Senior Chris Cartwright, a golfer, and junior Andrea Thibaudeau, a softball player, were the student-athletes from Bartow County who comprised the list of Reinhardt spring sports participants, which also included nine others from the school.
To receive the award, a student-athlete must be a junior or above in academic standing, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale, and have been in attendance at the nominating institution for at least two full academic years (or one full academic year if a transfer).
The Reinhardt baseball team saw five of its members bestowed with the national recognition, the most in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and the second most of any NAIA school. Players to receive the award included seniors Brett Flick and Billy King, both of Marietta; senior Ryan McDowell, Kennesaw; junior Ethan Starr, Athens, Tenn.; and junior Josh Wilson, who also is from Marietta. McDowell achieved NAIA Scholar Athlete status for the third straight year while King made it back-to-back selections after also getting the honor in 2010.
Behind the baseball team’s five honorees were three selections from the Reinhardt softball team. Joining Cartersville’s Thibaudeau were juniors Bailey Arnaud of Kennesaw and Becca Jones of Howard. The Lady Eagles’ three players tied for the most among AAC teams.
In addition to men’s golf, which had one selection with Cartwright’s award, two other sports had one student-athlete represented as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete. Those sports were men’s tennis and women’s tennis where Tyler Winters and Kayla Spivey, both of Woodstock, garnered scholar-athlete honors.
— Information from a Reinhardt University
press release was used in this article.