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Picture of softball's Kaylee Barlow standing on second base during a game this past season.
Posted: Jul 14, 2026

Barlow Named RRAC Etier Character Female Athlete of the Year

Waco, TX-Kaylee Barlow from Texas A&M University–San Antonio has been selected as the 2025-26 Red River Athletic Conference Etier Character Female Athlete of the Year, the conference announced earlier.

Now in its 10th year, the award is given annually to one male and one female RRAC student-athlete who best represent the tenets of the NAIA Champions of Character program (respect, responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship, and servant leadership). To be eligible, student-athletes must be nominated by their respective RRAC member institution. All nominees are considered finalists, and the winners are selected by a vote of each member of the RRAC Champions of Character Committee.

The awards are posthumously named for Betty Etier, an NAIA and RRAC Hall of Famer, RRAC Eligibility Chair for 18 years, and an associate professor/faculty athletics representative at Huston-Tillotson University (Texas), a former member of the RRAC. Etier made a lasting impression on everyone involved in the RRAC and helped shape the conference from its beginning.

Barlow, a junior softball player from Shepherd, Texas, earned a 3.84 GPA this season as a Political Science major. She was named to the RRAC All-Conference First Team as an outfielder, underscoring her role in the program's most successful campaign, which included a 26-18 overall record and a 17-10 RRAC record. The Jaguars went 2-2 in the conference postseason tournament.
 
Beyond the field, Barlow has been a dedicated volunteer for the San Antonio Food Bank and has served as an ambassador for the A&M System Student Regent. She also serves as the secretary for TAMUSA's Student Advisory Committee and enjoys interacting with freshmen and newcomers as they enter the university.
 
Head Coach Nicole Dame, who this year celebrated her 200th win, commented, "Kaylee is the type of young woman whom you would like to clone and recruit into a lineup. She does everything that is asked of her and more, and she asks for little in return."