4/19/17
CLEVELAND | The Truett McConnell Athletic Department held its annual Awards Ceremony presented by Chick-Fil-A of Cleveland Tuesday night in the Bear Cave to honor all of its student-athletes across the 15 intercollegiate sports sponsored by the University.
The night started by honoring the entire athletic department for their work both on and off the field of play. TMU completed over 8,100 community service hours while compiling a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.18. The athletic department shattered academic award records in 2016-17 as well as many other team and individual records specific to each sport.
Women’s soccer player Victoria Schillinger was awarded Female Student-Athlete of the Year while wrestler Jeff Chandler was awarded Male Student-Athlete of the Year. The student-athletes given the award were voted on by the head coaches based on the four core values of the Athletic Department: discipleship, academics, servant leadership and athletic performance.
The women’s soccer team was also awarded as the team with the highest cumulative GPA. The wrestling team was given the Chick-Fil-A Community Service Award by completing an average of 71 community service hours per athlete this year.
The night was capped off by honoring outgoing Director of Athletics Dr. Stacy Hall with a commemorative shadow box with accomplishments from his 4.5 years leading the department.
“The past four and half years have truly been a blessing for me and will be a season that I cherish forever,” said Hall in his closing remarks. “Over the last four and half years we have fought together, celebrated together, laughed together, and at times, even cried together. As you can clearly see tonight, you have accomplished much during our time together and I am very, very proud of you…I came here to be a blessing to you. I leave with you being much more of a blessing to me than I could ever imagine.”
A full list of award winners can be found below. To see pictures from the night, click HERE.
Award Winners
Newcomers of the Year
Margaret Wiedeman – WXC
Tyler Barber – MXC
Susanna Peppers – WSOC
Teagan Lovingood – WGOLF
Dawson Day – MGOLF
Jacob Matheson – WREST
Kai Lambert – MBB
Ariana Sanders – WBB
Evan Gaffney – MSOC
Harris Anne Walker – VB
Sara Sullivan – SB
Josh Johnston – BASE
Bailey Gentry – WLAX
Amir Hightower – MTF
Ivie Nobles – WTF
Servant Leader Award
Kayla Quigley – WXC
Zach Syler – MXC
Meredith Mellard – WSOC
Ashley Blackburn – WGOLF
Seth Lewis – MGOLF
Patrick Wasp – WREST
Brandon Cerezola – MBB
Anna Murr – WBB
Tyler Echols – MSOC
Jordan Henshaw – VB
Olivia Darley – SB
Austin Thomas – BASE
Jordan Dailey – WLAX
Jeff Chandler – MTF
Margaret Wiedeman – WTF
Bear Award
Lauren Tosky – WXC
Robert Bledsoe – MXC
Holly Peppers – WSOC
Alex Oren – WGOLF
Drew Schmidt – MGOLF
Joe Hulen – WREST
Kai Lambert – MBB
Ashleigh Stanley – WBB
Darian Bowen – MSOC
Julianna Spradlin – VB
Macey Dunaway – SB
Greg Elder, Jr. – BASE
Carissa Anderson – WLAX
Donald Bonner – MTF
Margaret Wiedeman – WTF
Defensive Players of the Year
Victoria Schillinger – WSOC
Kayla Chapman – WGOLF (Most improved)
Matt Smith – MGOLF (Most consistent)
Christian Davis – MBB
Hannah Lentz – WBB
Ignacio Perez – MSOC
Georgia Martin – VB
Sarah Horne – SB
Chris Carden – BASE (Pitcher of the Year)
Emily Shamblin – WLAX
Tyler Barber – MTF (Track Athlete of the Year)
Ivie Nobles – WTF (Track Athlete of the Year)
Offensive Players of the Year
Ivie Nobles – WXC (Runner of the Year)
Tyler Barber – MXC (Runner of the Year)
Katey Griggs – WSOC
Hannah Wall – WGOLF (Lowest Stroke Average)
Luke Peavy – MGOLF (Lowest Stroke Average)
Jeff Chandler – WREST (Wrestler of the Year)
David Campbell, Jr. – MBB
Ariana Sanders – WBB
Joao Costa – MSOC
Kendall Hardy – VB
Milly Martinet – SB
Patrick Overstreet – BASE
Olivia Godfrey – WLAX
Donald Bonner – MTF (Field Athlete of the Year)
Alex Chandler – WTF (Field Athlete of the Year)
Highest Cumulative GPA
Women’s Soccer
Chick-Fil-A Community Service Award
Wrestling
Coach of the Year
Steve Patton, Golf
Female Student-Athlete of the Year
Victoria Schillinger, Women’s Soccer
Male Student-Athlete of the Year
Jeff Chandler, Wrestling
