Biggest Upset of the Year:
Men's Bowling:
As an unseeded team at the USBC ITC Sectional Qualifier, the EC Men found themselves sitting 12th out of 20 teams after the 1st of 4 Qualifying rounds. After rounds 2 and 3 were completed by Sunday afternoon they would climb to a respectful 5th place. Then, on Sunday afternoon during the final round of qualifying, the Emmanuel Men would Climb as high as 3rd before settling for a 4th place finish to once again earn a spot at the USBC Collegiate National Championships (only top four advanced).
Skyla Armstrong (women's wrestling):
Did not win a match in the regular season. Wins two matches at regionals to qualify for nationals.
Women's swimming:
Winning the 400-medley relay at the 2022 Conference Carolinas Championships. Seeded 3rd going into finals, winning the relay, setting the school record, conference record, earning 6 points. This set the team up to win the overall conference championships by 6 points
Winner: Men's Bowling
Record Breaking Male Performance:
Thiago Rosa (Men's Swimming):
Competed in his 3rd NCAA National Championship (in 6 events). 7 x Conference Carolinas Champion (setting 2 Conference Carolinas records). MVP of the Conference Championships and swimmer of the year. 7 x Emmanuel School Record Holder. Helped lead team to 9-0 undefeated dual meet season. Helped lead team to 1st place Conference Carolinas Team Champions finish, winning by 411 points.
Sulaimane Bangura
2nd at Conference in the 400m dash. Finished 6th at NCAA Indoor Nationals. Broke his own school record in the 400m. 3rd Team All-Conference on the 4x4 relay. Southeast All-Region Award.
Gustavo Cavalcanti (men's volleyball):
Recorded 18 kills in 21 swings and hit .714 at Limestone to lead the team to a 3-2 victory.
Winner: Sulimaine Bangura
Record Breaking Female Performance:
Acrobatics and Tumbling:
First win in program history coming over Mars Hill at home.
Women's Triathlon:
Qualified 6 ladies for the National Championships in their first year as an NCAA sport. Then finished 8th place overall as a team at the National Championships. Freshman Carolina Asberg came out of the water in 1st place overall at the National Championships.
Natalie Hayes (Women's Swimming):
Competed in her 2nd NCAA National Championship (in 2 events). 3 x Conference Carolinas Champion (setting 3 Conference Records, 3 school records). Helped lead team to 11-0 undefeated dual meet season. Helped lead team to 1st place Conference Carolinas Team Champions finish, winning by 6 points.
Jharna Alston:
2x First team all-conference in 60m and 200m. Broke her own 200m indoor school record. Finished 8th in the 200m at the NCAA Indoor National Championship. Conference Athlete of the Year. Highest point scorer at the indoor Conference meet. Southeast All Region.
Winner: Softball
Best Male Newcomer of the year:
Freshman Quinn Crouse (Men's Swimming):
As a freshman participated in the Collegiate Open Water National Champs (5K), helped team to 2nd place finish. Earned freshmen MVP of the Conference Carolinas Conference Championships and freshman of the year. At the 2022 Conference Carolinas Championships finished: 1st 200 free, NCAA national qualifying time. 2nd 500 free, NCAA national qualifying time (1st was an EC swimmer) 3rd 1650 free (1st and 2nd were EC swimmers)
Freshman Gustavo Cavalcanti (men's volleyball):
Recorded 56 aces this season, tied for second most in NCAA DI this year and most in the conference. Led the team with 389 kills.
Josh Kincaid (men's wrestling): Finished 2nd at the 2022 Georgia Open.\
Winner: Quinn Crouse
Best Female Newcomer of the year:
Freshman
Soleny Gonzalez (women's tennis):
16 years old in her first semester at EC. Currently undefeated in league play for both singles and doubles. Recorded a win over D1 Rider University. 4.0 GPA student.
Sophomore transfer
Chloe Nadler (softball):
Finished with a batting average of .409 in conference play, putting her 9
th in the league. Hit four home runs on the season, including a two-run walkoff against Columbus State.
