The Austin College coaches and team members honored more than 40 student-athletes, including the Austin College male and female athletes of the year, in its annual Athletics Convocation on Thursday night in Sid Richardson Gymnasium on the Austin College campus.
Awards Convocation Photo Gallery
By virtue of head coaches’ selections, senior football player Nathan Packard of Dallas and senior volleyball player Shelby Eaves of Farmersville were selected as the Pete Cawthon Male Athlete and Gene Day Female Athlete of the Year.
Women’s tennis player Cierra White of Las Vegas, Nev., and baseball player Gus Daniel of Sherman were named by the coaches as the Tim Jubela Freshmen Athletes of the Year. White was recently named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year, while Daniel was a first team All-SCAC selection.
Eaves, a four-year letter winner and starter, broke the Austin College record for kills in a career and finished among the national leaders in kills-per-set and total kills this season. Eaves was a SCAC Player of the Week, First Team All-SCAC selection, All-Region pick, and was an Honorable Mention All-America selection. She was also honored as a First Team Academic All-Region student-athlete.
Packard, a four-year letter winner and starter at linebacker for the ‘Roo football team was a pegged as a preseason All-American and earned First Team All-SCAC honors as well as being named a SCAC Special Teams Player of the Week, and finished the season with 60 tackles. He was also recently named to the National Football Foundation’s prestigious Hampshire Honor Society.
List of Award Winners:
Team Awards (selected by team members)
- Baseball – Cecil Grigg Award (most outstanding baseball player) – Gus Daniel, freshman
- Men’s Basketball – Hustle Award – Ransom Okpala, senior
- Men’s Basketball – Pat E. Hooks Award (most outstanding basketball player) – Ransom Okpala, senior
- Women’s Basketball – Hustle Award – Jenna Longo, junior
- Women’s Basketball – Brittany Simpson Award – Olivia Cicci, freshman
- Women’s Basketball – Pat E. Hooks Award (most outstanding basketball player) – Christina Kime, junior
- Women’s Cross Country – Ron Munden Award (most outstanding runner) – Sally Kate Humphries, junior
- Football – Shellie Hersh Special Teams Player of the Year Award – Javier Reynoso, freshman
- Football – Chop Van Pelt Defensive Lineman of the Year Award – Tre Stewart, junior
- Football – William B Traylor Award (for hard work and dedication) – Nathan Packard, senior
- Football – Gene “Duke” Babb Award (most outstanding football player) – James Nwankpah, senior
- Men’s Soccer – Clayton Hustle Award – Ian Allison, junior
- Men’s Soccer – Most Outstanding Player – Andrew Celio, junior
- Women’s Soccer – Carole Lomangino Award – Maddy Millender, senior
- Softball – Most Valuable Player – Taylor Steelman, senior
- Softball – “Choose to Commit” Award – Mary Whitworth, sophomore
- Men’s Swimming – Most Improved – Amit Pullarkat, sophomore
- Women’s Swimming – Most Improved – Kelsea Garnett, freshman
- Men’s Swimming – Hannah Award (most outstanding swimmer) – Erik Gentzel, sophomore
- Women’s Swimming – Hannah Award (most outstanding swimmer) – Lauren Wheeler, sophomore
- Men’s Tennis – Carroll Pickett Award (most outstanding tennis player) – Jack Kunde, senior
- Women’s Tennis – Carroll Pickett Award (most outstanding tennis player) – Sophie McDonald, senior
- Volleyball – Most Outstanding Player – Shelby Eaves, senior
- Aussie Dance Team – Aussie of the Year – Jenny Castelblanco
- Cheerleading – Outstanding Cheerleader – Elizabeth Gonzalez
- Athletic Training – Most Improved – Zach Miles
- Athletic Training – Most Outstanding – Taylor Steelman
Departmental Awards (selected by head coaches)
- Gene Day Award – Most outstanding female athlete – Shelby Eaves, senior, volleyball
- Pete Cawthon – Most outstanding male athlete – Nathan Packard, senior, football
- Tim Jubela – Most outstanding female freshman athlete – Cierra White, tennis
- Tim Jubela – Most outstanding male freshman athlete – Gus Daniel, baseball
- Robert T. Mason – Sportsmanship Award – Colton Turbeville, football
- Robert T. Mason – Sportsmanship Award – Rachel Ramos, softball
- Slats McCord – Senior Perseverance and Improvement – James Nwankpah, football
- Slats McCord – Senior Perseverance and Improvement – Mallory Rossmann, softball
- Bo Miller – Outstanding Achievement in Academics and Athletics – Ryne Cozby, football
- Bo Miller - Outstanding Achievement in Academics and Athletics – Brooke Melton, basketball
- Sig Lawson – Dedication and Commitment to Austin College Athletics – Ryne Cozby, football; Brian Baehl, basketball; Andrew Celio, soccer; Alan Parrent, baseball; Truman Word, swimming & diving; James Taylor, tennis
- Sig Lawson – Dedication and Commitment to Austin College Athletics – Molly Salman, volleyball; Madi Aliff, basketball; Kylie Peterson, soccer; Mallory Rossmann, softball; Brette Grieder, swimming & diving; Meghan White, tennis; Christine Garner, cross country
- T. Ellis Lockhart Spirit – Most Supportive Faculty/Staff Member – Roger Colwell