Bures Earns SEC Freshman Of The Year, First Team All-SEC Honors
May 25, 2016 | Soccer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- On the shoulders of one of the most impressive premier seasons in school history, Mississippi State freshman shortstop Courtney Bures (Haymarket, Va./Stonewall Jackson HS) left the SEC Tournament awards ceremony Wednesday evening in Gainesville, Fla., with a handful of hardware, taking home freshman all-SEC, first team all-SEC and SEC Freshman of the Year accolades.
The honor marked the ninth consecutive year that the Bulldogs have had at least one representative on the first team all-conference squad and the first time in the six-year history of the award that a Mississippi State athlete has earned Freshman of the Year laurels. Bures and sophomore Hayle Guess, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery on March 10, are the only two MSU players to ever don freshman all-SEC honors.
Currently leading the 2005 squad in every offensive statistical category, Bures has churned out a .428 (80-for-187) average so far this season to complement 37 extra-base hits (17 HR), 53 RBI and 49 runs scored. Her .834 slugging percentage heading into SEC Tournament play is just percentage points lower than former all-American Iyhia McMichael's .836 mark tallied in 2004. Bures is also just one home run away from matching McMichael's single season mark of 18 established during the 2003 campaign.
In 30 league games this season, Bures turned in a .435 (37-for-85) batting average with 19 extra-base hits, 19 RBI and 20 runs scored. She also turned in an .835 slugging percentage, a .495 on-base percentage and was 7-for-11 (.636) on stolen base attempts.
The awards came just more than 24 hours after Bures was announced as one of the initial 32 players nationwide to have received an invitation to the USA Softball National Team Selection Camp to be held at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., June 13-17. Fellow infielder Callye Williams was named among the initial postseason awards handed out by the league office this week as the junior from Katy, Texas, was named to the SEC Softball Good Works Team on Monday afternoon.
Mississippi State (32-27, 12-18 SEC) will be back in action on Thursday afternoon when the seventh-seeded Maroon and White suits up to open up its portion of SEC Tournament play against second-seeded Alabama (53-12, 23-7) in the opening round. First pitch of the match-up has been slated for 1:30 p.m. EDT at the Florida Softball Stadium.
2005 SEC POSTSEASON AWARDS
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Kim Wendland, Georgia
CO-PITCHERS OF THE YEAR
Monica Abbott, Tennessee
Michelle Green, Georgia
COACH OF THE YEAR
Lu Harris-Camper, Georgia
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Courtney Bures, Mississippi State
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Ashley Smith, South Carolina
FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC
P - Monica Abbott, Tennessee
P - Michelle Green, Georgia
C - Sara Dean, Auburn
INF - Paige Jones, Auburn
INF - Courtney Bures, Mississippi State
INF - Megan McAllister, Georgia
INF - Kristi Durant, Tennessee
OF - Lindsey Cameron, Florida
OF - Jackie Wilkins, Alabama
OF - Sarah Fekete, Tennessee
OF - Sara Ghezzi, Auburn
DP/UTL - Kim Wendland, Georgia
SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC
P - Stephanie VanBrakle, Alabama
P - Emily Turner, LSU
C - Ashley Courtney, Alabama
INF - Meghan Cornett, South Carolina
INF - Melissa Zick, Florida
INF - Jessica Doucette, Georgia
INF - Staci Ramsey, Alabama
INF - Lindsey Schutzler, Tennessee
OF - Courtney Knight, Georgia
OF - Camille Harris, LSU
OF - Rachel LeMaster, Arkansas
DP/UTL - Holly Currie, Auburn
FRESHMAN ALL-SEC
P - Megan Rhodes, Tennessee
P - Chrissy Owens, Alabama
C - Shannon Doepking, Tennessee
INF - Courtney Bures, Mississippi State
INF - Jessica Doucette, Georgia
INF - Dani Woods, Alabama
INF - Katie Vickers, Georgia
INF - Tonya Callahan, Tennessee
INF - Chloe Kloezeman, Ole Miss
OF - Jessica Josker, South Carolina
DP/UTL - Jordan Praytor, Alabama
