May 15th, 2009
(Photo of Jeremy Macklin by Ron Macklin; Photo of Staci Jackson by Lee Usry)
SEGUIN, Texas – Senior sprinter Staci Jackson and senior baseball player Jeremy Macklin are the 2008-09 Texas Lutheran Athletes of the Year after a vote of the TLU head coaches.
Jackson, a native of Dallas, Texas and a graduate of Lake Highlands High School, is a two-time winner of the TLU Female Athlete of the Year honor. She also claimed the honor for the 2006-07 sports seasons.
Macklin, an Austin native and graduate of Bowie High School, is the TLU Male Athlete of the Year in his first full year as a Bulldog. Macklin transferred to TLU from Huston-Tillotson University in the fall of 2008.
Jackson is a two-time NCAA Division III national champion. She was a member of the Bulldogs’ 2007 national championship in the indoor 4x400 meter relay. In 2008, she ran as a member of the national championship outdoor 4x100 relay.
Jackson will race at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She has automatically qualified for the national meet in the 400, and she has provisionally qualified for the national meet in the 100, 200, 4x100 relay, and 4x400 relay.
Jackson is assured of a spot in the 400 field, and her strong provisional mark in the 200 should be enough to get her to nationals in the event. The Bulldogs also are virtually guaranteed a spot in the 4x100 field.
At TLU, Jackson’s nine All-America citations have come in the following events: the 2007 indoor 4x400 relay (1st), the 2007 outdoor 400 (8th), 2007 outdoor 4x100 relay (3rd), 2007 outdoor 4x400 relay (7th); 2008 indoor 400 (6th), 2008 indoor 4x400 relay (3rd); 2008 outdoor 400 (6th), 2008 outdoor 4x100 (1st), and 2008 outdoor 4x400 (2nd).
Jackson transferred to TLU from McMurry University, where she earned the first of her 10 NCAA DIII All-America honors as a member of McMurry’s 2006 4x400 relay team.
As a Bulldog, Jackson has won or been a part of 11 conference titles. She holds eight TLU school records in outdoor and indoor track. She was the 2007 and 2009 ASC Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and the 2007 South/Southeast Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year.
Macklin, a pitcher and third baseman for the Bulldogs, led TLU to the 2009 ASC West Division title. Macklin starred as the team’s clean-up hitter with offensive numbers that included a .456 average, 67 RBI, 12 home runs, three triples, and 17 doubles. He also stole nine bases in nine attempts.
Late in the 2009 season, with TLU in need of another starting pitcher, Macklin stepped into the role and dominated opposing batters. He finished the year with a 6-1 record and a 1.99 ERA.
Macklin tossed a complete game to defeat Hardin-Simmons in Abilene as the Bulldogs clinched the ASC West title outright. He made 13 pitching appearances and tossed two complete games, one shutout and one combined shutout.
Macklin was named the ASC West Division Co-Newcomer of the Year. He was also selected to the ASC West First Team as a third baseman and to the ASC West Second Team as a utility player.
For the week ending Feb. 28, Macklin was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association and D3baseball.com National Hitter of the Week for the NCAA Division III. He established four school offensive records in a three-game series against Mississippi College by collecting 11 hits in 12 at-bats. He belted three home runs and four doubles and drove in a whopping 18 runs in the three games.
Macklin set TLU school records for RBI in a three-game series (18) and RBI in a doubleheader (14), and he tied the TLU mark for RBI in a single game (8). Macklin also established a new TLU three-game series record for runs, with 11.
Macklin's slugging percentage for the week was 2.000, and his on-base percentage was .875. He was a triple short of the cycle in each of the first two games of the series. Macklin also had a steal and three walks in the three games.