UMO's Morozowski, Kines earn All-America honors

By UMO Media Relations
Published in Sports on May 25, 2015 1:51 PM

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UMO Media Relations

MOUNT OLIVE -- Jason Morozowski and Gunnar Kines have earned All-American recognition from National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on the Division II level.

Morozowski is a first-team selection, while Kines drew honorable mention accolades. The duo helped guide University of Mount Olive to the Conference Carolinas regular-season championship and a third-place finish in the Southeast Regional.

It's the ninth straight year that the Trojans have had at least one All-American chosen by either the NCBWA or Daktronics.

UMO ended the year 39-16 overall.

A junior from Pembroke Pines, Fla., Morozowski also received a first-team nod on the Daktronics All-America Team, which is voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America. He narrowly missed winning the Conference Carolinas "triple crown" with a league-leading 82 RBI and 21 homers, and second overall in batting average at .424.

Kines, a senior left-hander, was named the 2015 Conference Carolinas pitcher-of-the-year. The Myrtle Beach, S.C., native logged a 9-2 worksheet with a 3.26 earned run average (ERA) on the bump. He ranked third nationally with 121 strikeouts.

Men's track

ALLENDALE, Mich. -- University of Mount Olive teammates Aki Kitigawa and Austin Steagall each posted a top-16 finish during the 5,000-meter race in the NCAA Division II men's outdoor track and field championships.

Kitigawa placed 15th with a time of 15 minutes, 15.42 seconds. Steagall finished a few steps behind in 15:22.59 -- good enough for 16th. The twosome were in the back of the pack for a majority of the race and each made a kick at the midway point, but could never catch up to the lead pack.

Each were competing in their second NCAA championship of the 2014-15 school year. Both competed on UMO's cross country team which advanced to the NCAA finals in November.

Kitigawa was named to the 2015 Capital One-CoSIDA All-Academic District 3 men's track and field/men's cross country team. The junior posted a 3.54 grade-point average (GPA) while majoring in chemistry with minors in biology and music. He was the Conference Carolinas men's cross country scholar athlete-of-the-year in 2014.

The Academic All-America team will be announced June 24.

Steagall was named the NCAA Division II Southeast Region athlete-of-the-year in outdoor track and field this spring by the USTFCCCA. The junior from Gaffney, S.C., earned all-Southeast honors in four events -- 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the steeplechase.