Top Student Athletes Honored
(Press Release 05-01-09)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

    Two Eastern Oklahoma State College athletes were honored April 27 with the prestigious Larry Stone Award. Sophomores Layna Austin, Checotah, and Benjamin Hall, Mannford, were selected as the recipients of the award at Eastern’s 42nd Annual Larry Stone All Sports Banquet held on the Wilburton campus.
 
    Austin is a Life Science major and has been an active member of the Cheer team for the past two years, where she has participated in the NCA/NDA Collegiate National Championships in Daytona, Fla. She is an active member of the Baptist Collegiate Ministries, representing the organization at Homecoming, where she was a Homecoming Queen finalist.
 
    Hall is a Business Administration major and will attend Oklahoma State University in the fall. He received the Bill Hill Foundation Scholarship, a Basketball Scholarship and the Varsity “E” Award.  He is active in the Psycho Club and in community service. Hall represented the Men’s Basketball team at Homecoming, where he was a Homecoming King finalist.
 
    Eastern alumna, Rhonda Kite-Fields, was on hand to award Austin and Hall at the banquet. Fields was the keynote speaker of the event, giving the student-athletes what she called “the game plan from an old coach.”
 
     Fields played basketball for the Lady Mountaineers while at Eastern from 1976-1978. After Eastern, Fields chose to play at Oklahoma State University, becoming the first full-scholarship athlete in OSU’s history. She later became the first female from OSU to be “drafted” into a women’s professional sport (the Women’s Basketball League). Fields has spent the last 28 years coaching girl’s basketball in Oklahoma. She has two sons: Josh Fields, a third baseman for the Chicago White Sox and Jace Fields, a marketing major at OSU.
   
    During the banquet, the Outstanding Athletes from each sport were also announced. Robert Givens, Tahlequah, was awarded the Outstanding Athlete award for Men’s Basketball. Kelli Adams, Shawnee, and Shantoya Fisher, Oklahoma City, were named as the Outstanding Athletes for Women’s Basketball. Jeffrey Scardino, Tulsa, was honored as the Baseball team’s Outstanding Athlete. Sarah Hayslip, Center, Texas, was named as the Softball Outstanding Athlete. Jackson Presley, Eufaula, was the Outstanding Athlete for Cheerleading and Shalaine Priddle, Carrollton, Texas, was awarded the Outstanding Athlete for Pom and Dance.
 
    Larry Stone honorees are selected on the basis of overall contribution to the spirit of athletics, teamwork, determination, unselfishness and citizenship. The late Larry Stone was an Eastern football and baseball player in the early 1960s. Stone went on to a successful baseball career at Northeastern State College. Marine Lt. Stone was killed in combat while on patrol in Vietnam. Friends of the popular athlete established a fund in memory of Stone.

Caption Info:

	Larry Stone Award Layna Austin, Checotah, and Ben Hall, Mannford, were awarded the 2008-2009 Larry Stone Award April 27 during the 42nd Annual Larry Stone All Sports Banquet. Austin is a member of the cheerleading team and Hall is a member of the men’s basketball team. Both are sophomores.

Outstanding Athletes
The 2008-2009 Outstanding Athletes are, from left, Jackson Presley, Eufaula, Cheer; Shantoya Fisher, Oklahoma City, Women’s Basketball; Robert Givens, Tahlequah, Men’s Basketball, Sarah Hayslip, Center, Texas, Softball; Jeff Scardino, Tulsa,  Baseball; and Kelli Adams, Shawnee, Women’s Basketball. Shalaine Priddle (not pictured), Carrollton, Texas, was named the Outstanding Athlete for Pom and Dance.