Brentwood, TN – Carrie Burggraf, Austin Peay State University’s standout track and field student-athlete, has been selected for a second straight year as recipient of the Ohio Valley Conference Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award.
That honor will be presented, Friday, at the annual OVC’s Awards Luncheon. Also, on Friday, former APSU Athletic Trainer Chuck Kimmel will be inducted into the OVC Hall of Fame.
The Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award is given annually to an Ohio Valley Conference male or female student-athlete of junior or senior standing who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator Steve Hamilton. Criteria include significant athletics performance along with good sportsmanship and citizenship. The award is voted on by the Conference’s athletics directors and sports information directors.
Burggraf becomes Austin Peay’s seventh recipient of the prestigious award since its inception in 1998-99 and becomes the first two-time honoree. Last year, Burggraf became the first junior to receive the award. The Marion, Ohio, native has enjoyed a brilliant career both on and off the field at APSU.
On the field, Burggraf was a six-time Ohio Valley Conference pole vault champion, setting both the indoor and outdoor championship records along the way. She also has competed in three NCAA Outdoor Track Regionals during her career. In addition, Burggraf was voted the OVC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
Despite battling an early season injury this spring, she continued to excel in the outdoor season. During the OVC championships, Burggraf posted a 13-05 vault, shattering her own OVC championship record in claiming her sixth championship-Burggraf was the first OVC vaulter to clear 13 feet. For 2008-09, she was voted Austin Peay’s Most Female Athlete.
Off the field, Burggraf recently learned she receive the esteemed NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Her postgraduate education next year will continue at the University of Pittsburgh, where she will focus on global international studies, with a concentration in human security (human rights).
Earlier this spring at the APSU Athletics Awards Banquet, Burggraf was honored with the Female Legends Award as Austin Peay’s Most Valuable Senior Athlete. Also that night she was one of four athletes to receive the APSU Scholar-Athlete Award and the Perkins Freeman Governors Club Academic Achievement Award for owning the highest GPA (4.0) for a graduating senior.
She was named as recipient of the Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award at the Student Organization and Leader Awards. The political science and history double major (with a minor in English writing) also received the John Burgess Award as APSU’s top political science graduate.
Last year, the Marion, Ohio native became the first Lady Govs junior athlete to ever to receive the prestigious OVC Scholar-Athlete Award, given annually to three male and three female student-athletes of junior or senior status for their accomplishments in both the classroom and athletic arena, and because of their leadership qualities.
An OVC Medal of Honor recipient and Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection each year, she was a member of the was named to the Austin Peay President’s List and Athletics Directors Honor Roll every semester of her college career. She was selected ESPH The Magazine Second-Team Academic All-America team a year ago.
She also is a two-time United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic selection.
For being in the Top 15% of her class, Burggraf is a member of Gamma Beta Phi, as well as being in the Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society and the Founder’s Circle of the Pre-Law Society, the first-ever pre-law society at APSU. She was also in the History Club, a member of the Campus Safety Committee and served as a Disability Services note-taker. She also was a “Red Mud Review” poetry prize recipient, including for best poem.
In Summer 2008, Burggraf was chosen for the Peace Program Internship at the Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta, which is considered one of the “Top 109 Internships in the United States” by the Princeton Review. While there, she edited and compiled a weekly 20-30 page weekly “Peace Program Update.” She also monitored Ghana and Nigeria news and prepared political updates for Ghana Briefing Book in preparation for registration and election process.
Last summer, she served as a 12-hour-per week volunteer in the Anti-Human Trafficking Program for the Salvation Army in Columbus, Ohio
She was also a tutor at a local high school, for a program that prepares students for college eligibility and success, as well as working with the Special Olympics and the Austin Peay “Right to Read” program at local elementary schools as well as serving as a volunteer for Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities at a local elementary school.
About Steve Hamilton
Hamilton competed on OVC Championship teams in each baseball, basketball and track while at Morehead State. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1958 and a master’s degree also from Morehead Sate in 1963. He went on to have an 11-year major-league pitching career and coached in the minor leagues before returning to MSU in 1976 to become head baseball coach. He held that position for 13 years and compiled a 305-275 record while leading the Eagles to five divisional championships and two OVC titles.
He was named Morehead State’s Director of Athletics in July 1988 and served in that position until his death in 1997. As the A.D., Hamilton led the program to success on the field, in facilities and in the classroom. During his tenure, a weight room was built, an academic counselor for athletes was added, graduation rates of student-athletes improved and the University won the OVC Academic Achievement Banner four times.
Hamilton is the only individual to play in the NCAA Basketball Championship, a Major League Baseball World Series (New York Yankees) and a National Basketball Association Championship Series (Minnesota Lakers).
