Schreiner's Nunez; Dallas' Allen Named SCAC Character & Community Student-Athletes of the Week

Schreiner's Nunez; Dallas' Allen Named SCAC Character & Community Student-Athletes of the Week

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Charlie Nunez of Schreiner University and Christy Allen of the University of Dallas have been selected as the SCAC Male and Female Character & Community Student-Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week ending Sunday, January 26.

The SCAC Character & Community award was created in 2009 to honor and recognize the efforts of the extraordinary student-athletes of the conference who not only excel athletically on the field, course, court, pool or track, but also by serving their campus and community.

To view past winners of the award, click here


CHARLIE NUNEZ OF SCHREINER UNIVERSITY, a junior guard on the men's basketball team from El Paso, Texas, has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending Sunday, January 26.

During his three plus years in Kerrville, Nunez has become a model student and major contributor throughout campus as well as the community.  

After a freshman season that saw him play in just one game, his playing time increased immensely in 2012-13 as he was on the court for 21 of 25 games and averaged 2.4 points. This winter, he’s played in every game with similar results.

Off the court, the Psychology/Pre-Law major is in his third year in Student Senate, was tabbed as a member for the prestigious NetVue Committee, is a Schreiner Ambassador, is on the Student Service Committee and serves as the men’s basketball team representative for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He was also selected for The Order, a group on campus charged with creating and institutionalizing spirit and pride-based programs on campus.

He’s a past participant in the Impact Leadership Group in campus ministries as well as the Tobacco-Free Campus initiative. He’s earned academic awards four times in his five semesters and was Academic All-Conference in 2013.

He’s assisted in the community with Habit for Humanity, the San Antonio Mobile Food Bank, CSI (Community Service Initiative): Kerr County, has mentored in public schools in Kerrville ISD and helped organize Schreiner’s Rally Day.

CHRISTY ALLEN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS, a senior post on the women's basketball team, has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending January 26, 2014.

Allen, a four-year letterwinner and Psychology major at the University of Dallas, has been a leader both on the court and in the community.

For the 2013-14 season, Allen has earned several Top 20 SCAC rankings. Most notably, she is currently ranked first overall for total rebounds (166) and offensive rebounds (65).

Off the court, Allen works with a number of different volunteer organizations. Beginning in her freshman year of high school, Allen participated with a group called “Challenge,” in which she took a group of fifth-grade girls under her wing for four years.

“We did all kinds of activities,“ Allen said, “including laser tag, visiting nursing homes, bible studies, and group workouts. My job as their team leader was to be a role model and help the girls through what can be some confusing years.”

In her senior year at St. Thomas More Academy (Burton, Mich.), Allen and a few other girls from her high school traveled to some of the most poverty-stricken parts of Mexico. It was there that they spent a week building homes, playing with children, helping make local food, and evangelizing the people.

“It was a great trip, that opened my eyes to the need of the world and the privileges we take for granted in the United States,” Allen said. “The simplest things -- like being able to wash my hair everyday -- suddenly seemed like a huge luxury.”

Allen, however, did not stop there in doing her part. Following her junior year at the University of Dallas, she toured regions of Haiti on a mission trip. The purpose was to deliver shoes, soap, toys, clothes and water to those in need.

“I held sick and malnutritioned babies, and helped feed and keep them clean,” Allen said. “It was a shocking experience to see what it means to be truly hungry.”

In summer 2013, Allen worked as a math and science teacher to seventh-grade Dallas inner-city kids as part of a college readiness program.

“The program was a summer camp that lasted five weeks,” Allen said, “where the kids were exposed to academic material from the previous year and many different careers, majors, and colleges that were attainable.”

This past fall, in an effort to get the Lady Crusaders involved with her passion for helping others, Allen organized and required – as the team’s lone senior – that they participate in a Hearts and Hammers project to help repair homes in Dallas.

“I think it is important to be reminded, every so often, that we live in a very desperate world,” Allen said, “and that our privileges can be used to help people overcome being victim of circumstance.”