Bailey Hemphill, Zane Waddell Finalists for Athlete of Year

Senior softball player for the Crimson Tide, Bailey Hemphill and senior swimmer Zane Waddell were named finalists for the SEC Roy F. Kramer Athlete of the Year Award. The award has been awarded to the top male in the conference since 1976 and top female in the conference since 1984. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 17. It is named in former conference commissioner Roy F. Kramer's honor, he served as head of the SEC from 1990-2002.

Hemphill holds the conference record for most home runs in a season with 26. She is also top five in Crimson Tide history in home runs with 50 and RBIs with 183. In a shortened 2020 season she hit two home runs and tallied 10 RBIs, while batting .280. Hemphill was named to the SEC All-Freshman team in 2017, Second Team All-SEC in 2018 and First Team All-SEC in 2019.

She has plans to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility the NCAA granted her due to the shortened 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waddell is a 21-time All-American swimmer during his time at The Capstone. He has won a World, World University Games, NCAA and SEC Championship. Waddell won the Commissioner's Trophy in 2020 as the conference's highest point scorer.

The South African swimmer is an eight-time SEC Champion, winning five of those titles in 2020. He holds four SEC records. Waddell was First Team All-SEC in 2018 and 2019 and was on the SEC All-Freshman team in 2017.

Both have excellent academic records as well and were named finalists for the SEC's H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year.