Story written by Thomas Corhern
Cookeville Herald-Citizen
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Success is marked in several different ways.
Whether it's a championship banner or seeing school records fall,
it all comes down to one thing -- the athlete was the best in their
field.
When it came to this year's nominees for Tennessee Tech's Female
Athlete of the Year, it was a difficult decision. On one hand, you
had a veteran player who brought the team together and led them to
an Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship. On the other
hand, there was a senior who had practically rewritten the record
books.
A tough decision indeed.
But when all was said and done, the decision wasn't to honor one
over the other, but to recognize both for amazing seasons as Tech
Athletics awarded Golden Eagle women's basketball junior Tacarra
Hayes and volleyball senior Leah Meffert as the university's
co-Female Athletes of the Year.
The duo beat out a stellar group of nominees to win the award,
including Melody Christian (sophomore, softball), Brittany Darling
(junior, basketball), Kelsey Gray (sophomore, volleyball), Molly
Heady (freshman, basketball), Katherine Lynn (senior, track and
field), Ashley Mayhew (senior, track and field), Kerri Reid
(sophomore, soccer) and Holly Thomas (junior, softball).
However, when it came to the vote, the numbers for Hayes and
Meffert spoke for themselves.