May 1, 2003
Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina Athletics Department today named its annual Male and Female Athletes and Scholar Athletes of the Year. Brandy Andersen has been selected as the Female Athlete of the Year and Caleb Bailey, the Male Athlete of the Year. For the Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year, Johanna Lundberg and Jason Whaley received the honors.
Andersen, a freshman on the women's golf team, recently led her team to its first ever Southern Conference Championship. She was also the SoCon individual champion with a 212, which is a WCU record as well as a SoCon record. Andersen was the only player to shoot under par for the tournament and the only one to shoot par or better in each of the three rounds. As a result, she was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year and an All-Conference member. She was also recently named the National Player of the Week by Golf World Magazine and is being featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" section in an upcoming issue. In the fall semester, Andersen won the Wachovia-Great Smokies Intercollegiate with a 141, which stands as a WCU two-round record. She shot a 66 in round one of that tournament to shatter the WCU single round record, shooting an eagle, hole-in one and birdie in a three-hole stretch. She shot a 69 in the final round of the John/Kirk Lady Panther Intercollegiate the following week to lift the Catamounts past Miami to win the tournament with an 891 - a WCU three-round team record.
Bailey, a member of the WCU cross country and track and field teams, was an All-Conference performer in indoor and outdoor track this season. He was a national qualifier in the 800m (indoor) and finished 13th in country at the NCAA meet. He was also part of the distance medley team which came in first at the SoCon Indoor Championships. He set a WCU indoor record in the 800 to qualify with a time of 1:48.49 (sixth fastest time in the country at the time). Bailey has qualified for Regionals in the 800m and 1500m during the outdoor season and will compete in Fairfax, Va., on May 30. He won the 800m race at the SoCon Outdoor Championship and was part of the distance medley team which recently finished seventh in country with a WCU record time of 9:55.38. He was a SoCon Player of the Week in cross country and two-time Player of the Week in indoor track. Bailey led Cats to a 14th place finish at the cross country regional meet (best finish ever for WCU) coming in 41st place overall with a time of 31:25.00.
Lundberg, a sophomore on the women's golf team, helped lead Western to three tournament wins this year, including the SoCon tourney for the first time. She finished in eighth in the championship with a three-round score of 227, which tied a career low. She led the Cats at the Unlimited Potential/Baytree Classic in the fall, tying for 18th out of over 175 golfers after shooting a 231. Lundberg also shot a career-low 70 in the first round of the John Kirk/Lady Panther Intercollegiate in the fall to help put the Cats in first place of a tournament which they later won. She is averaging 77.77 strokes per round and currently has the third best stroke average in WCU history at 78.00 strokes per 18 holes. Lundberg was named to the TIAA-CREF Academic All-SoCon team for spring sports and is one of the five total athletes on the list who boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Whaley, a junior on the men's football team, receives this honor for the third straight year. In January, he was one of 43 student-athletes to be named to the Division I-AA Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star team, carrying a 3.898 cumulative GPA in computer information systems. This past fall, Whaley was additionally tabbed first team Verizon University Division Academic All-District III. On the field, Whaley was selected second team All-Southern Conference by the league's coaches. He has started all 32 possible games to date for the Catamounts since his freshman season along the offensive line, including 11 this season at right guard. Whaley's play allowed Western Carolina to pace the SoCon and rank 25th nationally in passing with an average of 243.5 yards per game. The two-time Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll selection is a member of Western's Honor College and the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
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