Former John Hardin Runner Katie Lever Named CUSA Spirit of Service Honoree

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. WKU Track and Field junior distance runner Katie Lever is one of 14 student-athletes that will receive the Conference USA Winter Spirit of Service award, as announced by C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky on Wednesday.

The C-USA Spirit of Service award is designed to recognize the community service efforts of the league’s student-athletes, based upon significant community service, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport. The Spirit of Service award will be presented three times throughout the 2014-15 season, with Wednesday’s honorees representing C-USA’s winter sports: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s indoor track and field.

Lever has been nothing short of phenomenal from her work in the community to her results in the classroom and on the track. She earned the 2014 WKU Outreach-Service Award for exemplifying sportsmanship and character and being actively involved in the community at the 2014 WKU Athletics Banquet. The Elizabethtown, Kentucky, native is a two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic selection and was a 2014 Cross Country C-USA All-Academic honoree last fall. Lever has a perfect cumulative GPA of 4.0 through five completed semesters as a communication studies major.

On the track, Lever finished third in the 5,000-meter run at the C-USA Indoor Championships to garner all-conference accolades. Lever has earned a combined seven all-conference honors spanning cross country, and indoor and outdoor track seasons since 2013.

WKU senior volleyball player Heather Boyan was WKU’s fall C-USA Spirit of Service honoree.

2014-15 WINTER C-USA SPIRIT OF SERVICE HONOREES

Erin Crissman, Charlotte, Women’s Track & Field

Ally Mayhew, FIU, Women’s Swimming & Diving

Ali Gorrell, Florida Atlantic, Women’s Basketball

Kenneth “Speedy” Smith, Louisiana Tech, Men’s Basketball

Austin Loop, Marshall, Men’s Basketball

Jacquez Rozier, Middle Tennessee, Men’s Basketball

Kedron Sowells, North Texas, Men’s Track & Field

Ashley Betz-White, Old Dominion, Women’s Basketball

Seth Gearhart, Rice, Men’s Basketball

Christopher Monroe, Southern Miss, Men’s Track & Field

Renay Ransaw, UAB, Women’s Track & Field

Elphas Maiyo, UTEP, Men’s Track & Field

Niaga Mitchell-Cole, UTSA Women’s Basketball

Katie Lever, WKU, Women’s Track & Field