SFA Athletics Honors its Student-Athletes at Inaugural Golden Axe Awards
5/1/2019 8:50:00 PM | General
Inaugural event held at The Fredonia Hotel in downtown Nacogdoches
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The beginning of a new tradition for SFA Athletics occurred at The Fredonia Hotel Wednesday night when all Lumberjack and Ladyjack student-athletes convened there to take part in the inaugural Golden Axe Awards.
Changing gears from the Champions Dinner of years past, the Golden Axe Awards maintained some of traditions established at the Champions Dinner such as the awarding of team MVP awards. Some of the changes, however, came in the form of the Golden Axe Awards themselves which were awarded to deserving teams and student-athletes from around all of SFA Athletics. In addition to the Golden Axe Awards and the team MVP awards, the SFA volleyball team also received its championship rings from the 2018 season while the Murray Shaw awards - which honor the student-athlete with the highest GPA on each team - were doled out.
Though the academic year is not yet over, there have been a multitude of happy memories during 2018-19. To this point, a pair of teams - volleyball and women's indoor track and field - have captured Southland Conference regular season titles. The volleyball squad advanced to the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and won a nation-leading 29 matches, but that was just the start of SFA's success in NCAA competition.
On the indoor track & field scene, freshmen Branson Ellis and Nastassja Campbell secured All-American honors in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships before the Ladyjacks' bowling team locked down the highlight of the year to this point.
On Saturday, April 13, SFA laid claim to the school's second - as well as the program's second - NCAA Division I national title by taking down top-ranked Vanderbilt 4-1 in front of the national audience on ESPNU.
Currently SFA sits in 94th place in the Learfield Director's Cup standings. That award is given annually to the top NCAA Division I athletic program in the nation and SFA is the highest-ranked Southland Conference squad in the latest rankings.
So far, SFA has brought home no fewer than five Southland Conference major awards. In volleyball, Ann Hollas was named the league's Setter of the Year while head coach Debbie Humphreys earned the title of Katrinka Jo Crawford Coach of the Year for the seventh time in her illustrious career.
Titus Kiplagat of the men's cross country team took home the title of Southland Conference Freshman of the Year after posting a fourth-place finish at the Southland Championship meet.
In the women's indoor track & field realm, head coach Phil Olson collected another Southland Conference Coach of the Year accolade by leading the Ladyjacks to their ninth indoor title. Freshman Nastassja Campbell took home the title of Southland Conference Freshman of the Year after her successes in the pole vault.
Bowling's Paige Beeney was named the NCAA Championship MVP just days after collecting NTCA Honorable Mention All-American accolades. Teammate and fellow senior Dakotah Hazlewood earned NTCA First Team All-American honors while also being named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.
Softball's Kassiby Wilbur has had an outstanding season in the circle so far and made the cut as a Schutt Sports/NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 25 Finalist. The first-year star leads the Southland and ranks eighth nationally in total strikeouts.
Football senior Chris Wilkerson - a recent undrafted free agent pickup by the NFL's San Francisco 49ers - took home the Jene' Carter award after earning Phil Steele All-America Second Team honors for his long snapping duties.
A complete list of 2018-19 Golden Axe Award winners are listed below as are the MVPs for each sport with the exception of track & field who will name its MVP at a later date.
For continued coverage of SFA athletics throughout the remainder of the 2018-19 academic year and in the future, visit SFAJacks.com, follow @SFA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and like SFA Athletics on Facebook.
2018-19 Golden Axe Nominees (winners in bold)
Male Athlete of the Year
Shannon Bogues (men's basketball)
Branson Ellis (men's track & field)
Alex Palmer (baseball)
Female Athlete of the Year
Nastassja Campbell (women's track & field)
Danae Daron (volleyball)
Dakotah Hazlewood (bowling)
Male Rookie of the Year
Awet Beraki (men's track & field)
Branson Ellis (men's track & field)
Brandon Uhse (baseball)
Female Rookie of the Year
Nastassja Campbell (women's track & field)
Stephanie Visscher (women's basketball)
Kassidy Wilbur (softball)
Male Breakout Athlete of the Year
Jesus Gamez (baseball)
Aretavious Hendrix (football)
Drake Murphy (men's track & field)
Female Breakout Athlete of the Year
Madison Compass (women's track & field)
Margarita Corona (softball)
Imani Johnson (women's basketball)
Team of the Year
Bowling
Volleyball
Women's Indoor Track & Field
Steve McCarty Award | Male
Jake Georgiades (baseball)
Drake Murphy (men's track & field)
Chris Wilkerson (football)
Steve McCarty Award | Female
Carli Arthurs (soccer)
Paige Beeney (bowling)
Ann Hollas (volleyball)
Spirit Award
Jake Blumrick (football)
Nida Kamal (tennis)
Julia Whitehead (volleyball)
Kathy McGough Academic Athlete of the Year | Female
Carli Arthurs (soccer)
Kathy McGough Academic Athlete of the Year | Male
Cord Neal (men's track & field)
Jene' Carter Award
Chris Wilkerson (football)
Cally Belcher Award (football)
Quin Jones
Game of the Year
Men's basketball's buzzer-beating win at Baylor
Softball's win at 25th-ranked Mississippi State
Tennis' victory over Northwestern State who was undefeated in Southland play
SFA Team MVP Awards
Tennis: Darinka Tiboldi
Men's Golf: Angelo Leyvani
Women's Golf: Erica Lautensack
Soccer: Carli Arthurs
Volleyball: Danae Daron and Ann Hollas
Women's Basketball: Imani Johnson and Chanell Hayes
Softball: Margarita Corona
Baseball: Manny Vasquez
Men's Track and Field Nominees: Drake Murphy, Kevin Steward, Branson Ellis
Women's Track and Field Nominees: Brittany Innis, Kelsey Ramirez, Imani Nave
Football: Aretavious Hendrix
Men's Basketball: Shannon Bogues
Bowling: Dakotah Hazlewood
-SFA-
