Baseball | 4/26/2022 10:37:00 AM

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – University of Central Missouri Athletics announced the recipients of the 2022 Dr. Peggy Martin and Vernon Kennedy Awards for the outstanding Female and Male Senior Athletes of the Year at the annual UCM Athletic Banquet Monday, April 25, inside the UCM Multipurpose Building.

For the 2021-22 academic year, the Dr. Peggy Martin Award went to Jennies track and field's Ashlan Burton, Jennies basketball's Nija Collier, Jennies volleyball's Audrey Fisher and Jennies soccer's Kassie Newsom while the Vernon Kennedy Award went to Collin Jones of Mules baseball and Vincent Hobbie of Mules track and field.



Ashlan Burton
Burton will go down as one of the best throwers in Central Missouri track and field history. A native of Urbandale, Iowa, Burton has re-written the record books for Jennies track and field.

She'll finish her career as at least a five-time All-American in the shot put, including national runner-up performances at both the 2021 and 2022 NCAA Division II Indoor Championship.

Burton is a four-time MIAA champion in the shot put, claiming the conference crown in the event indoors in 2019, 2021 and 2022, and outdoors in 2021.

She owns the school record in the indoor shot put after recording a throw of 53-03.50 at the Pittsburg State Indoor Gorilla Classic in February.

Entering this week, burton owns the second-best throw in the shot put in NCAA Division II Outdoor this season at 52-06.75.

Ashlan was named the 2021 MIAA Female Spring Athlete of the Year and has been selected to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll nine times, including six MIAA Scholar Athlete and four MIAA Academic Excellence honors.

Burton has already graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology and will graduate with a master's degree in kinesiology in May.

She is the daughter of Kelly Burton, and Mary and Ted Davis.

Nija Collier
Collier will always be synonymous with the term "double-double" during her storied and phenomenal career with Jennies basketball. She compiled 37 double-doubles in her three-year tenure with the Jennies, including a MIAA-best 18 this past season.

The Roseville, Mich., native played and started in all 89 games of her career at Central Missouri, nearly averaging a double-double for her career at 15.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

Collier is a two-time All-American and All-Region honoree. She has garnered MIAA Defensive Player of the Year honors twice, and is a three-time All-MIAA selection, including two first team nods, and has been named to the conference's all-defensive team twice.

Nija ended her career with the second-most blocked shots in program history with 148.

Audrey Fisher
Fisher will be remembered as one of the best all-around volleyball student-athletes in the storied history of Jennies volleyball.

A native of Lenexa, Kan., Fisher led the 2021 MIAA regular season and tournament champion Jennies to an overall record of 29-4 and a conference mark of 18-2, posting a team-best .370 attack percentage with 381 kills on 870 total attempts with only 59 errors in 120 sets played. She added 23 block solos and 99 block assists to go along with a team-best 31 service aces and added 60 digs.

Fisher was tabbed an AVCA and D2CCA First Team All-American and was named the MIAA Player of the Year and D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year.

In her career with the Jennies, Fisher earned All-American honors three times, the 22nd player in program history to receive multiple All-American awards, and one of only seven players with three or more.

Fisher finished her career with the most matches (112) with double figure points, and fourth all-time in total points with 1,790.

A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, five-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll selection and MIAA Scholar Athlete with a 3.95 GPA, Fisher graduated this December with her bachelor's degree in drafting and design technology.

Fisher is the daughter of David and Jill Fisher.

Kassie Newsom
Newsom has re-written both the MIAA and Jennies soccer record books in her phenomenal three-year career for the Red and Black.

Newsom was a United Soccer Coaches and D2CCA First Team All-American, the MIAA Offensive Player of the Year, and D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year.

Kassie led the Jennies with 19 goals, 16 assists and 54 points in her 24 matches played during the 2021 season, helping Central Missouri claim the MIAA regular season and NCAA Division II Central Regional championships. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native's 19 assists and 54 points are both program single-season records while her 19 goals rank tied for second in program history.

Kassie wrapped up the season as the MIAA leader in assists and points and ranked second in goals. In addition, she ranked second in all of NCAA Division II in total assists, third in points and sixth in assists per match (0.67).

A CoSIDA Academic All-American, two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District, and a three-time MIAA Academic Excellence, Scholar Athlete and Academic Honor Roll honoree, Newsom graduated with perfect 4.0 GPA and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in December.

Newsom is the daughter of Curt and Stephanie Newsom.























Vincent Hobbie
Hobbie has helped lift the Central Missouri Mules track and field pole vaulting program to new heights.

The Stutensee, Germany, native captured the 2019 NCAA Division II Indoor Pole Vault National Championship and is a five-time All-American in the event, including the 2019 national title, a pair of runners up performances in 2022 indoor and 2019 outdoor, and two third place finishes in 2021 indoor and outdoor.

Hobbie is a five-time MIAA champion in the pole vault. 

This season, Hobbie holds the top mark in NCAA-II outdoor after clearing 17-07.75 this Saturday, April 23, at the Pittsburg State Tune-Up event. 

That performance was also second-best in school history. 

Hobbie also holds the second-best pole-vaulting mark in school history indoors, clearing 17-07.00 at the 2019 NCAA-II Indoor Championships.

An international business major, Hobbie is a three-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll honoree.

Vincent is the son of Jens and Claudia Hobbie.

Collin Jones
Jones will finish his career with the Mules baseball program as one the top pitchers in the program's storied history.

This season, he has helped the Mules to their 28th MIAA regular season championship. He has served as the ace for a Central Missouri pitching staff that leads the MIAA and ranks among the best in all of NCAA Division II with a 3.73 team ERA.

Individually this season, Collin is 8-0 with a 3.25 ERA in 11 appearances and starts for the Mules, tallying one complete-game, one shutout, and 51 strikeouts in 61 innings of work. In his career at UCM, Jones is 26-5 with three complete games to go along with 232 strikeouts in 269 1/3 career innings.

A third team All-MIAA selection last season, Jones was a member of both the 2019 and 2021 College World Series teams.

Collin was a MIAA Academic Honor Roll selection in 2021 and graduated with a degree in occupational and safety management in the fall of 2021.

Jones is the son of Howard and Melissa Jones.