Turkoly named finalist for Senior CLASS Award

People around Louisiana Tech and Conference USA have known about Lady Techster softball outfielder Morgan Turkoly for four years.

Now the nation is taking notice.

Turkoly, the reigning Conference USA Player of the Year, has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award, joining a list of the Who’s Who of the elite in college softball.

To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as NCAA Division I seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

The Sanger, Texas, native was named one of 30 semifinalists in early March. She joins nine of the top Division I softball studentathletes in the list of finalists, including Taran Alvelo (Washington), Kelly Barnhill (Florida), Faith Canfield (Michigan), Meghan King (Florida State), Aubrey Leach (Tennessee), Amanda Lorenz (Florida), Riley Randolph (FGCU), Katie Reed (Kentucky) and Sydney Romero (Oklahoma).

The finalists were chosen by national media from the list of 30 candidates announced earlier this season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through May 20.

Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award recipient for softball will be announced prior to the 2019 NCAA Women’s College World Series® in Oklahoma City, May 30 through June 5.

Turkoly will end her LA Tech career as one of the most decorated players in program history, both athletically and academically. She is a three-time allconference selection, a three-time all-region honoree and a threetime all-state recipient through the first three years of her collegiate career.

She was named the 2018 Conference USA Player of the Year as a junior and was the preseason player of the year selection for 2019 by the league coaches. In the past two weeks she has become the program’s career leader in runs scored and walks and ranks in the top 10 in numerous other statistical categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, hits and RBI.

In the classroom, she boasts a 3.71 grade point average in accounting and earned her degree this past winter quarter.

She is a three-time Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll honoree and a threetime C-USA Academic Medalist. She was named to the C-USA Softball All-Academic team the past two seasons.

The three-year team captain has spent plenty of time giving back to the community as well. Turkoly was the recipient of the CUSA Spirit of Service Award in spring of 2018. She has been a part of 4-Paws rescue, Boys and Girls Club of Ruston and DART (Domestic Abuse Resistance Team) Pumpkin Patch.

She is a Puerta Vallarta School volunteer and Puerta Vallarta Softball Clinic volunteer. She has also helped with the Super One Radio-thon Food Drive, Christmas community service (Angel Tree through DART) and Hot Halloween Happenings with Beta Alpha Psi. She also returned to her alma mater, Sanger High School, and spoke to the student-athletes about what it takes to be successful on the college level.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.