JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield has announced the signings of two student athletes for the 2019 season.
Kazee-Hollifield brings in middle infielder Leslie Dixon (London, Ky./South Laurel High School) and outfielder Natalie Lankster (Hendersonville, Tenn./Beech High School).
Leslie Dixon – 5-6 – R/R – 2B/SS – London, Ky. – South Laurel High School
Dixon comes to Carson-Newman from South Laurel High School where she's starred for coaches James Burns and Carly Mink.
Dixon's career high school batting average rests at .442 and she has a career OBP of .496. Dixon has hit five home runs in her career and stolen 52 bases. A fleet-of-foot athlete, she also ran cross country in high school.
She is the two-time reigning 13th region player of the year and has been named all-region tournament twice, all-district tournament four times.
Dixon has been named both all-region and all-state as well. She helped the Cardinals to a trio of district championships, a trio of appearances in the region title game and a region championship in 2014.
She is a member of the Beta Club and the daughter of Vanessa Miller and Les Dixon. She plans to study physical therapy at C-N.
Natalie Lankster – 5-2 – L/R – OF – Hendersonville, Tenn. – Beech High School
A product of Beech High School with coach Brian Drake, Lankster is a three-sport athlete. In addition to softball, she has played soccer and basketball.
On the diamond, she has hit .413 with 33 runs scored and 18 runs batted in as a junior. She has not made a fielding error and is also perfect on the base paths, with 18 stolen bases in as many attempts.
She was named the Buccaneers defensive MVP before taking home both all-district and all-county honors twice.
Lankster helped Beech to a district title in 2017.
She is from the same high school that produced former Carson-Newman football player Jonathan Sites.
She is the daughter of Ben and Darlene Lankster and plans to study exercise science at Carson-Newman. Lankster is a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club and is a Tennessee Scholar. She comes from an athletically included family. Her father played baseball for Middle Tennessee State before spending time in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system. She has two brothers who are also Division II athletes. Her brother David plays baseball at USC Aiken, while another brother Daniel plays baseball for Trevecca Nazarene.