VIDEO: Eagle Scholars Ceremony
VIDEO: Tom Griffin Interview
VIDEO: Eagle Scholar Video
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman baseball program took home top honors as the recipients of the Carson-Newman Director's Cup as the athletic department recognized a record160 Eagle Scholars at its annual ceremony Tuesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.
The Director's Cup is presented to the top academic team on campus which best represents the values espoused by the Eagle Scholar Program as selected by the Eagle Scholar Committee. The women's basketball team brought home the cup last August in the award's inaugural year.
"We talked about this last year as a team to make it a point to win things off the field as well as on it," head baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "We're not just going to sit there and be great at baseball and not achieve in the classroom. There's no doubt there was a focused effort to be great in the classroom this past year. We wanted to win this."
Last year, the program set a record with 129 honorees. This year's 160-member class is an increase of 24 percent. That doesn't count 43 athletes who had either graduated or transferred. More than 40 percent of Carson-Newman students who played a sport last year did so while maintaining at least a 3.25 GPA.
The Eagle Scholars Program recognizes academic achievements among Carson-Newman student-athletes. To become an Eagle Scholar, student-athletes must have a GPA of 3.25 or higher. Eagle Scholars receive a patch to wear on their uniforms during regular season competition. This year also marks the first year that the program also includes the introduction of the Gold Scholars. These honorees will receive a golden patch to wear on their uniforms for maintaining a GPA higher than 3.75.
Carson-Newman is the only school in the South Atlantic Conference to offer such a program.
Following an inaugural membership of 72, the program in 2014 honored 93 students during its ceremony as qualified Eagle Scholars. Membership in the program increased 29 percent from year one to year two, and 38.7 percent from year two to year three. Overall, it's a 122 percent increase in the program from its inaugural year to now.
Tuesday's proceedings will be streamed live at cneagles.com/live.
BASEBALL Konnor Ambrose, Vincent Apicella †, Steven Carver, Ryan Eberle, Jordan Hinshaw, Paul Kirby, Trever Lee, Eric Lynch, Grant Rabbitts, Brandon Roberts †, Joseph Sales, Tristan Stalsworth, Harley Thompson, Mark Treadway, Mitchell Trzeciak †, Greg Valentine, Ryan Victory,
MEN'S BASKETBALL Mason Bates, Taylor Hawkins, Josh Leatherwood †, Zach Pangallo, Robert Rayle, Sawyer Williams,
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Kailyn Brooks, Kaitlyn Cupples, Allison Hodge, Jai Jai McLaughlin †, Kayla Newman, Taylor Peterson †, Haris Price, Kianna Sedlacek †, Jecca Simerly, Katie Stubblefield, Abigail Tinsley, Mika Wester,
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK Randall Freeman, Kieran Davis, Noah Hill, Anthony Jackson, Jeremiah McCarter, Matt Rust †, Marshall Shank, Tanner Stepp, Christian Stumpf, Lee Wells
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK Tori Gaul, Hannah Green, Sara Honaker, Abriana Lockett †, Aiyana Martino †, Savanah McCarter, Tiana Mills, Kiayna O'Neal †, Kathlean O'Neill, Ashlyne Page, Madison Pickel, Sarah Sharp, Rebekah White
FOOTBALL Lane Bloom, Phalen Booker, Thomas Brown, Kooper Davis, Jared Dillingham, Bailey Feathers, Daniel Gallman, Jeffery Herron, Hayden Hester, Rashad Hunter, Charles Leavell, Phillip Lewis, Jonathan Mason †, Tavon Murray, Quinton Phillips, Stokes Rowe, Demitri Saulsberry, Trey Torres, Christopher Wise
MEN'S GOLF Corey Bray †, Eduardo Carrillo Salinas †, Richard Hall †, Nathan Hodge †, Thomas Hutson, Ben Kennard, Nicklaus Kennedy †, Anthony Marcinelli, Dalton Reese, Grant Roberts
WOMEN'S GOLF Elizabeth England, Jessica Hart, Meridith Hawkins †, Taylor Hayes, Kelli Pemberton †, Rebekah Pruett †, Summer Smith,
MEN'S SOCCER Samuel Amure, Polymnios Avgousti, Bruno Andrade, Luke Greer *, Casper Nyberg, Thomas Read, Colton Seale, Lucas Siqueira †, Marius Staalby, James Ward †, Sindre Welo †, Alexander White †, Travis Whitt, Aaron Zavolokin,
WOMEN'S SOCCER Jacqueline Burns, Jessica Fraiture, Gabrielle Gianeselli, Mikayla Gregg †, Julianne Herrity, Chelsea Jordan, Nora Logan, Nickki McWilliams †, Lauren Morelock †, Helen Seed Holly, Talbut-Smith *
SOFTBALL Janelle Benzick, Delaney Brown, Hayley Burnette †, Ashlyn Cooper, Elayna Siebert †, Samantha Stanley, Allison Webster
SPIRIT SQUAD CHEER Allison Blevins, Laken Carney, Alex Harber, Rachel Justice, Brandi Lewis †, Sarah Beth Maddox, Sydney McCormack, Kelly Mrock, Ali Patterson, Sydney Rayho, Erin Steelman, Abbey Stiles, McKenzie Vanvactor
DANCE Keaton Evans, Amy Holsomback, Kathleen Mazza, Lauren Murph, Brittany Parker †
MEN'S SWIMMING Ryan Burcham, Joshua Graves, Joshua Grover, Seth Hughes, Carson Knox, Jonathan Lancaster, Pijus Mackevicius, Justin McCarty, Benjamin McCrary, Andrei Roman, Garrett Stelling, Joshua Terrell, Andrew Wheeler, Josh Winn
WOMEN'S SWIMMING Gillian Cline, Ellyse Culp, Courtlyn Fields, Elizabeth Gitto, Emily Loftis, Bethany McNabb, Maggie Melhorn, Ksenia Naydenova, Alexandra Nuyianes, Eliza Petersen, Lisa Postma, Nancy Claire Smith, Margaret Stansberry, Jacquelyn Stone, Olivia Winkler
MEN'S TENNIS Jesus Bacete-Sanz, Marc Bantel, Joao Pedro Oliveira, Kevin Mendes
WOMEN'S TENNIS Merry Carson, Haleigh Chastain †, Patricia Guerreiro †, Mallory Jackson
VOLLEYBALL Eileen Anderson, Sara Fairley †, Allison Foster, Morgan Harlan, Natalie Harris, Kristina Hill †, Allison King, Molly Locke †, Taylor Lowe, Anna Patton, Hannah Robertson, Lindsey Wells †