Softball infielder Lauren Chamberlain (Oklahoma) and football wider receiver/kick returner Tyler Lockett (Kansas State) have been named the 2014-15 Big 12 Conference Athletes of the Year, the league office announced.

Nominees are submitted by each Big 12 institution and selected, based on athletic performance, academic achievement and citizenship, by a media panel as well as fan voting conducted through the Big 12's social media platforms.

Chamberlain ended her stellar four-year career on the Oklahoma softball team as the NCAA all-time leader in home runs (95) and slugging percentage (.960). She set the national home run mark with a grand slam on April 30 against North Texas in her 584th at-bat in 212 career games. The previous record-holder needed 691 at-bats in 264 games. Her accomplishment was nominated for a 2015 ESPY Award for "Best Record Breaking Performance", the only collegiate nominee in the category. She was also nominated for the 2015 Honda Sports Award for softball.

The first baseman is a four-time All-American, only the second Sooner in school history to achieve this feat, as well as the second to earn first-team honors three times. She hit .399 in her final season and tied for the team lead in runs batted in (65) and home runs (23). Chamberlain led OU with 62 walks, many coming as she pursued the home run record, and was the team leader in on-base percentage (.589). In addition to her NCAA Division I records, she finished fifth in runs scored (272), ninth in walks and 10th in runs batted in.

A Trabuco Canyon, California-native, Chamberlain claimed three Big 12 Player of the Week awards in 2015 to become the Conference leader with eight for her career. She also earned All-Big 12 First Team and All-Region First Team honors for the fourth time. She led the Sooners to the 2013 Women's College World Series title and played in the WCWS three times in her four seasons. Chamberlain also helped OU to four-consecutive Big 12 titles, a first in conference history in softball. Additionally, Oklahoma won four NCAA Regional titles and three Super Regional championships during her tenure while finishing with 211 wins in four years against 36 losses for an .854 winning percentage.

The 2013-14 team captain was a two-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and named a Sooner Scholar during two semesters, while participating in team community service activities.

Lockett left K-State as one of the top all-purpose players in school history while becoming the program's first four-year All-American. He is one of just three players in Wildcat history to earn All-Big 12 honors all four years. He helped lead K-State to bowl berths in each of his four seasons and was a third-round selection in the 2015 NFL draft. Lockett set 17 school records, including career marks for receptions (249), receiving yards (3,710), receiving touchdowns (29), 100-yard receiving games, kickoff return attempts (77) and kickoff return yards (2,196). He topped his father, Kevin, for the school's career receptions, yards and touchdown records. Tyler Lockett ranks second in career receptions per game (5.30), receiving yards per game (78.9), all-purpose yards (6,586) and kickoff return average (28.5), fourth in all-purpose yards per game (140.1) and punt return average (15.2), eighth in points (212) and ninth in punt return yards (488).

In the Big 12 career record book, Lockett is tied for the kickoff return average record, while ranking third in all-purpose yards and kickoff return touchdowns. He is fifth in receiving yards and kickoff return yards, seventh in receptions and is tied for 10th in kickoff return attempts.

Lockett was named Consensus All-America as a senior while he led the nation in punt return average (19.1) and ranked third in total receiving yards (1,515), all-purpose yards (2,296) and punt returns for touchdowns (2) while finishing seventh in receptions (106).  He topped the Big 12 in receiving yards and all-purpose yards, bettering the player in second place by 26.6 yards per game in the latter category. He also led the Conference in punt return average and finished second in receptions per game and ninth in kickoff return average. Lockett had eight 100-yard receiving games to tie the school record, including finishing the season with a school-record five straight 100-yard games.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma-native was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year and was an All-Big 12 First Team selection as both a wide receiver and kick returner for the second consecutive season. Additionally, Lockett was named the Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for football and was an Academic All-Big 12 performer. He was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy and the Senior CLASS Award while also being named a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete.

Lockett was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and participated in many community service projects, including Cats in the Classroom and Adopt-a-Family during the holiday season.

Other female candidates for Big 12 Athlete of the Year included Nina Davis (Baylor), Christina Hillman (Iowa State), Chelsie Miller (Kansas), Akela Jones (K-State), Natalja Piliusina (Oklahoma State), Chelsea Prince (TCU), Haley Eckerman (Texas), Janine Beckie (Texas Tech) and Kadeisha Buchanan (West Virginia).

Male nominees were Trayvon Bromell (Baylor), Kyven Gadson (Iowa State), Michael Stigler (Kansas), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma), Michael Freeman (Oklahoma State), Preston Morrison (TCU), Will Licon (Texas), JaCorian Duffield (Texas Tech) and Juwan Staten (West Virginia).