Kimball, Taylor win top individual awards at AU athletics banquet

By Chris Rickerson | Sports writer

Augusta University’s Athletic Department hosted the 2021 William Sherrill athletic banquet at Christenberry Fieldhouse on May 5. This award ceremony honors Jaguar student-athletes and coaches for their 2020-2021 season accomplishments. 

Senior Hunter Kimball was named male athlete of the year, and sophomore Mackenzie Taylor was named female athlete of the year. Those two awards are named for Fred Barnabei.

Kimball was a standout on the Peach Belt Conference champion cross-country last fall, and the won the PBC 3,000-meter steeplechase in the outdoor track season. He was also second in the 10,000 meters. Kimball established a school record in the steeplechase with a time of 9:14.91.

Taylor went undefeated during the cross-country season, taking home the PBC individual crown. Taylor was third in the 5,000 meters in the Peach Belt outdoor track championships. In cross-country, Taylor was named PBC runner of the week three times, won runner of the year, was all-conference and named USTFCCCA national runner of the week. She holds the top times in the PBC for the 5K with a time of 17:05.1 and in the 6K at 20:36.2.

Both Taylor and Kimball were named all-region in out track.

Three awards are given out for each of the 13 sports teams. These awards include the most valuable player, most improved and the coach’s award. The athletic department also gives out five awards that are named after important Jaguar supporters. 

The Roscoe Williams award is given out to a male and female freshman athlete who had an outstanding first season at AU. Williams was a dean at AU for almost three decades. 

The female freshman of the year went to Chloe Wilson from the softball team. Wilson started the most games on the season with eighteen games and finished second on the team with 113 strikeouts and with a 3.61 ERA.  Wilson had a career high 12 strikeouts on the road against Coker on Feb. 7.

The male freshman of the year went to John Whitehead III from the men’s basketball team. Whitehead is from Augusta. He had to step up this season after five players were out due to the coronavirus. Whitehead had his career high 18 points and shot 5 of 9 from the three-point line on Jan. 18 at Columbus State. 

The Tommy Werrick Scholar-Athlete Awards are given out to a male and female senior student-athlete with the highest grade-point average. Werrick was a member of the first baseball team at AU in 1966. Werrick died in 1990, and this award is presented in his honor for athletes performing well academically. 

Maria Alice Vieira is a senior from the women’s tennis team and won the female award. Vieira previously received the Elite 15 award from the PBC in 2020 with a 3.9 grade-point average. She was also named to the league all-academic team. 

Senior John Micah Law from the baseball team was the male winner. He is a criminal justice major and has received many academic awards throughout his career. 

The Dick Wallace Coach Award is given out to the coach who had the best season and one who shows respect to everyone. Wallace supported AU athletics tremendously before his death in 2009. 

This year had two winners, coach Sharon Quarles from the volleyball team and coach Adam Ward from the cross-country team. Quarles led her team to 13 consecutive match wins, winning their third straight Peach Belt Conference championship. Ward led the men’s cross-country team to get back-to-back Peach Belt Conference titles. He also led the women to a fourth-place finish in the Peach Belt Conference Championship.

The Gerald Daise Leadership Award is given out to student-athletes who show leadership on and off the field. Daise was a former AU basketball player from 1989-1993 and this award is in honor of the leadership he then showed. 

Senior Jose Nogueras from the baseball team and junior Mechella Davis from the women’s basketball team won this award. Nogueras came back for his fifth year of eligibility due to a previous shorten season because of the pandemic. Early this year he led his team with walk off home run to beat Emmanuel on March 9. Baseball coach Chris Howell also speaks very highly of his leadership skills on and off the field. Davis came to Augusta in 2019 as a transfer from Lander and is honored for her leadership with this award. 

In the individual sports awards for volleyball, Kylie Martin received team MVP. Martin led the team to their third straight Peach Belt Championship win and was named to the all-conference team. Nedu Evans was named most improved and Brooklyn Holthaus won the coaches award. 

For the women’s cross-country team, Taylor was named MVP. Freshman Haley Gilbert was named most improved, and Michaela Polk received the coaches award.

