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OAC Clyde Lamb Awards Web Page
Capital University seniors Devan Boggs and Spencer Niekamp were honored Monday as Clyde A. Lamb Scholar-Athlete Award winners at the 29th annual Ohio Athletic Conference Awards Banquet at the Holiday Inn in Worthington.
Boggs, a member of the Crusader softball team, and Niekamp, a member of the Capital men's basketball team, were two of 20 student-athletes recognized at the banquet. One male and one female student-athlete were chosen from each of the OAC's 10 member institutions.
Both Niekamp and Boggs helped lead their respective teams to OAC regular season titles in 2012-13.
Niekamp, a St. Henry, Ohio, native, became the men's basketball team's seventh All-American after being selected to the second team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He averaged 15.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest, leading the Crusaders in both categories, while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor and 47.2 percent from 3-point range.
After Capital won its second consecutive league title, Niekamp was tabbed OAC Player of the Year and first team all-conference, first team All-Great Lakes Region by D3hoops.com and first team All-District by the NABC. During his career, he was picked first team All-OAC and Academic All-OAC twice each.
A marketing major, Niekamp maintained a 3.50 GPA while also volunteering in the Bexley Halloween Patrol in each of his four years. He also served as an AAU assistant basketball coach.
Boggs (West Jefferson, Ohio) helped the softball program reach new heights in 2013, earning OAC Player of the Year honors while garnering first team all-conference accolades for the third consecutive year. She led Capital in nearly every statistical category, hitting .488 with 53 runs batted in and a league-best 14 home runs. The OAC's all-time leader in career doubles, Boggs also set numerous season and career program records.
Under Boggs' leadership, the Crusaders won the OAC regular season championship and reached the NCAA Tournament, each happening for the first time since 2002. In 2012, she was named a third team All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). Boggs is also a two-time first team NFCA All-Central Region honoree.
Boggs graduated earlier this month with a degree in exercise science. She maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.53 and worked with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Toys for Tots program. Earlier this spring, she was selected to the Capital One Academic All-District 7 first team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for the second time in her career.
To be eligible for the honor, Clyde Lamb Award recipients need to have at least two years of participation in an OAC sponsored sport, senior status, a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and sportsmanlike conduct in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete and his/her institution.
Clyde Lamb organized the Department of Health and Physical Education at Ohio Northern in 1929. He served as a coach, department chairman and athletics director at ONU from 1929-64.
Last year, Kelly Winter (men's basketball) and Shalena Hawkins (women's basketball) were named Capital's Clyde Lamb Award recipients.
