DALLAS – Conference USA announced its Spring Spirit of Service Award winners Tuesday. The award honors student-athletes with significant community service endeavors, good academic standing and participation in their sport. The Spirit of Service Award is presented three times throughout the season, with Tuesday’s honorees representing baseball, men’s and women’s golf, outdoor track and field, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and beach volleyball. Recipients are nominated by their institutions.
2021-22 Spring Spirit of Service Award Recipients
Cori Henderson, Charlotte Softball, Jr.
Nick Toney, Florida Atlantic Baseball, Sr.
Bailey Grossenbacher, FIU Softball, So.
Emma Hutchinson, Louisiana Tech Softball, So.
Jackie Schmidt, Marshall Women’s Golf, Sr.
Francisco Rocha, Middle Tennessee Men’s Tennis, Sr.
Zion Hill, North Texas Track and Field, Sr.
Matthew Coutney, Old Dominion Baseball, Sr.
Travis Dowd, Rice Track and Field, So.
Olivia Hepworth, Southern Miss Beach Volleyball, Sr.
Toni Gonzalez, UTEP Softball, So.
Riley Grunberg, UTSA Softball, Sr.
Faith Martin, WKU Women’s Golf, Fr.
On the field, Charlotte softball’s
Cori Henderson shifted from shortstop to second base during the season and ended the year ranked second on the team with a .333 batting average while recording career highs of 57 hits, 10 home runs, and 32 RBIs. Henderson was third on the team in hits, doubles and RBIs as well as doubles with 11. She was seventh in C-USA with those 10 home runs and was also named to the 2022 C-USA All-Tournament Team. Charlotte's three-year starting infielder from Harrisburg, N.C., holds an impressive 4.00 GPA as a Special Education major. She was also named to the 2022 Conference USA All-Academic team and the CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 First Team. Henderson completed over 30 hours of community service during the last season including being part of the Casas Por Cristo team that built a house.
Florida Atlantic baseball’s
Nick Toney is majoring in Exercise Science and has a 3.56 GPA. He has accumulated over 20 hours of community service on the year and over 40 throughout his career. He works with AD Henderson, a local elementary school, beach clean ups, Boca Little League, Project Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive and the Big Dog Ranch. He has also been one of the SAAC reps for FAU the past two years. On the field, Toney played in 26 games as a senior with 18 starts as one of two co-captains.
Another softball honoree this year comes from FIU as
Bailey Grossenbacher boasts a 3.86 GPA majoring in Hospitality and Tourism Management concentrating on Event Management. She has been a FIU Dean’s List selection and was a finalist for the 2022 FIU Outstanding Student Award. During her sophomore season, Grossenbacher started in 30 games, with five stolen bases and 12 RBIs. She is the FCA Community Service Coordinator and led FIU Athletics’ efforts in Operation Christmas Child. She organized, labeled and distributed 150 boxes dedicating 29 hours to the operation which helps supply toys, sanitary productions and educational materials to children in poverty and war-stricken countries.
Louisiana Tech sophomore
Emma Hutchinson competes on the softball team and is majoring in Kinesiology & Health Sciences with a 3.24 GPA. The Holden, La., native is involved in numerous community service organizations, working with Thanks-A-Thon, the Boys and Girls Club, Youth Church events, Toys for Tots along with volunteering with Kiddie baseball camps and serving as a volunteer for ISHS Football. She was a member of the 2022 C-USA Regular Season Championship team and went 7-7 with one save and a 3.57 ERA from the mound. Hutchinson made 26 overall appearances and 10 starts in the circle working 82.1 innings. Academically, she has been named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll twice and is a five-time AD Honor Roll selection along with earning the President’s List distinction once in Ruston.
Marshall’s
Jackie Schmidt of the women’s golf team is the Herd’s honoree this year as she owns a 3.79 GPA in Political Science as a senior. She’s a key member of the SAAC Community Service Team, volunteers at the Soup Kitchen, the First Tee, the Ladies’ Golf Clinic, True Love Rescue, the Marshall Sweetheart Clinic and the Crab Fee while balancing her athletics and academics. This season she competed in all 10 events and was Marshall’s top finisher three times including a season-best 12th place showing at the Butler Fall Invitational. She was also named the C-USA Golfer of the Week in November following her 14
th-place finish at the Grandover Fall Classic.
Middle Tennessee senior
Francisco Rocha is working towards a degree in Business Administration and Economics and holds an impressive 4.0 GPA while competing on the men’s tennis team. Rocha, who hails from Porto, Portugal, conducted multiple free tennis clinics throughout the year and volunteered at the Discovery School, the Patterson Park Community Center, Campus School and read in schools on Read Across America Day. He’s achieved the MTSU President’s Award and was Dean’s List both semesters along with earning a spot on the C-USA All-Academic Team and the CoSIDA All-District Academic Team. On the court, Rocha is a C-USA First Team All-Singles and Doubles honoree, helped his team to an NCAA appearance, competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship and is ranked in the ITA in both singles and doubles with 19-4 record in singles and 15-8 record in doubles.
