BATON ROUGE - Former Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns softball standout Danyele Gomez (2003-06) was named the 2009 LHSAA Golden Torch Award Winner.
The LHSAA initiated the Golden Torch Award in 2005 to recognize a former LHSAA student-athlete who went on to participate at the collegiate level. The award was created to recognize an individual who exemplifies the meaning of the term “student-athlete,” and serves as a positive example and a role model for today’s high school student-athletes.
Gomez was the 2002 Cabrini High School valedictorian and The Times Picayune four-time female athlete of the year in volleyball and softball, who went on to be an All-American Softball player at the University of Louisiana.
The award will be presented on Thursday, January 29, 2009 at the LHSAA’s Annual Convention during the Coca-Cola Principals’ Luncheon.
While at Louisiana, Gomez was a three-time NFCA All-American (2003, 2005, 2006); three-time NFCA All-South Region (2003, 2005, 2006) selection; two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year (2005, 2006); Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year (2003); four-time All-Sun Belt Conference (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) pick; All-Sun Belt Conference Tournament (2006); two-time Louisiana Player of the Year (2005, 2006) selection; Louisiana Freshman of the Year (2003); and a four-time All-Louisiana (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) pick.
Gomez’s final season was special for both her and the Cajuns. In 2006, she led the NCAA in home runs (30), runs per game (1.24) and slugging percentage (.957). Gomez was a Top 10 finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year award.
As a senior, she led all hitters in Division I of the NCAA with 30 home runs – making her only the third player (Stacey Nuveman, Laura Espinoza) in NCAA history to accomplish the feat in a single season.
She solidified her place in NCAA history when she connected on her 80th career home run. That shot allowed her to become only the fourth player in NCAA history to reach 80 career home runs. She wrapped up her career with 83 home runs.
Gomez set the school’s single season record for home runs (30), runs scored (77), total bases (199) and slugging percentage (.957) in 2006. She also claimed the career records for home runs, RBI and total bases.
She was the Sun Belt’s Triple Crown winner and had 32 multi-hit games and 17 multi-RBI games in her final season at UL.