Franklin Springs, GA - On Monday April 20, 2015 Emmanuel College hosted the first annual Leo Athletic Awards. This special event hosted by the athletic department catered to the entire college family but gave specific recognition to the outstanding achievements of our student athletes this year. Awards were voted on by the student body of Emmanuel College. Individuals and teams were nominated by the coaching staff at Emmanuel and then narrowed by the Leo Athletic Award Committee to represent each award. This formal event was created to be a memorable time for everyone.
The night started off with desserts and refreshments for all to enjoy. After some fellowship time the award show began. We started off the night with some powerful zingers lead by hosts' Heidi Schreiber and Mick Raynor. There were a lot of laughs shared by all followed by the awards being given out to the following recipients.
The first award was given to the team with the most community involvement for the year. The award was won by the Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track and Field teams. This year they have served several times at the nursing home here in Royston, GA. The men's team served at the Men of Steel competition (Christian spin off of the world's strongest man hosted by Camp Little Light). That same day the women's team served at Family Community Day at Royston Wellness Park. In addition to those events they helped clean up our campus prayer garden located behind Lifesprings.
The second award was given out to the play of the year. Each nomination had a video clip that was played and in the end the students chose Tucker Hilley for the award. He sprinted the last 200 yards of his race to come in first and become the National Champion at the NCCAA National Championship.
The third awards were given out to the male and female record breaking performances of the year. On the women's side Diana Tobo from the women's swim team won the award for breaking 13 school records this season. On the men's side Austin Brondage from the men's lacrosse team won the award for averaging 17 points, 11 goals, and his shot on goal percentage of 66.7%.
The forth award was given out to the upset of the year. Our men's swim team brought home the award for having a lane eight starting position and they won the race to bring home a conference championship win. Lane eight is usually given to the slower team in the qualifying rounds.
The fifth awards were given out to the male and female international athlete of the year. On the women's side Ellie Chapman from the women's soccer program was selected for the award. Ellie is an integral part of the defense for the women's program and is able to help control the back line to keep the ball away from the goalie. On the men's side Zach Howe from the men's lacrosse program was selected for the award. Again Zach is a very strong defender for our lacrosse program and does a great job of helping on the offensive side when he gets a takeaway.
The sixth award of the night went to the best record breaking performance. The award was given to the Women's Bowling program for making it to nationals. Throughout the season the ladies were ranked within the top 15 teams in the country. They competed at regionals and finished in third place which qualified them for the USBC National Championship. They are first team from the state of Georgia to qualify for the tournament. While at nationals they advanced to the third round which put them finishing in the top ten for the season.
The seventh award was the Coach of the Year. Ben Hall was selected by the student body for the award. In all Coach Hall coaches 6 sports on campus which is well above and beyond what any of the rest of the coaches do here at EC. On top of this he still participates in multiple marathons throughout the year. Ben is also helping our newest club program on campus women's collegiate triathlon.
The final awards of the night were given out to the male and female athletes' of the year. The women's award was given to Savannah Gratz who plays for the lacrosse, swimming, and triathlon teams here on campus. Savannah is very involved in our campus events and even helped this past year as a host for our midnight madness event. The men's award was given to Michael "Red" Stanley from our basketball program. This season Red finished the season with averages of 17.2 points per game, 8 rebounds per game, and 3.2 assists per game. Red can light up any room he walks in to because of his encouraging personality. He has been a leader on the team the last three seasons and has helped our basketball program reach a new standard of excellence.
