RICHMOND, Ky. -- Eastern Kentucky University student-athlete Jamie King of the Colonels' women's track/cross country teams and EKU women's golf coach Sandy Martin were honored this past weekend by the Citizens for Sports Equity, a grass roots organization that began in 1987 with federal grant money to improve opportunities for girls and women in sports.

King, a senior from Botkins, OH, was chosen Outstanding Female Collegiate Athlete in Individual Sports in the state of Kentucky this year, while Martin was picked as Outstanding Collegiate Coach in the Commonwealth.

King, who swept the Ohio Valley Conference track/cross country awards during the 1996-97 year by being named OVC Female Cross Country, Indoor Track and Outdoor Track Athletes of the Year and who began this year with the OVC Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year award, was recently named NCAA All-American by placing third in the mile run at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track Championships at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, IN.

King, a special education major at Eastern, was the top American runner in the mile run behind Villanova's Carmen Douma (4:37.74) and Boston College's Angela Graham (4:39.62), both Canadians. King's time of 4:42.90 set a new school record for the mile run.

Martin, who was selected as the 1996 OVC Women's Golf Coach of the Year after directing the Colonels to the OVC championship that season, is coaching her third different intercollegiate sport at EKU, having coached the Eastern women's golf team since its inception in the 1993-94 season. She has also directed the fortunes of the Eastern track/cross country and women's tennis teams at Eastern during her nearly 30 years of service to her alma mater.

An Eastern graduate, Martin received her B.S. degree in Physical Education and Health. She completed her M.A. degree in Professional Preparation and Teaching Behaviors at Florida State University.

In addition to coaching the women's golf team at Eastern, Martin also teaches lifetime sports skills and skill acquisition in the physical education majors' program and is an academic advisor to more than 50 EKU students majoring in Physical Education.

KP/kp