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 Newcomer of the Year. Wednesday we'll unveil the candidates for Coach of the Year.
The ninth annual Frosty Awards will take place May 3 and honor athletic excellence in Carson-Newman's athletic department.
Categories:
- Team Performance of the Year
- Female Newcomer of the Year
- Male Newcomer of the Year
- Coach of the Year
- Team of the Year
- Game of the Year
- Play of the Year
- Male Freshman of the Year
- Female Freshman of the Year
- Upset of the Year
- Comeback of the Year
- Male Performance of the Year
- Female Performance of the Year
- Female Athlete of the Year
- Male Athlete of the Year
Male Newcomer of the Year
Dequan Dudley (Football)
An all-region performer at return specialist, Dudley finished the year fourth in the country in yards per kickoff return with 33.5. He was one of six players in the nation to return two kicks for scores on the year. He finished the year with 641 combined return yardage between kickoffs and punts, a figure that ranks 12th in the country. Dudley is Carson-Newman's first all-region return specialist since Lonnie Williams was lauded in 2014.
Justice Alexander (Football)
Alexander started eight out of 10 games at defensive end for C-N and ranked fifth on the team in tackles. He tallied 46 stops on the year with a team-best 9.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Alexander had an other-worldly seven solo stops against Catawba and topped out at nine tackles on the year against Lenoir-Rhyne.
Igor Dantas (Swimming)
Igor Dantas has made the most of his first semester as part of the Carson-Newman swimming program. After coming in as a transfer from Emmanuel College, Dantas has already placed his name in the Carson-Newman swimming record books. Most notably, the Brazil native captured a pair of school records over the three-day UT Invitational to wrap up the fall season for C-N. At the invite, Dantas set a new school record in the men's 100-yard freestyle and 50-yard freestyle. His time of 43.27 in the 100-yard freestyle not only set a new school record, but allowed Dantas to finish 5th overall ahead of competition from South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia. He also was able to qualify for 'B' standards of Nationals with a new program record time of 19.72 in the 50-yard freestyle. Beyond his record-setting performances, Dantas also holds the third-fastest time in the 100-yard freestyle (43.33) and 200-yard freestyle (1:36.70) during his outing in Knoxville. Dantas has seen individual event victories on five separate occasions over the fall season. He started off the fall with victories in both the men's 50 and 100-yard freestyle before going on to claim the win in the men's 500-yard freestyle against Milligan and the 100 and 200-yard freestyle as part of the Emory Invitational.
Brandon Tiassum (Football)
The anchor of Carson-Newman's interior defensive line, Tiassum finished the year with 24 tackles and four tackles for loss. His top game came at Barton when he had five stops, including three behind the line of scrimmage.
Tim Vercelli (Soccer)
Despite playing every game as a defender this season, Vercelli made an impact on the offensive side of the ball this year for the Eagles. The junior from Germany recorded an assist and the eventual game-winning goal for Carson-Newman against Wingate. Vercelli was instrumental in the Eagle's upset win over Limestone to clinch the SAC regular season championship, scoring the opening goal to take an early 1-0 lead and holding the Saints scoreless for just the second time in 2021. Vercelli was also a solid distributor, recording five assists this season.
