Austin Peay cross country teams both finished a strong fifth-place in the OVC Championships, hosted by APSU at the Fort Campbell Three-Par Golf Course, Oct. 30.

The men, who had battled injuries and roster shortage all season, were a surprise in their fifth-place showing.

"We struggled all year long to have bodies out there," APSU coach Elvis Forde said. "I am happy for them. I don't know how we did it but I will take it. We have had a difficult year and this should make the guys feel a lot better about their season.

The Governors Club Academic Achievement Award has been established for Austin Peay State University athletics.

The brainchild of longtime APSU supporter, Perkins Freeman, a one-year scholarship award will be presented to a rising senior Governors/Lady Govs athlete with the highest grade-point average (a minimum 3.6 GPA). That scholarship award will be presented annually in the name of the current scholarship recipient. The first scholarship will be presented in the name of Julie Virta ('99), former Lady Govs basketball player who earned GTE Academic All-America honors and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship last year.

Freeman and other Governors Club members are hoping to solicit gifts for a total endowment of $35,000-$50,000. A retired BellSouth employee, Freeman will donate $8,750, which will be matched by his former employer. He also will spearhead the fund-raising.

Each spring the respective sports coaches will recommend student-athletes to an APSU selection committee. Leadership and community service will be considered in the process.

A permanent plaque honoring the recipients of this award will be located in a prominent area of the Dunn Center.

The Austin Peay State University volleyball team, under head coach Cheryl Holt, punctuated its 1999 season with a runner-up finish at the 1999 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in November. The Lady Govs' strong finish was representative of a season that saw APSU post its best record (23-11) since 1993 and do it in record style.

After a mediocre 2-4 start, Austin Peay started to show its capabilities with a 10-1 streak that included a 5-0 conference start, the best conference start in the 1990s. The streak included a victory over Southeast Missouri, that team's only conference loss of the year.

Austin Peay volleyball also was successful on an individual level as the quartet of senior Kim Smith, senior Jenny Wenning, junior Annie Glieber and junior Becky Sowinski reached new levels in the record book. Smith ended her career as the all-time kills leader with 1,350, surpassing Tisa Batey (1988-91) who held the mark since 1991. Smith wasn't the only one marching on the kills chart as Wenning followed with 1,184 kills and Sowinski 1,079.

Glieber wasn't to be left out as she shattered the career assists mark in only her junior year. She also established the single-season mark for assists by setting 1,455 balls for kills. Glieber currently has 3,519 assists for her career, shattering the record previously held by Vann Austin (1993-95).

Prior to 1999 no player in the history of the program had reached both the 1,000-kill and 1,000-dig plateaus in her career. In 1999 two players passed this remarkable milestone. Wenning became the charter member of Austin Peay's new "Double Grand" club and she finished her career with 1,184 kills and 1,548 digs. Sowinski became the second member of the club in November by reaching the kills mark. Only a junior, she stands at 1,079 kills and 1,386 digs, well within reach of the record in both categories.

Sarah Calvert, a 5-8 senior guard at Owensboro (Ky.) Catholic High School, and Gerlonda Hardin, a 6-2 post player from Springfield (Tenn.) High School, have signed letters of intent to play basketball for Austin Peay State University women's basketball team for the 2000-2001 season.

As a junior on a senior-dominated team, Calvert averaged 10 points, 5.5 rebounds and two assists and steals per game. She shot 50 percent from the floor and 63 percent from the free-throw line.

As a junior, Hardin was voted team most valuable player after averaging 18.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. She shot an impressive 77 percent from the free-throw line in helping Springfield to a 13-6 record.

A trio of freshmen have made a significant impact on the APSU men's golf program.

Ryan Strickland, of Nashville, and Adam Shanks and Joe Humston, both of Johnson City, enjoyed outstanding fall tournaments in their respective first competition for the Governors golf program. In fact, according to GolfStat, the organization that produces computer rankings for the NCAA, the trio helped produce the third greatest impact of any freshmen on a Division I program this fall--behind Arizona State and Wake Forest.

Humston, who along with Strickland is a redshirt freshman, got things rolling at Drury Intercollegiate in Cape Girardeau, Mo., taking a lead into the final round of his first college tournament. Although he finished second, it seemed to set the tone for the fall.

He had a third-place finish in the APSU-hosted Precept Intercollegiate and never finished worse than 21st in any of his four fall tourneys.

Shanks did his former high school teammate one better. In only his second tournament, he was medalist at the Hillman Robbins Memorial in Memphis. He also tied for first at the Precept Intercollegiate, losing medalist honors in a playoff.

Strickland, meanwhile, played in all five fall tourneys. He ended fifth at the Precept and was consistent throughout his first fall season.

But the freshman impact just wasn't relegated to the men's program. The Lady Govs second-year team received a tremendous boost from local product Amanda Phillips, among others.

Phillips finished in a first-place tie at the Great Smokies Women's Collegiate in Waynesville, N.C., losing in a playoff. She also had three other Top 10 finishes during the fall.