FHSU Sports Information Department
Fort Hays State’s Kate Lehman was named the female recipient of the Ken B. Jones Award from the MIAA on Wednesday evening in Kansas City, Mo. The Ken B. Jones Award recognizes the conference’s Student Athlete of the Year award for both a male and female, which combines the individual’s athletic, academic, and service accomplishments.
Lehman is the first-ever recipient of the award from Fort Hays State, male or female, since FHSU joined the MIAA in 2006. Lehman adds this honor to her long list of accomplishments in 2014-15, a year that saw her earn All-America First Team honors from four organizations and the National Player of the Year from BennettRank.com. She was both the MIAA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She earned the conference’s top defensive honor and All-MIAA First Team honors for three consecutive years and was named to the All-Defensive Team all four years.
It was a historic year for the Ken B. Jones winners. Not only did Lehman become the first recipient of the award for Fort Hays State, male winner Chris Watson became Central Oklahoma’s first recipient, an undefeated national champion in wrestling.
Not only did Lehman get the job done on the court as one of the nation’s top players, she also excelled in the classroom throughout her time at Fort Hays State, graduating with a 3.85 GPA as an Elementary Education major. She was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team in 2015.
Lehman had an impressive list of service accomplishments at Fort Hays State, serving as an intern in multiple educational fields and putting a lot of service hours in at Sternberg Museum and with the St. Jude’s “Up Til Dawn” group at FHSU. She also spent time as a substitute teacher, a reading disabilities tutor, and participated in several service projects with the women’s basketball team.
One of the most impressive facets of Lehman helping the FHSU women’s basketball team to its most successful season in its NCAA Division II history was the fact she spent the entire second half of the season as a first grade student teacher at Lincoln Elementary. During the run of the season’s most critical games from January through March, Lehman was teaching daily from 8 am-4pm before coming to practice and games. Yet she still produced on the highest level, helping the Tigers to an MIAA Regular Season Championship, the No. 1 seed in the Central Region, and the Central Regional Final.
Lehman reached a distinction no other NCAA Division II women’s basketball player in history had ever accomplished in 2015. She was the first ever at the level to have at least 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 blocked shots in a career. Although several players have attained the 1,000 – 1,000 mark in points and rebounds, only one player had ever passed the 500 blocked shot mark in Division II history. With Lehman well past the 1,000 mark in points and rebounds, she finally reached 500 blocked shots in a 59-53 MIAA Tournament Semifinal win over Central Missouri. She went on to finish with 1,917 points, 1,109 rebounds, and 515 blocks in her career.
All of Lehman’s accolades throughout the 2014-15 season caught the attention of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn. Her jersey will now hang in the Hall of Fame’s “Ring of Honor” for a full year in recognition of those accomplishments. The Ken B. Jones Award is now another impressive honor to add to her ever-growing list of accomplishments.