In Incarnate Word's first-ever season as a member of the Lone Star Conference, junior baseball pitcher Kirk Jewasko has been awarded the 2011 Fred Jacoby Academic Athlete of the Year award following a vote by the league's sports information directors.

Jewasko received the most votes for LSC top male academic athlete followed by Eastern New Mexico track & field standout Bill Squire and Midwestern State football star Zack Eskridge. 

Jewasko, a junior from San Antonio, maintains a 3.83 grade point average while majoring in business administration. He led the LSC and Cardinals with a 12-1 overall record and 103 strikeouts – both marks good for second best or tied for second best in school history. 

Jewasko threw 91.1 innings with five complete games and a 3.31 ERA to earn the league Pitcher of the Year and first-team all-LSC honors. He was also named the American Baseball Coaches Association Regional Pitcher of the Year; the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Regional Pitcher of the Year and the 2011 Daktronics South-Central Regional Pitcher of the Year – earning all-First Team awards in each of those organization's yearly announcements as well.

West Texas A&M volleyball player Lauren Thedford was named the women's Academic Athlete of the Year.

UIW's Jewasko and WTAMU's Thedford are only the fourth recipients of the award bearing the name of Jacoby, the long-time LSC commissioner who passed away in March 2008.  The nominees included the Academic Player of the Year in each sport as selected during the year.