BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Richard Jata, Karlie Love and Cara Bell earned top individual honors for Campbell University’s 2008-09 athletics year.
Jata, an All-American and the Atlantic Sun Conference men’s soccer player of the year, won Campbell’s Outstanding Male Athlete award. Love, who earned Academic All-America® honors, won Outstanding Female Athlete recognition. A member of the women’s basketball team, Bell was presented the L.T. and Betty Easley Senior GPA Award as the graduating student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average.
A senior from Port Richey, Fla., Jata was selected by the Chicago Fire in the fourth round of the 2009 Major League Soccer Super Draft. A second-team All-America choice by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and first-team All-South Region pick, Jata played a vital role for the 2008 Fighting Camel squad that won its second A-Sun regular season championship and made its third trip to the league final in the last four years.
In addition to his All-America and All-South honors, Jata was named 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference player of the year and added first-team all-conference honors for the third-straight season. The native of Port Richey, Fla., scored a career-high 28 points in 17 matches on 12 goals and four assists to lead the A-Sun goals (0.71) and points (1.65) per game.
“This is a great honor for Richard and our program,” said head men’s soccer coach Doug Hess. “He was an integral part of our success over the past three years and made a lot of what we did in the attack click. We do wish him the most success as he pursues things on a professional level.”
Jata ranked 15th nationally in goals per game and 19th in points per outing and tied the A-Sun record with seven game-winning goals. He scored in each of his last nine games of 2008 and provided the winner in seven of those outings, while adding A-Sun all-tournament team honors in each of his final two seasons to his list of accomplishments.
During Jata’s three-year career in Buies Creek, Campbell posted a 20-1-1 record in games when he scored, 8-1-0 in 2008. He finished his career with 12 game-winning goals, second-most in league history. In only 57 career games, Jata collected 71 points (15th in school history) on 28 goals and 15 assists. He was a second-team All-South pick in both 2006 and 2007.
In July, Jata was continuing to pursue his professional career on trial with Union Sportive Le Pontet of France.
Campbell concluded the season with a 14-6-0 (.700) overall record and a 9-0-0 A-Sun ledger, as well as its first-ever year-end national ranking and highest South Region rating in the program’s Division I era.
Soccer America ranked the Camels number-25 in its final 2008 poll, while CU was rated third in the always-tough South Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. CU’s winning percentage (.700) was the 20th-best of the 204 men’s soccer programs in Division I.
After earning first team academic all-district honors for the second-straight year, senior Karlie Love was named to the ESPN The Magazine / Academic All-America ® University Division Softball second-team chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
She is the third member of the Campbell softball program to ever attain Academic All-America ® status and the first since Annie Lewis in 2001. Lewis was a first-team selection in 2001 as was Denelle Hicks in both 1995 and 1996.
Playing first base for the Camels, Love posted a 3.85 grade point average in government through her academic career in Buies Creek. The Mt. Airy, N.C. native led the team and ranked among the conference leaders in numerous offensive categories. Love led the Camels with her .384 batting average, 58 hits, 16 home runs, 53 RBIs, .755 slugging percentage, 30 walks, .508 on-base percentage and nine game-winning RBIs.
The senior also ranked among the conference leaders in hit by pitch (t-1st), home runs (2nd), slugging percentage (3rd), runs-batted in (3rd), on-base percentage (4th), total bases (4th), batting average (5th), and walks (t-5th). Additionally she ranked among the national leaders in home runs (20th), home runs per game (26th), runs-batted in per game (26th) and slugging percentage (41st).
In conference only games she hit .362 with 21 hits, four home runs and 12 RBIs. Love was also honored with a first-team spot on the Atlantic Sun All-Conference Team.
Love ended her career ranked among the school’s all-time top 10 in the record books in home runs (29-2nd), walks (94-2nd), games played (241-2nd), RBIs (123-3rd), hit by pitch (30-3rd), slugging percentage (.485-5th), total bases (300-5th) and hits (185-10th).
She also garnered academic honors from the conference in each of her four seasons at Campbell. Among the softball team’s numerous highlights were a school record home run total, an Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship, a second-consecutive A-Sun tournament crown, a conference school record for league victories and a second-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament while amassing a 38-16 overall and 16-4 A-Sun record.
“Obviously we are very proud of Karlie,” said softball head coach Drew Peterson. “We feel that she has been an exceptionally student-athlete in every way during her four years with the program. It is an award that is justified but also very humbling. It is great when recognition like this comes to our softball program with so many other deserving student-athletes at Campbell. As a coach to see an athlete that you see do things right on a day-to-day receive this sort of positive recognition is very rewarding.”
A senior on the women’s basketball team from Weldon, N.C., Bell graduated with a 3.97 grade-point average as an education major and earned President’s List honors each semester. She was a four-time member of the Atlantic Sun Conference all-academic team.
“Cara was a hard worker who truly exemplified what a true team player is at all times,” said women’s basketball head coach Wanda Watkins. “She also epitomized the term student-athlete in every way. She is a high achiever who gives 100 percent.”
The award is named in the memory of Mr. L.T. Easley, a 38-year member of the Campbell department of Government and History who also served 12 years as the University’s Faculty Athletics representative. It is also named in the memory of Mr. Easley’s late wife, Betty.
Courtesy: GoCamels.com