Distance standout Nicodemus Naimadu from Abilene Christian and basketball sensation Emily Brister of West Texas A&M were selected as the 2007 Lone Star Conference Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively.  The awards were announced Thursday following a vote of the league's sports information directors.

ACU's Naimadu was named the LSC top male athlete after leading the Wildcats to its sixth straight NCAA Division II national championship in track and field and the school's first NCAA title in cross country this year.  WTAMU's Brister was picked as the league top female athlete for the second consecutive year after guiding the Lady Buffs to a 28-5 season including a perfect 14-0 run in the South Division en route to its fourth straight trip to the NCAA basketball tournament.

Naimadu collected the most votes followed by Southeastern Oklahoma basketball star Eric Babers and Central Oklahoma wrestling standout Kyle Evans.  Brister claimed the women's award in front of Cameron softball star Stephanie Bour and Texas A&M-Commerce basketball sensation Brittney Jordan.

Naimadu, a 5-8 junior from Narok, Kenya, holds the ACU school record with 11 individual national championships in cross country and track and field.  He finished his ACU outdoor career this spring with his 10th straight steeplechase race victory at the NCAA track and field championships.

In the 10,000-meter race at the Stanford Invitational this season, Naimadu posted the best time in the world this year while winning the event in a time of 28:06.26.

One of the greatest distance runners in NCAA history, Naimadu is the three-time defending NCAA Division II national champion in cross country and next season he'll try to become the first NCAA athlete ever to win four individual national championships in cross country.

Naimadu was the only current student-athlete to be named to the top 75 team from all sports other than football and basketball this year as the LSC celebrated its 75th anniversary.

Brister, a 5-9 sophomore guard from Amarillo, Texas, recorded a superb sophomore season.  She was named the 2006-07 Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year in addition to earning LSC South Division Player of the honors for the second straight year.  The first team all-conference pick averaged 22.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Brister led the LSC in scoring, was fifth in free throw percentage (.850) and second in steals (97).  She was named to the LSC All-Tournament Team and was an Academic All-District VI First Team selection by CoSIDA/ESPN Magazine. She was also chosen for the LSC All-Academic Team and was the LSC South Division Academic Player of the Year.

Here's a closer look at the voting breakdown for each award:

LSC MALE ATHLETE OF YEAR (Name, Year, School, Sport, Points):  Nicodemus Naimadu, Senior Abilene Christian, Cross Country/Track & Field, 26;  Eric Babers, Senior, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Basketball, 20;  Kyle Evans, Junior, Central Oklahoma, Wrestling, 14;  Damien Lolar, Senior, West Texas A&M, Basketball, 10;  Brett Emerson, Senior, Midwestern State, Tennis, 4; Remi Yusuf, Senior, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Basketball, 4;  Steven Allred, Junior, Angelo State University, Baseball, 3;  Kevin Christian, Senior, Northeastern State, Football, 3;  Erick Smith, Senior, Tarleton State, Football, 3;  Matt Trammell, Senior, Cameron, Golf, 3;  Darvin Peterson, Senior, Texas A&M-Commerce, Football, 1.

LSC FEMALE ATHLETE OF YEAR (Name, Year, School, Sport, Points): Emily Brister, Sophomore, West Texas A&M, Basketball, 29;  Stephanie Bour, Senior, Cameron, Softball, 22;  Brittney Jordan, Sophomore, Texas A&M-Commerce, Basketball, 13;  Adree Lakey, Sophomore, Angelo State University, Track & Field, 8;  Courtney Arno, Senior, Texas Woman's University, Gymnastics, 4;  Angie Aguilar, Senior, Abilene Christian, Track & Field, 3;  Rachael Christian, Senior, Northeastern State, Softball, 3;  Katie Crawford, Senior, Tarleton State, Basketball, 3;  Elizabeth Richards, Senior, Eastern New Mexico, Basketball, 2;  Sally Lozano, Senior, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Softball, 1;  Dasha Segenchuk, Senior, East Central, Tennis, 1;  Cindy Thomas, Senior, Southeastern Oklahoma, Tennis, 1.