ADA, OKLA. –  The honors continue to roll in for East Central University softball senior Mariah Ewy as she was named the 2018-19 Great American Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She becomes the third ECU softball student-athlete to earn the honor, joining Autumn Suydam (2015-16) and Emily Kennemer (2011-12).

The league's faculty athletic representatives voted on the Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards; they could not vote for their own student-athletes.

"Mariah is the epitome of a model NCAA Division II student-athlete," said ECU Director of Athletics Dr. Jeff Williams.  "She embraces the grind of achieving excellence in the classroom and on the field."

After graduation in May with a degree in biology and with full University Honors after completing her Honors Thesis under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Andrews, Dean of the College of Health and Sciences, with a perfect 4.00 GPA, Ewy was also named a  2019 Google Cloud (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Second Team honoree and was nominated by ECU for NCAA Woman of the Year. 

"When I talk to student-athletes about our mission in Tiger Athletics, I envision the accomplishments of Mariah Ewy," continued Williams.  "Any Tiger willing to work hard can achieve their dreams from wisely investing in their time while at ECU.  They can build lasting supportive relationships with ECU faculty, staff, coaches and teammates and be prepared to win in life long after their playing days are over!"

"I'm so proud of Mariah and what she was able to accomplish during her time at ECU," stated ECU Softball Coach Destini Anderson.  "Her contributions to our program were invaluable both on and off the field.  It's such an honor for her to receive this recognition among the many outstanding student-athletes across the GAC."

In 2019, she missed the first game of a doubleheader against Southeastern Oklahoma State because she was still traveling back from the 2019 Oklahoma EPSCoR Research Day at the Capital.  This capped off two full years of research during her McNair Scholars Program Internship and she was one of only 20 from all of the colleges and universities in Oklahoma asked to present.

The Perry, Okla., native, was also recently named to the 2019 Google Cloud (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Second Team.  She joined softball's Suydam as a two-time winner, after earning third team honors in 2018.  She also adds the 2018-19 ECU Athletics Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, two Great American Conference Elite Scholar Athlete awards, three GAC All-Academic and D2 ADA Academic honors.

The 2018-19 ECU George Nigh Top-5 finalist (top graduating senior at ECU), finished the 2019 season batting .305 and adding 27 runs, 39 hits, nine doubles, one triple, 16 RBI's, 15 walks drawn, seven sacrifice bunts, 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts.  The short stop also added 92 putouts and 83 assisted outs, with a .941 fielding pct.

Over her career, Ewy made a name for herself, leaving with three top-10 career spots and two All-GAC honors.  The four-year starter is ranked No. 1 in games played (209), No. 6 in walks drawn (48) and No. 10 in runs scored (80). 

While with the Tigers, she participated in several service and leadership programs outside of softball.  These ranged from membership in several campus and community organizations, volunteering around the Ada community and tutoring.