MANSFIELD – The Mountaineer Athletic department announced the first annual set of Mansfield University Creed awards at the fourth installment of the Mountie Awards on Wednesday night, April 22.

Team MVP and MIP's, Athletes of the Year and the famous "blooper video" will be announced in the next few days. To watch the entirety of the ceremony, visit gomounties.com or the variety of Mountaineer Athletics social media channels. (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook).

Creed Award Winners
 
For the first time, the Mansfield University athletic department chose four student-athletes to represent the pillars of the Mansfield University creed. The students were nominated by athletic staff members and were chosen by a committee. The four pillars of the creed are service, scholar, character and culture.
 
Softball's Deshae Jones was the recipient of the culture award. Jones has dedicated her Mountaineer career to helping others, while showcasing an outstanding GPA as a graphic design major. This winter, Jones created the logo for the department's "Souls for Soles" campaign, where the athletic department donated refurbished shoes to countries in need.
 
Sprint football's D.J. McLean was honored for character. McLean battled to return from season ending injuries in back-to-back seasons and leaves Mansfield with multiple receiving records. McLean was a team captain, member of the unity council, and a volunteer for all of the team's community service events. He worked two jobs during his time at Mansfield, delivering pizza for Pizza Hut and working the overnight shift helping children with intellectual disabilities at Martha Lloyd School.
 
Women's soccer's Chelsea Thomas was presented the award for service. Thomas served as the student trustee for the last two years, was the President of Colleges against Cancer - the group which organizes Relay for Life on Campus – while maintaining a 4.0 GPA as a business marketing and management major. Chelsea is known for her dedication for not only the athletic department, but the entire Mansfield community.
 
Field hockey's Caitlin Beauduy was honored for scholarship. Caitlin has a cumulative GPA of a 4.0 and is a cell and molecular biology major on the pre-med track. Beauduy was a team captain on the field hockey's first playoff team since 2010. The junior is a member of SAAC and is studying for and taking the MCAT while at MU.
 
CHARACTER
 
We believe in integrity. We act with honesty and respect toward others. We take responsibility for our actions and reflect on their impact on ourselves and others.
 
SCHOLARSHIP
 
We believe in learning. We use rigorous, responsible, and critical inquiry to understand existing knowledge, acquire and share new knowledge, and apply what we learn. Each of us is both student and teacher.
 
CULTURE
 
We believe in celebrating humanity. We enrich ourselves and others by sharing and exploring our similarities and differences. We honor the past as we invent the future.
 
SERVICE
 
We believe in helping others. We work with others to improve the communities in which we now live and will touch in the future. Knowledge invests us with the power to improve our world and the responsibility to act.