May 8, 2003

Three Bulldog Athletes Receive Verizon Academic Honors

The 2003 Verizon Academic All-District VII Softball and Baseball teams were announced today and three Bulldogs were among those honored. For softball, senior pitcher Britni Buford received Verizon first-team honors while junior shortstop Elizabeth Economon was named to the second-team. Among the baseball award winners, Truman's junior outfield Brad Miller was a second-team selection.

Buford was named to the Verizon first-team contingent after maintaining a 3.92 cumulative grade point average through the fall of 2002. Buford ranked 36th (1.04) in the NCAA DII statistical rankings for ERA as of April 27, but has lowered that to 1.03. She heads to the regional tourney with a 16-4 record.

Last year, Buford was named second-team all-region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association after leading the team with a 1.54 ERA. She also hit .312 with two home runs, 24 hits and 18 RBIs.

For her career, Buford has posted the second-most wins (55) and appearances (83) in school history. Her 480.2 innings pitched is also fourth among Truman career leaders, while her 20 shutouts ranks fifth and her 66 starts, 316 strikeouts and 52 complete games are fourth all-time. She has been named MIAA athlete of the week four times during her career and will be a three-time member of the MIAA commissioner's academic honor roll. Buford was also an academic all-MIAA recipient last year.

Economon, who has a 3.33 GPA, is destined to be one of the best hitters in school history and heads to the regional tournament tied for the MIAA records for home runs in a season (16) and a career (33). She continues to set a new league season standard for RBIs with 59 so far in 2003. She leads the MIAA and was ranked 40th (.426) in the nation in batting average last week, but has improved to .427 since then. In addition to first-team all-MIAA status this year, Economon was also a repeat selection as league MVP.

Last year, Economon was named a third-team all-America by the NFCA after earning first-team all-region status. She was also a member of the MIA commissioner's academic honor roll.

The two women are currently making their third trips to the NCAA Division II regional tournament being held in Fargo, N.D., with a 39-14 team record. They helped the Bulldogs win the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular season and postseason tournament championships.

Miller, a junior business major, hit .225 during the 2003 season for the Bulldogs baseball team and had a .317 on-base percentage. He was third on the team with 19 runs and he also recorded five RBIs, two doubles and one triple. Miller had eight stolen bases and was caught stealing just once. He now has 20 career stolen bases, tied for 13th on Truman's all-time list.

Miller played in 37 games for the Truman squad that went 10-37 overall, but finished the year on a high note by winning six of the final 11 games of the season.

Softball | Baseball | Truman Athletics