Mayfield, KY -- Mid-Continent University athletics director Larry Lampkins has appointed Amber Rapert to serve as MCU's new cheerleading coach and assistant softball coach.  Rapert is a 2010 graduate of Mid-Continent with a degree in English.  From Gosnell, Arkansas, Rapert performed for four seasons as a member of MCU's cheerleading squad and played four years of intercollegiate softball for the Cougars.

     A fine student, Rapert earned TranSouth Scholar-Athlete recognition for two consecutive seasons and ranks among the Cougars' all-time leaders in games played, runs scored, hits, and RBI.  In 165 career games, Rapert compiled 122 hits in 496 at-bats for a .246 career batting average, 69 runs scored, 15 doubles, 3 triples, 5 home runs, 25 walks, and 11 stolen bases.

     As a senior in 2010, Rapert earned TSAC Scholar Athlete honors and hit .270 (38-141) with 28 runs scored, 8 doubles, 3 home runs and ranked second on the team with 24 RBI.  As a junior in 2009, mostly in the lead-off spot in the batting order, Rapert hit .229 (36-157) in 52 games (all starts) with one double, two triples, one home run, 18 runs scored, 10 walks, 4 sacrifice bunts, and 13 RBI, and led the team with 8 stolen bases.

     Amber was named to the 2009 TSAC Scholar-Athlete team and earned 2009 NCCAA All-National Tournament honors, helping MCU to a fourth-place finish.  Her sacrifice fly ball in NCCAA Tournament play against Indiana Wesleyan proved to be the game-winning RBI in the last inning of a 4-3 victory, and she drove home two runs against eventual national runner-up Spring Arbor in an NCCAA elimination game.

     Rapert appeared in 9 games as a freshman in 2007, hitting .182 with 2 hits in 11 at-bats, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI, and started all 57 games as a sophomore in 2008, hitting .246 (46-187) with 6 doubles and a triple, 21 runs scored, 3 stolen bases, and 14 RBI.

     As a senior softball player at Gosnell High School, Amber recorded the highest batting average on the team and earned selection to the All-Conference team and to the junior All-Star team. She also appears in Who's Who among High School Athletes.  She was active in cheerleading from fourth grade through high school and received several UCA and NCA All-America nominations.