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 Athlete 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
- 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 Athlete of the Year
Thay Silva (Soccer)
Thaylan Silva did it all and won it all this year for the Eagles. The senior led the team with 11 goals and scored four game-winners, the eighth most in the nation. In a three game span against LMU, Newberry and Coker, Silva scored three straight braces, the first Eagle to do so since 1994. With a made penalty kick against Newberry, Silva broke the school record for career penalty kicks made, connecting on six in his career. For his efforts, Silva was named first team All-SAC and the SAC Offensive Player of the Year. Silva also earned D2CCA second team All-American honors.
Bram Kaarsgaren (Soccer):
Bram Kaarsgaren finished his career in net for the Eagles with a stellar final season in Mossy Creek. The Dutchman recorded 61 saves, third most in the SAC and shutout four opponents, including #11 Limestone to clinch the SAC regular season championship. Kaarsgaren earned his second-straight first team All-SAC honors, the first goalkeeper in school history to do so, and was named SAC Defensive Player of the Year.
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.
Jonathan Nielsen (Golf)
In the Fall of 2021, Jonathan Nielsen put together the performance of his career. On October 26th, Nielsen collected his first collegiate individual win over some of the best golfer NCAA's Division II has to offer at the Southern Tide Intercollegiate. Nielsen finished seven strokes under par with a total score of 209. The sophomore led the entire field of golfers at Atlanta National with 18 total birdies after three rounds of play. The next closest golfer had 14. Nielsen was consistently a leading scorer for the Eagles on the links this fall. He averages a score of 70.
Alex Hodge (Golf)
Alex Hodge was an intricate part of the Carson-Newman men's golf success this fall. Hodge was consistently finding himself in the top ten at the end of events. His best finish came at the Queens Invitational. Leading the Eagles to a team victory, Hodge shot an even 71 with two birdies on the final day. His three-round total of 204 was good enough to tie him for fifth place. Hodge averaged a score of 70 for the fall.
Alonzo Houston (Football)
Houston led Carson-Newman's defense and the South Atlantic Conference with 98 tackles. He was top 15 nationally in tackles per game. Houston tallied six double-digit tackle performances on the year topping out at 15 stops at UVA Wise. He also had 5.5 tackles for loss on the year with two at Catawba.
Rondrow Peebles (Football)
A second-team All-SAC selection, Peebles finished second on the team with 78 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He had a trio of quarterback hurries and a pass break up as well, to go with a fumble recovery against Limestone. He topped out with double-digit tackles twice – tallying 12 against Wingate on Sept. 18 and 11 against Catawba on Oct. 9. He had a career-high 10 solo stops against the Indians.
Watch List: Bryant Thomas (Basketball), Tripp Davis (Basketball), EJ Bush (Basketball), Ren Dyer (Basketball), Luke Brenegan (Basketball)
