academic Award
Oskaloosa–Two members of this fall’s William Penn women’s cross country team were honored for their excellence in the classroom as they were named 2012 Daktronics-NAIA Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athletes.
Rosemary Bailey (Jr., Fayetteville, Ark.) owns a 3.83 Grade Point Average in Communication, while Valinn McReynolds (Grad., Bellville, Texas) has a 3.61 GPA in Master’s of Business Leadership.
The award is the second for McReynolds. The NAIA announced that 317 women’s cross country runners were awarded the laurel.
To be eligible for the award, athletes must be of at least junior academic standing, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above on a 4.0 scale, and have attended the nominating institution for at least one full academic year.
Beasley Tabbed for Second Weekly Honor
Oskaloosa–It is only the third week of the honors season and Brandon Beasley (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind., Physical Education) is already a two-time winner as he was named the Midwest Collegiate Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week Monday.
Beasley had an all-around great week, averaging 16.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 2.3 steals. He shot 55.6% overall and was named Tournament MVP of the Moody Bible Tournament. He helped the Statesmen average 102 points per contest and their best start (8-0) since joining the NAIA in 2001-2002.
He scored a week-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting against Graceland Thursday.
For the year, Beasley is averaging 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds in addition to 29 assists, 11 blocks, and 15 steals. He is shooting 51.2% from the floor.
Thomas Claims MCC Accolade
Oskaloosa–Orielle Thomas (Sr., Waynesville, Mo., Physical Education) produced back-to-back double-doubles in Kansas last weekend to earn Midwest Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week honors Monday.
Thomas picked up her second career laurel by averaging 18.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per game. She made 61.5% of her field-goal attempts (16-of-26) as the Lady Statesmen (3-4) split two games against Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference foes.
Her top showing came against McPherson Friday with 22 points and 18 rebounds. For the year, Thomas is averaging 12.5 points and 13.3 rebounds in addition to eight assists, one block, and six steals. She is shooting 45.8% from the field.
