Four Owls Make All A-Sun Team

Four Kennesaw State Owls earned 2011 All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors, the conference announced on Tuesday. Sharon Swanson was an All A-Sun First Team selection, while Jessica Cross, Ashlee Burkett and Sara Sikes were named to the Second Team.

For Swanson, a sophomore, the award comes one year after she was named to the A-Sun All Freshman Team, having truly built on her strong inaugural campaign. One of just two Owls to start all 53 games during the regular season, the Canton, Ga., native heads into Wednesday’s Atlantic Sun Conference Championship leading the league in home runs (14), RBI (49) and hits (63), while her .366 batting average puts her fourth in the conference.

Cross, the 2011 A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year and a 2010 First Team All A-Sun selection, once again proved that she is one of the best all-around players in the conference. Serving as both a pitcher and a designated player, the junior is second in the league behind only Swanson with 13 home runs, and is currently 10th in the A-Sun with a 2.04 earned run average. The All A-Sun selection is the third of her career.

Burkett earns her second straight All A-Sun selection with a solid sophomore campaign. The 2010 A-Sun Freshman of The Year and All A-Sun First Team honoree, Burkett heads into Wednesday batting .282, and is third on the Owls in home runs and RBI with six and 24, respectively. She showed her defensive versatility by starting 22 games at first base and 29 at third, after playing first base exclusively in 2010.

For Sikes, a sophomore, the all conference recognition comes in her first year as an Owl. A transfer from Georgia, Sikes stepped right in and assumed the role as the everyday center fielder for the Black and Gold, starting 51 games in the position. Her .333 batting average currently puts her 10th in the conference in that category, batting .347 against conference opponents. Her speed on the base paths allowed her to notch three triples, tied for fourth in the conference. As strong as she was offensively, she has put forth great contributions in the field, having committed just one error in her 51 games out in center field.

Swanson’s selection marks the fifth time in six years as a member of the A-Sun that the Owls have had a player selected as an All A-Sun First Team honoree.