The men’s cross country team MVP was given to senior Jacob Poston, who was named as one of the PBC co-runners of year and named to the all-conference team.  He also posted the fastest 8K run in the league this year with a 23:42 at the Koala Invitational and finished second individually at the PBC championship. 

 Carlos Rodriguez was named most improved for the men’s cross-country team. Rodriguez, a communication major, was named to the all-sportsmanship team and to the PBC all-academic team. He had his new personal best finishing fourth in the 1500-meter run at the Running Eagles Open with a time of 4:14.39. He also finished seventh in the 10K with a personal best time of 32:34.83 at the PBC Championship. Hans Troyer took home the coach’s award. 

Women’s track and field named Priscilla Ajala the team MVP. Ajala broke the 200-meter school record at the PBC Championship with a time of 24.96. She also finished second in the 100-meter with a time of 12.31. Junior Jaelen Alexander won the most improved award. Alexander finished the 800-meter at the PBC Championship with a time of 2.21:14. Skylar Ackerman took home the coach’s award. 

Kimball won the male athlete of the year and was rewarded team MVP for the men’s track team. Junior Christopher Shelp won most improved for the team. Shelp finished first at the Rams College Invitational with his new personal best in the 10,000m event in time of 31:21.94. He also had his personal best in the 5k at the Lee University Last Chance event with a time of 15:03.32. Junior Jared Talman was given the coach’s award. 

Joining Taylor and Kimball on the all-region team for track were Kai Brickey, Hans Troyer and Derrian Wright.

Women’s basketball named sophomore Kennedi Manning team MVP. Manning averaged 12.5 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. She was named to second team all-conference in the PBC. 

Junior November Morton was named most improved, as she averaged 7.9 points per game and 2.7 rebounds. Junior Kiera Howard was awarded the coach’s award. 

Senior guard Shawn Moss was given the MVP award for the men’s basketball team. Moss averaged 7.4 points per game, including his twenty-one-point game against Clayton State. Sophomore forward Timmy Sellers won the most improved award. Sellers averaged 3.6 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game. Senior Jerod Carrier won the coaches award. 

Junior Edith Rueda Croda was awarded the MVP and the most improved award for the women’s tennis team. The coach’s award went to junior Teresa Franco Dias. 

The men’s tennis team awarded junior Lucas Bolle team MVP for a second time. Bolle went 9-3 in doubles and 8-4 in singles on the season. Sophomore Herick Isago won the most improved and junior Kevin Corenstein won the coach’s award. 

For softball, junior Olivia Biles won team MVP. Biles batted .370 with 18 runs batted in. She led the team with 40 hits and 10 doubles. Biles was second team all-conference.

Junior Jakayla Sullivan won most improved with 31 hits, 14 runs batted in and a .292 batting average. Freshman Avery Kalbas was awarded the coach’s award. 

The baseball team awarded junior Ben Markiewicz with another MVP award. Markiewicz led the team with 49 hits, 35 RBIs, eight home runs and a .366 batting average. He was also named to PBC all-conference second team. 

Junior Walker Sinclair was given the most improved award. Sinclair had 40 hits and a .323 batting average on the season. Senior Trent Maddox was awarded the coach’s award. 

The women’s golf team named senior Teresa Diez-Moliner as the MVP. Her best finish came at the ECU Easter Invitational, where she finished 10th. Senior Nicole Page won most improved and her best finish was fifth at the ECU Easter Invitational. Freshman Mary Hunt Murray was awarded the coach’s award. 

The final awards went to the male golf team. Sophomore Ben van Wyk won the MVP award. His best finish was tied for seventh at the Pinnacle Bank Intercollegiate. Van Wyk also had three top 10s on the season. 

Sophomore Hampus Wijkstrom was awarded the most improved award. Wijkstrom’s best finish was tied for 27th at the Wake Forest Invitational. Dawson Booth was awarded with the coach’s award. 

Contact Chris Rickerson at crickerson@augusta.edu.

Hunter Kimball (129) finished a stellar cross-country and track career at AU with a championship in the Peach Belt 3,000-meter steeplechase and a second in the 10,000 meters. At the top of the page, Mackenzie Taylor shows her form en route to the PBC cross-country crown. (photos by David Troyer)