Sydney Wyatt (Women's Basketball):
Sydney transferred in this year and as a Sophomore she quickly made an impact on our team and in Conference Carolinas. As a first year Lady Lion she led our team in scoring at 14.5 points per game which was 7th in the conference. She shot a blistering 81% from the free throw line which was fourth in Conference Carolinas. She also shot 113 for 140 from the free throw line which was second in the amount of made free throws in the conference. In the Conference Carolina's Tournament she hit the game winning shot against UNC Pembroke with 2 seconds left to carry our team to the third round of the conference tournament. In the three tournament games she scored and averaged 18 points a game to finish up her inaugural and first season as an Emmanuel Lady Lion Basketball player.
Winner: Soleny Gonzalez
Coach of the Year:
James Friddle (m/w volleyball)
Brian Little (women's lacrosse)
Kevin Fagan (softball)
Winner: Brian Little
Male Team of the Year:
Men's swimming:
9-0 Undefeated Dual meet season. 1st place Conference Carolinas Team Champions, winning by 411 points, 24 individual/relay conference champions, 8 conference records, 2nd place team finish at Collegiate 5K Open Water National Championships, 30th place team finish at NCAA Div. II National Championships (1 All-American), 1 US OPEN 5K National Champs participant (
Amadeusz Kielczewski), 2 Collegiate Triathlon National Championship participants (
Hunter Hayes, Joao Santos) 1 Olympic Games and 1 World Champs participant (Alex Sobers) *events postponed to 2021 due to covid*
Men's Cross Country:
Conference Champions for second straight time.
Men's volleyball:
First winning season in program history (14-13), 4 seed in conference playoffs, where they advanced to the semis.
Winner: Men's Swimming
Female Team of the Year:
Women's Swimming: 11-0 Undefeated Dual meet season, 1st place Conference Carolinas Team Champions, winning by 6 points. 12 conference champions, 6 conference records, 13th place team finish at Collegiate 5K Open Water National Championships. 37th place team finish at NCAA Div. II National Championships. 8th place team finish at NCAA Triathlon National Championships. 1 World Championships participant and 1 Pan Am Games participant (Valentia Aloisio) 1 US National participant (Vica Beelner)
Softball:
Winningest season in program history (35-20). Were 4-2 against top 25 ranked teams.
Women's bowling:
Competed in the NCAA for first time ever. Advanced to the semifinal round in the inaugural Conference Carolinas/Great Midwest Bowling Championship.
Winner: Women's Swimming
Male Athlete of the Year:
Thiago Rosa (Men's Swimming):
Competed in his 3rd NCAA National Championship (in 6 events). 7 x Conference Carolinas Champion (setting 2 Conference Carolinas records. MVP of the Conference Championships and swimmer of the year. 7 x Emmanuel School Record Holder. Helped lead team to 9-0 undefeated dual meet season. Helped lead team to 1st place Conference Carolinas Team Champions finish, winning by 411 points.
David Hooper (men's bowling):
David Finished his Collegiate Bowling Season with the 10th best individual average in the Nation, which had over 400 qualified. In 8 Events which carried Individual awards, he had 4 Top 5 finishes including 1 tournament MVP and a Top 5 Finish at the largest USBC Collegiate Tournament, The Hoosier Classic. David is in line to be named USBC Collegiate All-American and was 1st Team All-Conference.
KJ Jones II (men's basketball):
First team all-conference, first team all-region. Led the league in scoring with over 20 points per game. Elite 23 Award recipient.
Winner: KJ Jones II
Female Athlete of the Year:
Jharna Alston (women's track and field):
2x 1st Team All-Conference. Broke her own 200m indoor school record. Finished 8th in the 200m at the NCAA Indoor National Championship. Conference Athlete of the Year. Highest point scorer at the indoor Conference meet. Southeast All Region.
Natalie Hayes (Women's Swimming):
Competed in her 2nd NCAA National Championship (in 2 events). 3 x Conference Carolinas Champion (setting 3 Conference Records, 3 school records). Helped lead team to 11-0 undefeated dual meet season. Helped lead team to 1st place Conference Carolinas Team Champions finish, winning by 6 points.
Angie Gomez (women's wrestling):
2022 NCAA Women's Wrestling National Finalist and runner-up/All-American.
Winner: Natalie Hayes
Bill White Award – Male:
Thembo Makhanya (men's tennis)
David Hooper (men's bowling)
Joao Santos (men's Swimming)
Winner: David Hooper
Bill White Award – Female:
Natalie Hayes (Women's Swimming)
Moriah Logue (women's soccer)
Lexi Sengkhammee (women's basketball)
Winner: Natalie Hayes
