May 14, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Ole Miss seniors Carson Blanks and Logan Waites were honored Monday as the school's representatives on the 2012 Southeastern Conference Track & Field Community Service team.

The league sponsors a community service team for each of its 20 league-sponsored sports, looking to highlight a male and female athlete from each school who gives back to his or her community through superior service efforts.

Blanks, who this past weekend finished runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles at the SEC Championships and ranks top 10 nationally in the event, has also been active in the community during his college career. He has participated in the canned food drive with the Ole Miss SAAC and is an active participant in Reading with the Rebels, a program in which Ole Miss athletes read and mentor local elementary school students, and with Leapfrog. The Meredian, Miss., native also serves as a group leader for a Christian camp.

Waites, the first woman in Ole Miss history to earn All-SEC honors in cross country, has been just as productive off the track. She serves as a volunteer teacher at ASAAP, an after-school program, and is a mentor in the student-athlete mentor program. The native of Hattiesburg, Miss., has volunteered with Rebel Re-runs, which helped collect shoes and cleats to send to Africa, and has helped with tornado relief efforts in Oxford. She has taken mission trips to Texas, Haiti and Rome, Italy, and is a member of the Ole Miss Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

The 2012 SEC Men's and Women's Track and Field Community Service Team is as follows:

Alabama: Terrell Mickens, Sr., Sprints/Middle Distance (Hoover, Ala.)
Alabama: Amethyst Holmes, Sr., Throws (Huntsville, Ala.)
Arkansas: Terry Prentice, Sr., Multi-Events (Pomona, Calif.)
Arkansas: Whitney Jones, Sr., Sprints/Jumps (Searcy, Ark.)
Auburn: Marcus Rowland, Jr., Sprints (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Florida: Max Lang, Jr., Pole Vault (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Florida: Alishea Usery, Sr., Sprints (St. Louis, Mo.)
Georgia: Kyle James, Jr., Distance (Marietta, Ga.)
Georgia: Carin Walker, Sr., Jumps/Sprints (Alpharetta, Ga.)
Kentucky: Josh Nadzam, Sr., Distance (Monaca, Pa.)
Kentucky: Shelby Kennard, Jr., Pole Vault (Rockwall, Texas)
LSU: Brandon Gordon, Sr., Jumps (Plaquemine, La.)
LSU: Katie Carroll, Jr., Throws (Baton Rouge, La.)
Ole Miss: Carson Blanks, Sr., Hurdles (Meridian, Miss.)
Ole Miss: Logan Waites, Sr., Distance (Hattiesburg, Miss.)
South Carolina: Chris Campbell, Sr., Throws (Irmo, S.C.)
South Carolina: Erin Fedewa, Sr., Distance (DeWitt, Mich.)
Tennessee: Kevin Carney, Sr., Multi-Events (Brentwood, Tenn.)
Tennessee: Chelsea Knotts, Sr., Middle Distance (Ripley, W.Va.)
Vanderbilt: Nia Washington, Sr., Multi-Events (Chatham, N.Y.)