June 8, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. - 2011 All-American Chelsea Thomas has been nominated for the United State Sports Academy's May Athlete of the Month award for her NCAA postseason performance last month. Voting for the award is now open and runs through Tuesday, June 14.
Every month, the United State Sports Academy conducts online balloting to select the Male and Female Athlete of the Month award. Also nominated along with Thomas are Betty Heidler (Track and Field, Germany), English Gardner (Track and Field, USA), Austin Ernst (Golf, USA), Ding Ning (Table Tennis, China) and Suzanna Pettersen (Golf, Norway).
Thomas went 8-2 in 10 starts during the month of May, where she posted a 1.07 earned run average. One of three finalists for USA Softball's National Player of the Year, Thomas helped guide Missouri to their third straight Women's College World Series by going 4-1 in the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds, which included a no-hitter in an 8-0 win over DePaul. Thomas struck out 81 batters and walked only 10 in 71.2 innings pitched.
The winners will be considered as a candidate for the 2011 Athlete of the Year ballot. In December 2011, the Academy will name the Male and Female Athlete of the Year for the 27th consecutive year. The recipients of these prestigious awards are selected annually through worldwide balloting hosted by the Academy in conjunction with USA Today and NBC Sports.
Athlete of the Month winners will be announced on the Academy's website and in the online edition of The Sport Update during the second week of every month.