June 29, 2011

AMERICUS - The 2010-11 academic year proved to be one of milestones and memories for the Georgia Southwestern Athletics Department as the Hurricanes enjoyed their most successful year in Division II since making the move from NAIA to NCAA in 2006-07.

Improvements came on the field, as GSW saw a 27.7 percent increase in total wins from 2009-10, and in the classroom, as the Hurricanes had a 47.1 percent jump in All-Academic selections.
 
Perhaps no turnaround was more prevalent than in men’s basketball where the ‘Canes record went from 7-20 to 20-9 en route to capturing the school’s first Peach Belt West Division regular season title. As a result, GSW grabbed the conference's Player of the Year (Phillip Brown), Freshman of the Year (Colin Slotter) and Coach of the Year (Mike Leeder) awards.
 
The Lady Hurricanes tennis team also made a significant jump in the win column, going from seven victories in 2010 to 13 in 2011, an NCAA-era record for the program.

Women's soccer posted its highest win total in PBC play and the cross country team had its best finish in program history at the PBC Championships. 
 
A pair of GSW teams cracked the national polls during the year, as the men’s basketball team enjoyed a five-week stay and topped at No. 16, while the baseball team appeared for the second-consecutive season and earned a No. 30 ranking at the end of March.
 
All-in-all, the Hurricane program captured six Peach Belt weekly honors, eight All-Conference selections and 25 All-Academic awards.

The annual end of the year banquet provided an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of Hurricane student-athletes and was highlighted by the announcement of year-end awards, including Male and Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.  Ethan Vick (men's soccer) was named Male Scholar Athlete of the Year, while Mollie McGowan (women's tennis and cross country) was named Female Scholar Athlete of the Year. 

Below is a complete list of this year's award winners:  

2010-2011 Awards

Male Scholar Athlete of the Year:  Ethan Vick

Female Scholar Athlete of the Year:  Mollie McGowan 

President's Cup - awarded to the team with the highest yearly GPA:  Men's Tennis (men's sports), Women's Tennis (women's sports)

Roy Lee Smith Award - awarded to the male senior athlete(s) who is(are) the best all-around representative of GSW athletics:  Jared Allen (baseball) and Reese Moseley (golf) 

Susan Kay Smith Award - awarded to the male senior athlete who is the best all-around representative of GSW athletics:  Katie Mueller (softball) 

WC Husmann Hustle Award - awarded to a faculty, staff or community member for invaluable contributions to GSW Athletics:  Dr. Gabriele Stauf 

Senior Awards:

Victor Pinones-Haltenhoff (men's tennis)

Brooke Anglin (women's tennis)

Leady Cuellar (women's tennis and cross country)

Reese Moseley (golf)

Charles Pennington (golf)

Scholar Athlete Awards - awarded to a sophomore, junior or senior who has been at GSW at least two FT semesters with the highest GPA:

Baseball:  Jared Allen

Men's Basketball: Tyler Gunnett 

Women's Basketball:  Sylvia Elkins

Women's Cross Country:  Mollie McGowan 

Men's Golf:  Charles Pennington

Softball:  Katie Mueller 

Men's Soccer:  Ethan Vick 

Women's Soccer:  Ally Canganelli 

Women's Tennis:  Mollie McGowan 

Chi Alpha Sigma (National College Athlete Honor Society) Inductees - awarded to junior or senior letterwinners with a 3.40 GPA or better:

*Jared Allen (baseball)

*Heath Lock (baseball)

Tyler Daniel (baseball) 

*Jody Sellars (baseball)

*Kacey Barnard (men's soccer)

Kevin Huet (men's soccer)

*Yimi Reyes (men's soccer)

Ethan Vick (men's soccer)

*Nichole Griffin (softball)

*Heather Hodge (softball)

*Katie Mueller (softball)

Gabby Buck (softball)

Sylvia Elkins (women's basketball)

Becky Atkins (cross country)

Brittney Hill (women's soccer)

Charles Pennington (golf)

Victor Pinones-Haltenhoff (men's tennis)

Brooke Anglin (women's tennis) 

*Second-year members of Chi Alpha Sigma 

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.) "Dub" Awards:

Super S.A.A.C. - Softball

Crazy ‘Canes - Men's Soccer

Peach Belt Conference and Regional Award Recipients in 2010-11:

Mollie McGowan	-	All-Academic	-	women's cross country
				women's tennis
Becky Atkins	-	All-Academic	-	women's cross country
Gabby Buck	-	All-Academic	-	women's soccer
				softball
Katie Mueller	-	All-Academic	-	women's soccer
				softball
Ally Canganelli	-	All-Academic	-	women's soccer
Brittney Hill	-	All-Academic	-	women's soccer
Heather Hodge	-	All-Academic	-	women's soccer
				softball
Kacey Barnard	-	Player of the Week	-	men's soccer
		All-Academic
Sam Hooke	-	All-Conference	-	men's soccer
Kevin Huet	-	All-Academic	-	men's soccer
Jon McVaney	-	All-Academic	-	men's soccer
Yimi Reyes	-	All-Academic	-	men's soccer
Ethan Vick	-	All-Academic	-	men's soccer
Phillip Brown	-	Player of the Week	-	men's basketball
		Player of the Week
		Player of the Week
		Player of the Year
		All-Conference
		All-Region
		NABC All-American
		Basketball Times All-American
Colin Slotter	-	Freshman of the Year	-	men's basketball
		All-Conference
Trayce Macon	-	All-Conference	-	men's basketball
Mike Leeder	-	Coach of the Year	-	men's basketball
Jessica Bivins	-	All-Academic	-	women's basketball
Jonneshia Pineda	-	All-Academic	-	women's basketball
Nichole Griffin	-	All-Conference	-	softball
		All-Academic
Cayla Smith	-	All-Academic	-	softball
Corey Benson	-	Freshman of the Week	-	baseball
		All-Conference
Michel Coffey	-	All-Conference	-	baseball
Jared Allen	-	All-Academic	-	baseball
Heath Lock	-	All-Academic	-	baseball
Jody Sellars	-	All-Academic	-	baseball
J.P. Griffin	-	Golfer of the Week	-	golf
Nate Gahman	-	All-Conference	-	golf
Ryan Bartz	-	All-Academic	-	men's tennis
Victor Pinones-Haltenhoff	-	All-Academic	-	men's tennis