4 minute read
Athletics Features
from Aeolian 2023
The Lady Canes had a record-breaking season in 2022-23. They closed out the regular season with a 24-6 overall record and as Peach Belt Conference (PBC) regular season champions. The team also won the PBC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Guard Ava Jones was named MVP of the PBC Tournament and was also named to the All-Southeast Region Team by the DII Conference Commissioners Association. Head Coach Justin Payne was named the 2022-23 Peach Belt Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year.
GSW won the 2022-23 Peach Belt Presidents' Academic Award at the league's annual awards dinner in May 2023. The award recognizes excellence in academics concerning all of an institution's student-athletes. The Hurricanes had an average GPA of 3.01 for the academic year while the undergraduate student body had a 2.75 average GPA. That is a ratio of 1.0945, which is the highest in the conference this year. This is the third Presidents' Academic Award for GSW, with the first coming in 2008 and the second in 2018.
Junior infielder and pitcher Zoe Willis earned several recognitions for her 2022-23 season performance. She was named NCAA Division II National Player of the Year by both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and Southeast Region Player of the Year by the Conference Commissioner's Association. Willis was also named the DII Honda Athlete of the Year finalist for softball, one of 11 finalists for the prestigious national award.
Josh McDonald ’06 was named the 2023 Peach Belt Conference Baseball Coach of the Year. McDonald led the Hurricanes to a 22-8 conference record as the program captured its first PBC regular season and tournament championships, made its first NCAA Tournament appearance, and broke several other program records.
Nicki Levering, associate director of athletics for studentathlete development, senior women's administrator, and head softball coach, was selected to participate in the 202324 NCAA Pathway Program, a yearlong initiative designed to prepare senior-level athletics administrators for the next career step as directors of athletics or conference commissioners.
In their 2022-23 season, the golf team won two events, were PBC Champions, and finished the season ranked in the Top 10. The team returned to the NCAA National Championships for the third season in a row, where they finished 12th. Chase McLain tied for 11th, Eric Fogel tied for 18th. McLain and Nicolas Escobar received All-American honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America.
GSW's baseball team broke numerous program records and had their best NCAA-era season in 2023. With a 22-8 conference record, the Hurricanes finished first in the regular season, won the PBC Tournament, and made an appearance in the NCAA DII Southeast Regional. Several players were recognized by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings for their outstanding seasons, including first baseman Paul Hegeman, who won a Gold Glove Award, and pitchers Nick McCollum and Rijnaldo Euson, who were both named to the DII All-Region First Team.
In April 2023, GSW hired Hana Haden as its new head women's basketball coach. She led the women's basketball program at Moberly Area Community College in Moberly, Mo. for five seasons, where she accumulated an overall record of 118-36 and a Region 16 record of 47-15. This past year, MACC finished with a record of 29-4 and advanced to the second round of the national tournament. Haden has been named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Thirty Under 30 list four times in her career and was named the embRACEus Women's Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2021.
