The Tribune

THE Bahamas Baseball Federation congratulated Brandon Murray on receiving the 2014 ExCEL student athlete of the year award.

In a press release from the College of Charleston, it states that baseball senior Brandon Murray and women’s basketball senior Alyssa Frye were honoured with the 2014 ExCEL student athlete of the year awards, as announced at a ceremony on Wednesday night at the Sottile Theatre.

The annual awards programme is designed to honour faculty, staff, students, alumni, and neighbours (individuals, agencies, or companies) for their dedication to excellence and enhancing diversity on campus and in the community. This dedication is displayed through teaching, athleticism, student leadership, departmental support, or commitment to the community.

Each year, the awards are sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Programmes and Services. This year, there were a record 126 nominations for the numerous campus awards.

Hailing from Nassau, Bahamas, Murray has been a standout performer on the field while representing the College of Charleston in his community. Last year, Murray spoke to potential students as part of the Multicultural Overnight Experience (M.O.V.E.), while also visiting the local MUSC Children’s Hospital. He has been a pivotal part of Charleston’s three-year involvement with raising money for childhood cancer research.

On the field, Murray leads CofC with four homeruns and 15 walks so far in 2014. He was an All-CAA Preseason pick, and has been an All-Conference second teamer for the last two seasons. Murray is currently just one homer shy of seventh all-time in the College of Charleston record books. He has been a starter in left field since the first day of his sophomore year, and is one of CofC’s veteran captains on the field and in the locker room.

“Brandon represents everything we try to exemplify in our programme,” head coach Monte Lee said. “He works hard on the field and in practice, setting the tone for his younger teammates. He also has been very involved in the community, always acting as a strong ambassador for our baseball programme and for the College of Charleston.”

A native of Chester, Va., Frye has enjoyed a stellar career as a four-year member of the College of Charleston women’s basketball team. Frye is the school’s record holder for career three-pointers as well as being the eighth highest scorer in programme history.

Frye – who has started all 33 games for the Cougars this season – has helped guide the college to the semifinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitational, where they are playing postseason ball in consecutive seasons for the first time in the programme’s division-1 history.

Equally as impressive off the court, Frye is a member of the 2014 Colonial Athletic Association’s all-Academic team and has helped champion numerous philanthropic causes on campus, including working with at-risk youth, reading to local elementary school students and helping the team put together a highly-successful bone marrow drive on campus this past February.

“Alyssa embodies what it means to be a well-rounded student athlete,” head coach Natasha Adair said. “On top of her accomplishments and accolades on the hardwood, Alyssa has also been an impressive representative of both our programme and our institution off the court as well. She has been a joy to coach, I’m very proud of her.”