Fall Frosty Awards Nominees: Male Performance of the Year

Posted: Dec 30, 2023

From now until Jan. 2, the Carson-Newman Athletic Communications Department will debut the Frosty Award nominees for the fall semester. These are the fall nominees for Male Performance of the Year. New Year's Eve we'll unveil the fall nominees for Female Performance of the Year.

The 11th annual Frosty Awards will take place April 30 and honor athletic excellence in Carson-Newman's athletic department.

Categories:

Male Performance of the Year

Mekhi Brown (Football at Newberry): Brown was instrumental in paving the way for Carson-Newman's first win at Newberry since 2010. He finished the day with four tackles, a tackle for loss, the pick six and a blocked field goal. Brown is also the first freshman defensive player to be recognized by the league since Houston, who picked up a weekly honor in his freshman season in 2018 following a week three win over Wingate. Brown broke through the line to tip and reject a Bryce Early field goal with 1:52 left in the second quarter to keep the Eagles within a touchdown. His more pivotal play came in the third quarter. Brown leapt in front of a Brayden Phillips pass at the 13 yard-line. He scrambled into the right side of the end zone with 9:50 to go in the third to bring the Eagles within a two-point conversion and spark what would go on to be a 28-point second half for C-N.

Mekhi Brown (Football v. Tusculum): Brown was all over the field in the Eagles' 27-21 loss to Tusculum. He accounted for a career-high nine tackles, to go along with a sack, a tackle for loss, a fumble recovery and an interception. Brown generated his first turnover against Tusculum on the Pioneers second possession. With TU at the C-N 22, Brown leapt in front of a Matthew Palazzo pass at the five and returned it out to the nine to thwart the Pioneers in C-N territory. With TU driving in C-N territory again, Brown pounced on a loose football in the end zone coughed up by Kemani Brown to keep TU scoreless.

Colten Lee (1st place at ASICS Invitational): Not only did Lee win the ASICS Invitational, he did so in dominating fashion. Taking an early lead in the race, Lee pulled away from the field and crossed at 24:47.9, almost 45 seconds ahead of Georgia Tech's Jean-Lou Pare. Lee's dominant performance helped the Eagles to a second place finish at the ASICS Invitational.

Major Williams (Football at UVA Wise): Major Williams finished with five tackles and 2.5 for loss, giving him 10 tackles for a loss on the season, the most ever for a Carson-Newman defensive back. He added a pass breakup and a 40-yard fumble return for the touchdown. Additionally, Williams brought five punts back for 63 yards.

Jacorey Long (Football v. Tusculum): Jacorey Long was all over the place in a loss to Tusculum. He became the first defensive lineman in six years to register a double-digit tackle performance, accounting for 13 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. He also added a forced fumble on a strip sack.

Cade Meeks (Football at Newberry): Meeks would finish with five catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns, the first 100-plus yard day for a C-N receiver since Braxton Westfield in the 2022 season finale victory over Catawba and the 71st 100-yard receiving day in Carson-Newman history. His 42-yard score with just over a minute remaining sealed Carson-Newman's 34-21 win at Newberry, its first in 13 years.

Daniel Ribeiro (Swimming at UIndy): Ribeiro grabbed gold in the men's 100-yard backstroke (48.98) against #1 ranked University of Indianapolis. He finished fifth in both the 100 free (45.64) and 100 fly (48.93) at the dual meet, earning a NCAA DII 'B' cut in the fly. He contributed to a second-place finish in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay (1:22.54) and 400-yard freestyle relay (3:00.73).

Daniel de Oliveira (Swimming at UIndy): De Oliveira placed first in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:39.58 against #1 ranked University of Indianapolis, earning an NCAA DII 'B' cut for his performance. He also earned a 'B' cut for his 45.31-second 100 free. De Oliveira placed third in the 100 fly (48.86) and fourth in the 200 fly (1:57.65) at the dual meet. He contributed to a second-place finish in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay (1:22.54) and 400-yard freestyle relay (3:00.73).

Federico Simonetti (Soccer vs West Ala): It did not take long for Simonetti to make his presence felt in his first year with Carson-Newman. The season-opening 2-0 win versus a future NCAA Tournament team in West Alabama, saw the Italian make nine saves to shut out the Tigers on Aug 31. Six of those ten saves came in the first half, with four coming in the opening 20 minutes of action. His nine total saves were the most in a match since Bram Kaarsgaren made nine in a loss to Anderson on Oct 9th, 2021.

Paul Csmarich (Soccer vs Young Harris): In just his third collegiate game, he recorded his first career goal and first career assist during C-N's 4-1 thrashing of Young Harris on Sept 6th. His goal was the game-winner, and his assist of Nic Carsh's goal put the finishing touches on a quality non-conference win.

Nic Carsh (Soccer vs Catawba): Nearing the end of his career, Carsh put together an excellent performance scoring a goal and assisting on another in C-N's tie versus Catawba on Oct 14. His goal put C-N up 2-1 with 12 minutes to go. The goal was Carsh's third of the year and the 17th of his career.

Luke Stock (T-5th at Hurricane Invitational): At the Hurricane Invitational, Stock got off to a hot start and didn't look back. After shooting a 71 and 72 in the first two rounds, Stock did add two strokes in round 3 with a 74, but his hot start and consistency throughout earned him a 5th place finish to lead the Eagles to a 6th place finish at the Hurricane Invitational.

Jack Browder (Basketball v. Lees-McRae): The sophomore started the season by turning in his first career double-double. He went for 22 points and added in a career-best 12 boards. It marked the first 20-point double-double for C-N since Bryant Thomas did it last year against Lees-McRae. The 20-point effort was his second-career 20-point game.

Trey Hubbard (Basketball v. Clayton State): Hubbard tallied a 20-point night while dishing out a season-high seven assists against Clayton State. It's Hubbard's second career 20-point, five-assist night and his first as an Eagle (he had 20 points and eight dimes for Queens against Young Harris as a freshman). He was 7-of-14 from the field and 2-for-4 from long range.

John Zhao (Basketball v. Milligan): John Zhao paced Carson-Newman in its 51-point thrashing of Milligan with a career-high 31. He was 11-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-5 from deep. Zhao did all that work in just 23 minutes. He had 22 points at halftime and only played to the under-12 media timeout in the second half.

Nick Brenegan (Basketball v. Tennessee Wesleyan): Nick Brenegan reset Carson-Newman's single-game record for threes made with 12 in a 107-83 thrashing of Tennessee Wesleyan. Brenegan rewrote Ish Sanders' 12-year-old record. He went 12-of-25 from deep en route to a 37-point night, the eighth-highest single-game point total in school history. Brenegan also dished out a career-best seven assists.