Austin Smithers, a 5-foot-9 Hattiesburg, Miss. native, is the 2010-11 Charles S. Kerg Senior Male Student-Athlete of the Year after a brilliant career for the green-and-white.
Smithers was a four-year letter winner for the Statesmen Golf team. Smithers helped the Statesmen to three top five finishes at the GSC Championships in his career, including a third place finish in 2011. He finished 19th overall at the 2011 GSC Championship.
In the 2010-2011 season, Smithers shot 6-under par 66 in the second round of the Derrall Foreman Invitational, which ranks third all-time since records were kept. He has played 81 career rounds, which ranks him 10th since records were kept.
Smithers is a biology and chemistry major with a 3.92 GPA. He is a four-time GSC Academic Honor Roll recipient and had made GSC All-Academic team twice in his career. He was named Collegiate Golf Coaches Association Academic All-American in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.
Established by former Head Coach and Athletic Director Horace McCool, the Charles S. Kerg Award was named after the former Sports Editor at the Delta Democrat Times. At a time when very few media out–lets paid attention to Delta State athletics, Charles Kerg followed Delta State religiously, always making sure that Statesmen and Lady Statesmen student-athletes and their programs received the coverage they deserved.
When the award was established, Coach McCool's intent was to see that the award went to the all-around student-athlete - who not only excelled on the field, but in the classroom and in the community.
One of the most influential supporters in the history of the DSU athletic program, Charles Kerg's dedication serves to this day as not only an inspiration, but a model for how dedicated we can be to both our program and the community as a whole.
