PLANO, Texas - Northwestern State Bobby Barbier has been voted the CapitalOne/Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year for baseball. He is one of 11 student-athletes from six different universities voted to the league's 2006 all-academic team.
Regular-season champion McNeese State leads all teams with five of the 11 selections to the all-academic squad. Texas State was the only other school with multiple selections as two Bobcats are named.
Barbier, a senior first baseman from Lafayette, La., is a two-time SLC All-Academic pick and was an Academic All-American in 2004. He finished his career as a record holder for hit-by-pitches and also ranks in the top 10 in games played and hits at Northwestern. In 2006, he batted .255 while playing in all 61 games with 60 starts. He ranked fourth on his team with 39 runs batted in and 14 stolen bases.
Joining Barbier on the infield of the all-academic team are Tyler Dugas and Bryan Cartie of McNeese State and Cody Merrell of Texas State.
Other Cowboys named to the team are Joe Hulett at catcher, Thomas Zabasky at designated hitter and outfielder Charlie Kingrey. They helped McNeese win its third SLC title by posting a 35-20 overall record and 22-8 SLC mark.
Texas State's other selection is Luke Cannon in the outfield.
Texas-San Antonio's Michael McKennon is the third outfielder named to the 2006 team. Rounding out the team are pitchers Jeremy Mizell of Southeastern Louisiana and Tim Gray of Sam Houston State.
Following is a look at the 2006 CapitalOne/SLC All-Academic Baseball Team, complete with hometowns, grade point averages and majors.
The all-academic team honors student-athletes who were selected first-team all-conference and/or named as a national all-academic recipient this year while also earning at least a 3.00 grade point average. Remaining spots on the all-academic teams are then voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators. Student-athletes must have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition.
The student-athlete of the year is annually presented to the individual in each conference sport who achieves excellence in academics and athletics. Nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average to go along with superior athletics achievement.
2006 CAPITALONE/SLC ALL-ACADEMIC BASEBALL TEAM
• Bobby Barbier - Northwestern State - Sr. - IF - Lafayette, La. 3.58, Physical Education
• Tyler Dugas - McNeese State - Grad. - IF - Lafayette, La. 3.67, Health & Human Performance
• Cody Merrell - Texas State - Sr. - IF - Perrytown, Texas 3.31, Exercise and Sports Science
•Bryan Cartie - McNeese State - So. - IF - Meadows Place, Texas 3.20, Business/Marketing
• Joe Hulett - McNeese State - Jr. - C - Shreveport, La. 3.17, Political Science/Sociology
• Thomas Zabasky - McNeese State - Jr. - DH -Pineville, La. 3.53, Finance
•Charlie Kingrey - McNeese State - Jr. - OF - Kinder, La. 3.57, Nursing
•Michael McKennon - Texas-San Antonio - Jr. - OF -Pearland, Texas 3.43, Business
•Luke Cannon - Texas State - Sr. - OF - Crandall, Texas 3.39, Exercise and Sports Science
•Jeremy Mizell - Southeastern La. - Sr. - P - Baton Rouge, La. 3.23, Kinesiology
•Tim Gray - Sam Houston State - Jr. - P - Huntsville, Texas 3.60, Biology
