The Gulf South Conference officially closed the door on another exciting decade of collegiate athletics with the release of the GSC Fall Sports All-Decade Teams (2000-09).
The GSC Fall Sports All-Decade Teams list are the first of three such lists to be released the following two weeks, including the Men’s and Women’s Basketball All-Decade Teams on July 15th and the Spring Sports All-Decade Teams July 22.
Volleyball
The GSC Women’s Volleyball All-Decade West Division Team is led by traditional powers Henderson State and Harding. HSU placed all four of its honorees on the West Division First Team, while HU collected two First Teamers and two Second Team players.
Leading the way for the Lady Reddies was All-American and four-time All-GSC selction Bethany Wright. Wright was the recipient of the 2009 GSC Commissioner’s Trophy, recognized as the top female student-athlete in the GSC and was again selected to the GSC Top Ten in 2010.
Wright rewrote the GSC record book as the Lady Reddie libero became the all-time leader with 2,880 digs, good enough for fourth all-time in Division II history. She recorded the most digs ever in a match, compiling 55 as a freshman against Harding. In her career, Wright was named GSC West Defensive Player of the Week 17 times. She is a three-time All-GSC West selection, making the First Team in 2008 and 2009.
In 2006, Wright was selected GSC West Division Freshman of the Year and captured the AVCA® South Region Freshmen of the Year Award that same season. In 2008, she was chosen to the Daktronics® All-America team, and the AVCA® Honorable Mention All-Region squad after she was fourth in the NCAA in digs per game, averaging 5.82 per contest. At the HSU All-Sports Banquet, Wright was given the prestigious India Norman Award, the top trophy given to a female student-athlete. Last season, she again was chosen to the Daktronics® All-America team, and the AVCA® Honorable Mention All-Region squad.
Wright was also a three-time member of the GSC Academic Honor Roll, and was an Academic All-Conference choice the last two years.
Also named to the list was Edith Musebe. A middle blocker, Musebe's career expended from 2006 to 2007 where she was a two-yome All-GSC selection and was the 2007 Daktronics National Co-Player of the Year. The All-American led the Nation in 2007 in kills per game.
The four-career of Nikki Dancer expanded from the late 1990's into the early part of the following decade. Dancer, A Henderson State Hall of Honor member, was a two-time All-GSC selection and All-American.
Maybe the most prolific outside hittter in HSU history was Lucy Arroyo. Arroyo played two years at Henderson from 2000 to 2001 and was a All-GSC selction as well as an all-American in 2001. In 2001, Arroyo set the NCAA record for most kills in a season with 912, while leading HSU to the NCAA South Regional.
Of the 18 institutions which played volleyball in the decade, Henderson State ranked fourth in the GSC, and second in the West Division.
Football
Two Reddies made the list of the Football All-Decade Team with guard Kurt Kutscher being a first-team selection and defensive back Devon Hughes a second team pick.
Kutscher was named one of eight finalists for the Gene Upshaw Division II National Lineman of the Year Award in 2007, and was a two-time All-Gulf South Conference selection.
A first-team All-Daktronics Southeast Region selection and All-America pick, the native of Navarro, Texas graded out at 94 percent and averaged four knockdowns per game and did not allow a sack his senior season.
Hughes was a three-time All-GSC selection, and earned All-Region and All-American honors three times. During his four year career at HSU from 2005 to 2008, Hughes led the nation twice in passes defended and currently holds the NCAA career record for passes defended with 75.
Cross-Country
Henderson State placed two members on the Cross-Country All-Decade Team as Penny Welchel was a second team pick on the Women's list, while Gabriel Ghioca was a second team pick on the Men's Team.
Welchel ran cross country from 2000 to 2003 at HSU and earned All-GSC honors three-times. During her career Whechel was Henderson's top runner finishing in the top ten in numerous meets.
Some of Whelchel most noted accomplishments was a third place finish out of 36,000 competitors in the Little Rock Race for the Cure in 2003 as well as a first-place finish out of more than 6000 runners in the Texarkanna Race For the Cure.
Whelchel also placed in the top 20 at two NCAA South Region Cross Country meets.
Currently on staff at HSU, Whelchel maintained a grade point average of 4.0 through her entire college career earning a spot on the All-GSC All-Academic Team three times.
Ghicoa became the first ever member in HSU men's cross country history to compete in the NCAA National Meet. Ghioca finished in 126th position out of 182 of the fastest runners in the country, finishing the 10-kilometer race in 34:19.3.
Ghioca's accomplishments include a fifth-place overall finish out of 105 runners in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships in Dover, Fla.
Ghioca won two events, earned two second place finishes and two third place finishes in 2009 before finishing fourth in the Gulf South Conference Championships.
A two-time All-GSC selection, Ghicoa still has two years of eligibilty remaining at Henderson State.
To be nominated for the All-Decade Teams, players could only be nominated if they competed in at least two seasons during the decade and were also named to the All-GSC First Team at least once. Each squad was broken up into First and Second Teams and Players and Coaches of the Decade were selected.
The Conference also recognized the best Teams of the Decade using a formula based n how a school’s team finished in the All-Sports Trophy standings the past 10 years.
