Both will be honored at Marshall's football game against Memphis on September 13, 2008. The game, which will mark the Thundering Herd's Conference USA opener, is slated to begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised by CSS. Adam Yeager played a pivotal role in Marshall's march through the 2008 Conference USA Tournament. He hit a team-best .455 in six games with a tournament-record nine stolen bases in leading the sixth-seeded Herd all the way to a berth in the championship game.
Marshall junior Adam Yeager was named the Ed Starling Marshall Male Student-Athlete of the Year. Yeager, who also played for Huntington High, is playing this summer in the Cape Cod League for the Brewster Whitecaps. photo from HerdZone.com.
Yeager was 47-of-56 in stolen base attempts in 2008, the highest total in the nation. It also marked a new school record. His average of 0.77 steals per game put him third in the national rankings. He also contributed in other categories, ranking second on the team in walks with 34, second with 59 runs scored and third in batting average, hitting .322 for the season. Yeager was also the only member of the team to play in and start all 61 games in the 2008 season. He hit .370 against C-USA opponents to lead the Herd in the regular season and was one of four MU players named to the C-USA All-Tournament team.
Kellie Schmitt concluded her 2008 singles season 23-4 at the number one position with her second consecutive C-USA Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors as well as being named an ITA East Regional Player-to-Watch. The junior ended the year as the highest C-USA singles player at No. 55 and also the third-ranked East Regional singles player. Schmitt garnered three C-USA Player of the Week awards this spring and was named the 2007 October Player of the Month.
Kellie Schmitt (right), who teammed with Karolina Soor in doubles, was named the Dr. Dorothy "Dot" Hicks Marshall Female Student-Athlete of the Year this week. Schmitt was MU's second-ever singles player to the NCAA Tournament, and the first to post a win, while she and Soor advanced in doubles. photo from HerdZone.com
In May, Schmitt was the first program history to advance to the 2008 NCAA Singles Second Round, but fell to then 12th-ranked Megan Moulton-Levy from William and Mary. She also paired with teammate Karolina Soor to create one of the top doubles tandems in the nation. The pair advanced to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament before falling to top-seeded Duke.