Neher and Blanton named athletes of the year

Cardinal head coaches recently announced the 2003-04 Female and Male Athlete of the Year. The Vicki Larason Landman female award winner is Kristin Neher, a senior women's soccer student-athlete, who graduated from Oak Park High School . The Cecil Martin male award winner is senior baseball student-athlete Ben Blanton, a Liberty High School graduate.

Kristin is the daughter of Julie and Stan Neher of Kansas City , Mo. Neher is the 30th recipient of the Vicki Larason Landman Award, which she earned after three outstanding years playing women's soccer. Kristin will graduate in May with a dual degree in Communication and Business Administration. Kristin's honors include recognition as an NAIA Academic All-American with a 3.89 GPA. She was also the Omar William Nadler Scholarship award winner for the 2003-04 school year. She was named a NAIA Second Team All-American and led the NAIA Women's Soccer National Tournament in goals with five. She was named to the NAIA National All-Tournament Team and to the First Team in both the HAAC and Region V. Neher's career stats in 66 games include 119 goals, 61 assists and 300 points. She became the nation's (all divisions, all levels) all-time highest-scoring collegiate soccer player in October.

The 65th Cecil Martin Award winner is Ben Blanton, son of Wes and Debbie Blanton of Liberty , Mo. Ben will also graduate in May with a Business Administration degree. He was the R.E. “Dad” Bowles Scholarship award recipient for the 2003-04 school year. Ben's 2004 honors include a season batting average of .487 (third in the nation); fifth in the nation in hits (109); second in the nation in doubles; and tied for first in the nation in RBI's (90). He was a HAAC first team shortstop, HAAC Baseball Player of the Year, first team all-region infielder, second team NAIA All-American, NAIA, Region V and HAAC Player of the Week and a William Jewell College scholar-athlete. At this writing Ben is 20 doubles away from being the all-time doubles leader in NAIA history.

Kristin and Ben were honored at the annual Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet during Homecoming in the Mabee Center .

Jewell students honored by HAAC

Jewell's Adam Stout won the Men's 2003-04 Commissioner's Scholarship for the Heart of America Athletic Conference with a GPA of 3.958. For the second year in a row, Jewell's men's teams had the highest GPA at 3.119.

Students tour storm facility

Jewell students Cameron Cupp, Diana Hilton, Neal Moffett and Emily Ray recently toured the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. Harold Brooks, an '81 WJC graduate and research meteorologist at the laboratory, hosted the group. Diana Hilton also attended the 2004 Quadrennial Congress of Sigma Pi Sigma (national physics honorary) in Albuquerque , N.M.