Basketball stars Sam Belt of Central Oklahoma and Emily Brister of West Texas A&M were selected as the 2008 Lone Star Conference Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively.  The awards were announced Wednesday following a vote of the league's sports information directors.

      UCO's Belt was named the LSC top male athlete after guiding the Bronchos to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history.  For the third straight year, WTAMU's Brister earned the title of top female athlete in the league after leading the Lady Buffs to a LSC championship.

      Belt received the most votes followed by Angelo State baseball standout Clay Calfee and Abilene Christian football star Jerale Badon.  Brister grabbed the women's award ahead of UCO volleyball star Lacie Allen and Tarleton State golf sensation Shraddhanjali Singh.

      Belt, a 6-5 senior from Broken Arrow, Okla., picked up numerous honors this season after leading UCO to the LSC North Division title, LSC Championship and the NCAA Division II South Central Regional crown.  The Bronchos finished a best-ever 28-6 and made their first Elite Eight appearance since 1992. 

      The LSC North Division Player of the Year, Belt also earned Most Valuable Player honors in the LSC Championship after averaging 28 point and 9.7 rebounds in the event.  He was an all-tournament selection at the South Central Regional as well.

      Belt averaged 19.1 points and 7.8 rebounds a game for the season.  He played in every game during his four-year UCO career and set school career records for three-pointers made (263) and attempted (698) and free throws made (511) and attempted (652).  He finished second in career scoring with 1,918 points and third in career rebounding with 845 boards.

      Brister, a 5-9 junior guard from Amarillo, Texas, continued her remarkable career at WTAMU.  She guided the Lady Buffs to a 26-5 record, LSC championship and the NCAA Division II South Central regional quarterfinals.

      Brister led the LSC in scoring (21.8) and steals (95), while pacing WTAMU in just about every category.  She became the Lady Buffs all-time leading scorer this year and also the first WTAMU basketball player, male or female, to score 2,000 career points in a season.  She now has 2,106 career points - 664 shy of all-time LSC leading scorer Claudia Schleyer of ACU.

      In 2007-08, she was named the LSC South Division Player of the Year for the third straight time, Academic Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and LSC Championship MVP.  Additionally, Brister was tabbed the Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year for the second straight season, Daktronics first team All-America and honorable mention All-America by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), and first team Academic All-America by ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA.

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

LSC MALE ATHLETE OF YEAR (Name, Year, School, Sport, Points):  Sam Belt, University of Central Oklahoma, Sr., Basketball, 27; Clay Calfee, Angelo State University, Jr., Baseball, 14; Jerale Badon, Abilene Christian University, Sr., Football, 14; Daniel Brown, Midwestern State University, Sr., Soccer, 8; Randall Clay, Southeastern Oklahoma University, Sr., Baseball, 6; Scooby Johnson, Texas A&M-Commerce, Sr., Men's Basketball, 6; Ranardrick Phillips, Tarleton State University, Sr., Football, 4; Peter Svajlen, Cameron University, Jr., Men's Golf, 3; Sam Powell, Northeastern State University, Jr., Golf, 3; Marcus Johnson, East Central University, So., Football, 2; Robert Lee, West Texas A&M University, Sr., Men's Basketball, 2; Tyler Hayes, Eastern New Mexico University, Sr., Baseball, 1; Chris Morrison, Southwestern Oklahoma, Sr., Baseball, 0.

LSC FEMALE ATHLETE OF YEAR (Name, Year, School, Sport, Points): Emily Brister, West Texas A&M University, Jr., Women's Basketball, 34; Lacie Allen, University of Central Oklahoma, Sr., Volleyball, 10; Shraddhanjali Singh, Tarleton State, So., Women's Golf, 10; Adree Lakey, Angelo State University, Jr., Outdoor Track & Field, 9; Courtney Arno-Templet, Texas Woman's, Sr., Women's Gymnastics, 7; Britney Jordan, Texas A&M-Commerce, Jr., Women's Basketball, 6; Rachel Lynn, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Sr., Softball, 5; Allison Schreiber, Midwestern State, Jr., Volleyball, 3; Stephanie Bird, Northeastern State, Jr., Women's Golf, 3; Fernanda Queiroz, Cameron University, Sr., Volleyball, 2; Grace Anne Fath, Southwestern Oklahoma, Sr., Basketball/Cross Country, 1; Abbie Lowry, Abilene Christian University, Sr., Volleyball, 0; Lacey Goldwire, East Central University, Sr., Women's Basketball, 0; Laura Thompson, Eastern New Mexico, Jr., Softball, 0.