Bolivar, Mo. – Southwest Baptist University announced the winners of the Rex Brown Award on April 28 at the university's Purple Carpet Premiere. The female winner of the award was track and field athlete Lily Simmons, and the male winner of the award was baseball player Raydley Legito.
 
The Rex Brown Award is the highest award given by SBU to one male and one female athlete in honor of the late Dr. Rex Brown, a former athletic director and baseball coach at SBU. To be eligible for the award, candidates must demonstrate strong Christian character, academic achievement, godly leadership and high performance in their sport.
 
"Just to be able to see that I've influenced that many people or even had the experience to meet that many people and they all kind of felt that way, it's just a huge honor to be able to say, 'Hey, that's kind of what people see when they look at me,'" Simmons said.
 
"It's an honor to win the Rex Brown Award. It's really amazing. It just shows all the hard work over the years and just being a good man of God, it paid off," said Legito.
 
Simmons is a graduate student who has been at SBU for all five years of her college career. She mainly specializes in hurdles and jumping events but has also done extremely well in multi-event competitions. Simmons currently holds a place in SBU's all time top 10 in nine different events across indoor and outdoor track and field, including her former SBU record of 4,734 points in the heptathlon, which was just broken this past weekend by one of her fellow teammates at the GLVC Championship.
 
Outside of track, Simmons helps with the youth and college ministries at local church The Heights, donates to the Ronald McDonald House and is involved with Sigma Zeta and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). Simmons also leads the Bible study for the track and field team.
 
"I rely on the Lord a lot, but I have three different calendars that I have to use to make sure I don't overbook myself. It's pretty busy, I will say," Simmons said.
 
Simmons completed her bachelor's degree in biology and graduates this week with her MBA. After graduation, Simmons plans to work as a medical assistant at a hospital in Ozark, Missouri while she applies to medical school. Her goal is to one day work as a pediatrician or orthopedic surgeon.
 
Legito is a senior at SBU who has spent three years as a Bearcat after one season at Panola College. He played as an infielder for most of his college career but was moved to the outfield during his senior season. In Legito's three seasons at SBU, he averaged .265 with the bat while tallying 124 hits, 83 RBIs, 29 stolen bases, 89 runs, 20 doubles, two triples and eight home runs. Legito is also involved in Bible studies with the baseball team and FCA.
 
After graduation, Legito wants to continue playing baseball in his home country, the Netherlands, while he finishes his degree online. He will be playing for Kinheim, a team in the top tier of professional baseball in the Netherlands. Legito hopes he can make a career out of playing professional baseball, but if that does not work out, Legito wants to use his physical education degree to teach and coach kids.
 
"For myself, [I want to] grow more into my faith. Since I've been here, I've grown definitely more into my faith, but I want to grow even more. I'm far away from where I want to be," Legito said. "And then in 10 years, [I want] just I think what everybody wants, a healthy family, good work and being a godly man."
 
Both Simmons and Legito have grown immensely in their faith during their time in college. They both came to SBU with a surface level faith and knowledge of God but being in a community of like-minded believers has helped them deepen their connection, knowledge and relationship with the Lord.
 
Simmons would not even call herself a Christian when she came to SBU. She went to church with her family on important holidays but otherwise did not implement the teachings of Christ into her life.
 
"It wasn't actually until my freshman year when I came here I did one of our groups on campus called Unveil where I went after one of the lessons to talk to our leader, who happened to be my RA, and was like, 'Hey, this is my entire past. I just needed to tell somebody this,'" Simmons said. "The immense relief that I felt after that was just absolutely amazing, and after that I kind of just took it and ran with it."
 
Simmons further encountered struggles when she tore her ACL and meniscus during her fourth track and field season as a Bearcat.
 
"That was a really big journey, but throughout it all it was like, 'Okay, you're coming back to SBU, so there's a reason you're still here,'" Simmons said. "And what I chalk that up to is, 'Hey, you need to continue to grow in your faith. Make sure it's solidified so when you do go into the real world, everything is set in stone. You won't be as easily influenced.' That's exactly what it has been. So many doors have been opened, and it's just been a wonderful experience."
 
Likewise, Legito was able to deepen his faith during his time at SBU.
 
"I always considered myself as a Christian but never really knew a lot about God. Coming here to SBU and being surrounded by other people that are religious people and go to church every Sunday. I always knew of God, like I knew He was real, but I never really had a connection with Him," Legito said.
 
Both Simmons and Legito look back favorably on their time at SBU, emphasizing the people they met and relationships they built along the way.
 
"[It was] very stressful but a lot of fun, and I met a lot of wonderful people, so it was absolutely worth it. I would recommend SBU to really anyone who's looking for an organization that has a good community," Simmons said.
 
"It's basically a family. As soon as I stepped on campus, everybody was very welcoming. I never felt away from home; it was just coming to a new home," Legito said. "Everybody's really nice…Everybody tries to help you out. You're never alone."