June 09, 2006
Jodie Heinicka (Missouri) and Parker Dalton (Texas A&M) were named the 2006 Big 12 Sportspersons of the Year, the conference announced. Heinicka completed her eligibility in the Tigers gymnastics program this season, while Dalton was a junior for the Aggies baseball team.
The Big 12 annually recognizes its top male and female sportsperson. The Sportspersons of the Year Award was started prior to the 2000-01 academic year to recognize student-athletes who displayed an extraordinary degree of sportsmanship and/or community service during the academic year. Heinicka and Dalton were selected by a media panel.
Dalton, a native of Houston, Texas, played a key role in welcoming six Tulane athletic teams to the A&M campus after they were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. As president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, he organized Aggie student-athletes to meet and greet the new Tulane students and administrators, helping to integrate them into the Aggie community. For AggiesCan last October, student-athletes from both schools worked together to collect canned food and monetary donations for the local food bank. Dalton organized A&M athletes to attend Tulane sporting events held on the A&M campus. When the semester ended, Parker initiated a ?Final Wave Goodbye? party to celebrate the time that all the student-athletes had spent together.
The Aggies?â„¢ team captain volunteered for the Toys 4 Tots drive that collected approximately 1,700 toys for distribution, AggiesCan which collected 150,000 cans and $3,000 for hurricane relief and the Coat Drive that collected hundreds of coats for the local mission. He arranged for the baseball squad to work at two events and 100 percent of the team was in attendance. Dalton is an active member of Breakaway Prayer team and has led a Bible Study each week for the past three years. His other service work includes participating in the Gamma Phi Beta?â„¢s Crescent King Philanthropy Fundraiser for Camp Fire USA, working as a ?Fish Aide? to help the Student Government Association with various service projects and next year will become a ?Fish Aide Big Brother? who mentors the new aides. He also received the Buck Weirus Spirit Award, Texas A&M?â„¢s highest honor for student participation which recognizes leadership, community involvement and academic accomplishments.
Heinicka, a native of Seminole, Fla., has spent her time in Columbia as an active participant in university and city activities. She was involved in the Can Food Drive for Central Missouri Food Bank, participated in the Dance-a-thon for children?â„¢s diseases and visited the children?â„¢s Cancer Patient Ward at the University Hospital. Heinicka organized a Habitat for Humanity project to help a local family in Columbia get their first home. At Christmas she helped organize an Adopt-A-Family project and wrapped Christmas presents for a number of local families. She also worked at the water station for the Domestic Violence Half Marathon Race, volunteered at the local Boone Hospital and visited Columbia grade schools to read and mentor children.
Every morning at 6 a.m. Heinicka helps a quadriplegic male with his morning routine of exercises, getting dressed and putting him in his wheelchair. The man can be seen at her gymnastics meets cheering from the stands. In addition to these activities, Heinicka represented Missouri on the Big 12 Student Athlete Advisory Committee and was elected to be the student athlete representative for the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee. She also served as vice president for SAAC and was chosen to complete a public service announcement television commercial.