Softball Signee Dixon Receives National Recognition

LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball signee Casey Dixon of Willis (Texas) High School was named the 2016-17 Gatorade Texas Softball Player of the Year, distinguishing her as the best high school softball player in Texas.

The award, presented by The Gatorade Company, recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. Dixon is the first Gatorade Texas Softball Player of the Year to be chosen from Willis High School.

She has signed a national letter of intent to join the Ragin' Cajuns Softball program beginning with the fall semester of the 2017-18 academic year.

Dixon closed her high school career leading Willis High's softball squad to a 41-8 record and an appearance in the Class 5A state championship game – the program's first-ever state appearance.

At the time of her selection for the Gatorade award, the 5-foot-9 senior right-handed pitcher owned a 34-7 mark in the circle with a 1.07 earned run average and 415 strikeouts in 236 innings pitched over 46 games. She pitched two complete games on a single day in each of Willis' final three rounds of the Class 5A, Region 3 tournament, leading the Wildkats to 2-1 series victories all three times.

At the plate, the three-time District 18-5A MVP owned a .383 batting average with 15 doubles, seven home runs, 36 RBI and a .652 slugging percentage.

Dixon has maintained a weighted 4.15 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally at an animal shelter and as a youth softball coach.

She will be joined this fall as incoming freshmen on the Ragin' Cajuns Softball roster by Louisiana high school standouts in Carrie Boswell (Alexandria, La./Alexandria Senior HS), Casidy Chaumont (Moss Bluff, La./Sam Houston HS) and Sarah Koeppen (Bossier City, La./Benton HS) as well as fellow Texas products Kimber Cortemelia (Lake Jackson, Texas/Brazoswood HS), Caitlin Garcia (Spring, Texas/Spring HS), Teryn Pritchett (Palmer, Texas/Palmer HS) and Jolie Readeaux (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes HS).

Dixon joins recent Gatorade Texas Softball Players of the Year Maddie MacGrandle (2015-16, Frisco High School), Samantha Show (2014-15 & 2012-13, East Bernard High School), Randi Rupp (2013-14, Barbers Hill High School), Heather Stearns (2011-12, Hebron High School), Paige McDuffee (2010-11, The Woodlands High School), Rachel Fox (2009-10 & 2008-09, Fort Bend Baptist Academy), Whitney Canion (2007–08, Aledo High School), and Brittany Barnhill (2006-07, Northwest High School) among the state's list of former award winners.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow the conversation on Twitter #GatoradePOY. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/poy.

#GeauxCajuns

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Softball Signee Dixon Receives National Recognition

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