This has been an incredible\nsemester of good news for our campus community. From outstanding accreditation\nvisits to national championships in several different departments \u2013 and\nnumerous other examples, too many to name \u2013 spring 2021 will be remembered as a\nsemester of success and celebration at Fort Hays State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One such success story is that of\nWhitney Randall, a senior on the Tiger women\u2019s basketball team, who was named\nthe 2021 MIAA Women\u2019s Winter Student-Athlete of the Year. Only one other FHSU\nstudent-athlete \u2013 All-American Kate Lehman (2011-15) \u2013 has won this prestigious\naward from the MIAA, one of the best NCAA Division II conferences in the\ncountry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitney is an incredible person,\nan accomplished student-athlete, and an individual who gives generously to her\nteammates and her community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This award is not given on\nathletic talent alone, although Whitney did earn first-team all-MIAA honors for\nher success on the court. It is also based on the academic and campus\/community\nservice accomplishments of individuals who are a junior or a senior in athletic\neligibility and have a grade-point average of at least 3.25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitney shines in all three\nareas. On the athletic front, she led her team in scoring while providing\nsenior leadership and experience for a young team with eight underclassmen on\nthe 12-player roster. Academically, Whitney \u2013 a health and human performance\nmajor who wants to teach and coach \u2013 has maintained a perfect 4.0 throughout\nher entire college career. She plays a role in the Christian Challenge ministry\nthrough the Celebration Community Church. She has participated in three\ninternational mission trips as an FHSU student. And during the summer months,\nshe serves as a sponsor and counselor for youth from her hometown during a\nweek-long Christian church camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitney is an incredible person,\nan accomplished student-athlete, and an individual who gives generously to her\nteammates and her community. I will admit that I am a bit \u201cstar-struck\u201d by\nseveral of our community members like Whitney. It\u2019s always interesting to hear\nwhere they got their start. It turns out that Whitney learned about Fort Hays\nState from her dad \u2013 J.P. Randall, a standout defensive player on the Tiger\nfootball team in the early 1980s \u2013 who talked fondly of his college days at\nFHSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitney grew up in Alva, Okla.,\nand began playing recreation league basketball when she was 5 years old. I am\npretty sure I had not even seen a basketball when I was 5!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her success with basketball came\nearly, and she helped lead her high school team to three state championships.\nThat drive to succeed was one of the reasons Whitney chose FHSU \u2013 the success\nof Lady Tiger basketball \u2013 coupled with the community support that our\nuniversity and athletic teams enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitney loves the competitiveness\nof the game and its fast pace. I also learned about her deep affection for her\nteammates \u2013 or as Whitney would say, her best friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re more than just teammates,\u201d\nshe said. \u201cWe are a family, and we do everything together. The coaches are very\nsupportive, whether it\u2019s on or off the court. They help us when we need it and\nalways have our backs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitney\u2019s favorite college\nbasketball memory came in 2019 when Fort Hays State hosted the Central Region\ntournament, and more than 5,000 raucous, loyal fans came to cheer them on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we walked onto the court\nwith 5 minutes until tip-off, I stood in amazement,\u201d she said. \u201cFor an athlete,\nthat\u2019s one thing I would want everyone to experience. It\u2019s a dream to have\nthousands of people cheer you on in a big moment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still get goosebumps as I\nrecall the loud, packed, high-energy crowd that day. It is a powerful memory. I\nhad to chuckle when Whitney shared, \u201cWhen I can\u2019t hear Coach Hobson when I\u2019m on\nthe court or even when we\u2019re in a huddle, that\u2019s when I know the fans have\nreally shown up!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another highlight for Whitney was\nthe excitement of winning conference titles in 2019 and 2021 and making the\nNCAA tournament every year she has been at the Fort. As she describes the wins,\nshe always circles back to talking about one of the reasons she chose FHSU \u2013\ncommunity support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitney really appreciates our Tiger fans. So do I. We have a very loyal fan base that sticks with us in the moments of glory as well as the tough losses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of anyone\u2019s history are\nmoments of struggle as well as success. It’s no different for Whitney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would say there are tough\nspots for every collegiate athlete. My freshman year was when I struggled the\nmost. I learned that everyone has to learn how to balance school, sports, and\nlife,\u201d she said. \u201cI have also learned that there is a time when it is your turn\nto shine and when it is your turn to cheer on someone else from the bench. That\nis something that makes you a better teammate as well as a better leader \u2013 on\nand off the court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In reminiscing about her time as\nan athlete, Whitney believes \u201cit takes a lot to be a champion. It\u2019s not just\nabout the sport. It\u2019s about going to classes, showing up on time, sacrificing,\nand being unselfish. Teams succeed when they have a common goal, and it doesn\u2019t\nmatter who the star is.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am so honored to be part of\nthis university and this community, where people connect deeply and sincerely.\nWe have so many \u201call-stars\u201d in our student body, faculty, staff, and community.\nThat is why we work hard, learn, grow, and celebrate one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I cannot wait to see Whitney\nreceive her award this summer and share in this significant accomplishment. I\nam very proud of Whitney, her coaches, faculty, teammates, family, and friends\n\u2013 all who have shaped her heart and mind, and in the process, loved her into an\nextraordinary woman of character and a true champion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This has been an incredible semester of good news for our campus community. From outstanding accreditation visits to national championships in several different departments \u2013… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59634,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59633\/revisions\/59634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}