North Texas’
Zion Hill is a senior majoring in Hospitality Management with a minor in Geography and holds a 3.4 GPA for the Mean Green. He is a three-time UNT Dean’s List Honoree and has been recognized by the President’s List along with earning a spot on the Spring C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He is the school record holder in the javelin and a two-time C-USA Champion along with earning C-USA First Team All-Conference honors. Hill serves as the co-chair of the North Texas SAAC and is a C-USA SAAC representative. He’s been key in every SAAC-led service and engagement event this year including the Fall Food Drive. The senior also volunteers his time with community food drives sponsored by First Denton and with the local non-profit thrift store that serves Woman to Woman Pregnancy Resource Center.
Old Dominion’s 2022 Conference USA Baseball Player of the Year,
Matthew Coutney is a senior double major in Management and Leadership with a 3.45 GPA. He has led C-USA with 27 home runs, which is also third nationally and is third in the country in total bases, fifth with a .808 slugging percentage and his 3.76 batting average is the highest by a Monarch since 2009. Off the field, Coutney delivers Mercy Meals to the downtown homeless of Norfolk, participated in reading programs with local elementary schools and helped with various homeless and veteran service organizations. He earned C-USA Academic Honor Roll every semester and was a four-time Dean’s List honoree at ODU.
Rice track and field sophomore
Travis Dowd boasts an impressive 3.92 in Bioengineering for the Owls. He is a three-time C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection and a three-time C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal honoree. Competing in the distance events, Dowd won the 5,000m at the Houston G5 and Super 22 Invitational. He established a personal-best time of 14:47.9 in the event to finish ninth at the C-USA Indoor Championships in February. Dowd also posted an eighth-place finish in the 10,000m at the Outdoor Championships (31:35.68). Away from the track, the sophomore played a key role in helping organize and run the Team Impact program, coordinating with the families and organization along with the sponsored sport while also logging hours into the SOAR Network which is a program that provides opportunities for personal growth and professional preparation for Rice student-athletes.
Southern Miss’
Olivia Hepworth is a graduate student pursuing her Master of Business Administration degree where she holds a perfect 4.0 GPA. Competing for the Beach Volleyball team, she will leave Southern Miss as the all-time leader in almost every statistical category and is one of just two Golden Eagles to letter all four years, playing in 113 matches, the most in program history. Academically, she was a four-time C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection, twice named to the President’s List and earned a spot on the 2022 C-USA Beach Volleyball All-Academic First Team. Away from the sand, she’s worked with local food pantries and services throughout Hattiesburg along with working with the Eagle Catholic. She has trained to be a missionary with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students and this fall will be assigned to a university in the U.S. to serve as a full-time missionary, on and off campus.
UTEP sophomore
Toni Gonzalez is a Kinesiology major with the softball team in El Paso. Gonzalez has spent her time away from the field volunteering with the Miner Move In, the YWCA El Paso del Norte, the El Paso Humane Society, the UTEP SAAC Sock Drive and various softball clinics. She is a two-time Dean’s List honoree at UTEP and a C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection. Defensively on the field, Gonzalez tallied 69 putouts with nine assists and just two errors (.975 fielding percentage).
UTSA senior
Riley Grunberg holds a 3.81 GPA in Mechanical Engineering while competing for the Roadrunner softball team. Grunberg serves as the secretary for the SAAC Executive Board and is a C-USA SAAC representative along with serving as the Softball SAACCC representative for the last three seasons. She has been a member of the Rowdy Readers, volunteered with CANtoberfest, the Miracle League and the San Antonio foodbank. Athletically, she was named to the C-USA First Team this past season and is in the top 20 at UTSA in home runs, extra base hits, RBIs and walks. She earned a spot on the 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, is a two-time C-USA All-Academic selection, four-time C-USA Commissioners Honor Roll and Academic Medal honoree and named to the UTSA Dean’s List all four years.
WKU’s
Faith Martin is a freshman on the women’s golf team with a 3.90 GPA in Exercise Science. In her first year with the Hilltoppers, Martin competed in all 10 events with the golf team with a 78.8 stroke average. She volunteered her time with the Red Cross after a tornado hit her hometown of Bowling Green back in December. Additionally, she has provided service with the Read Across America Day, the Special Olympics and is a member of the leadership team for WKU’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She was honored with the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal and earned a spot on the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll while making the WKU President’s List both semesters.