From now until Jan. 1, the Carson-Newman Athletic Communications Department will debut the Frosty Award nominees for the fall semester. Here are the fall nominees for Male Performance of the Year. Wednesday, we'll unveil the nominees for Game of the Year.
The third annual Frosty Awards will take place in April and honor athletic excellence in Carson-Newman's athletic department.
- Coach of the Year
- Team of the Year
- Comeback of the Year
- Male Freshman of the Year
- Female Freshman of the Year
- The Plays of the Fall
- Male Newcomer of the Year
- Female Newcomer of the Year
- Female Performance of the Year
- Male Performance of the Year
- Game of the Year
- Male Athlete of the Year
- Female Athlete off the Year
Male Performance
Andrew Hall at North Georgia Invitational: Senior Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) won his first career tournament by carding a final round 66 to win the University of North Georgia Fall Invitational with a three-round 14-under 202 by four strokes at the Achasta Golf Club in Dahlonega, Ga. Hall tied his South Atlantic Conference three-round total he set at the Saint Leo's Invitational. A Carson-Newman golfer has now won the UNG Fall Invitational for the second-straight year after Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario, Canada) the 2014 edition in a four-hole playoff. Hall shot his second-straight 66 on Tuesday, which is his fifth round in the 60s out of his last six rounds; the Knoxville-native's lone round outside of the 60s was a 70 during Monday's first round. He led the field with 17 birdies and was tied for the third-lowest score on par-fives at eight-under and averaged 4.33 strokes on the holes; the senior finished at one-under on par-threes with a stroke average of 2.92.
De'Andre Thomas v. Valdosta State: De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.) finished his C-N career by becoming the first Eagle to ever throw for 400 yards in a game. Thomas finished 20-for-27 with 416 yards passing, besting Danny Sanders' previous mark of 380 yards set in 1978 against Lenoir-Rhyne. Unfortunately, it came in defeat at Valdosta State. Thomas completed a trio of touchdown passes on the day, finding Aaron Seward on a 45-yard completion and TraShaun Ward on 24 and 43-yard touchdown passes. The 20 completions are the highest tally of the Sparks-era and the fourth highest all-time. Thomas earned Tennessee Sportswriters Association Offensive Player of the Week honors following the performance.
Damian Baker at Mars Hill: Damian Baker (Columbus, Miss.) produced the 35th 200-yard rushing performance in Eagle history to guide Carson-Newman to a 62-38 barnstorming of Mars Hill. Baker rushed for 249 yards and four touchdowns, surpassing Vic Sloan's 29-carry, 248-yard performance against Lenoir-Rhyne in 1976 for the seventh-highest single-game rushing total in Carson-Newman football history. He found the end zone four times, becoming the eighth C-N player with a quartet of touchdowns in a single game since 2004. For his efforts, Baker was named SAC offensive player of the week and Tennessee Sportswriters Association Offensive Player of the Week. Baker scored on runs of 64, 44, 52 and three yards. Baker averaged 13.8 yards per carry, top 10 all-time in the single game tallies for the Eagles
Nick Skoda v. Belmont Abbey: Senior Nick Skoda (Knoxville, Tenn.) registered his first career hat-trick in a 5-0 thrashing over the Belmont Abbey Crusaders on Sept. 9th. Skoda scored his first goal of the contest after taking a cross and blowing past the entire Crusaders' back line just 99 seconds into the game. His second goal came from a Kavi Luchowa (London, England) save and a throw to the senior forward who sprinted the length of the field and beat the keeper to his right. Skoda's third goal came off a cross from freshman Bruno Andrade (Sao Paulo, Brazil) that found the senior at the far post unmarked for an easy score. The performance helped Skoda to a SAC Player of the Week honor.
TraShaun Ward @ Valdosta State: TraShaun Ward snagged eight passes for 214 yards and two scores in the Eagles' 61-59 shootout loss to Valdosta State. The 214-yard day is the third best single-game receiving total by an Eagle and the first time a wideout has caught 200 yards worth of passes by a Sparks-coached team. It had been more than 13,000 days since Carson-Newman last had a 200-yard receiver. Ward caught touchdown passes of 43 and 24 yards. The eight receptions ties a Sparks-era record shared by Anthony Eubanks and Darren Hughes.
Andrew Hall @ Saint Leo Men's Invite: Senior Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished the best 54-hole tournament in South Atlantic Conference history by carding a final round 69 at the Saint Leo's Invitational at Lake Jovita Country Club to finish in a two-way tie for second-place. Hall fired rounds of 68, 65 and 69 during his three rounds at Lake Jovita to best the previous low-score of Catawba's Todd Sapere who shot a 204 at the Camp Lejeune Invitational in 1997. Hall used four birdies and just one bogie for his final round total of 69. The senior carded three birdies on the back-nine to finish one stroke off the tournament winner. The Knoxville-native recorded 18 birdies during his three rounds.
