Athletic Updates

KYLE BLASSINGAME NAMED 2019-2020 APPALACHIAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MALE CHAMPIONS OF CHARACTER

At the end-of-the-year meetings for the 2019-2020 season this past summer, the Appalachian Athletic Conference announced 2020 alum Kyle Blassingame as the Male Champions of Character for the entire conference. The award is given every year to a male and female who best exhibit the core values of the NAIA Champions of Character program: Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Sportsmanship, and Servant Leadership. This marked the second season in a row a student-athlete from Tennessee Wesleyan had won the award (Rachel Gallison, Class of 2020, 2018-2019 Female Champions of Character).

TENNESSEE WESLEYAN NAMED CHAMPIONS OF CHARACTER FIVE-STAR AWARD WINNER

Tennessee Wesleyan University was one of 181 athletics programs named a Champions of Character Five-Star Award winner by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The athletic department was named a 20192020 Champions of Character Five-Star Institution Silver Level winner. Institutions are measured on a demonstrated commitment to Champions of Character and earn points in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition, and character promotion. Institutions also earn points based on exceptional studentathlete grade point averages and by having minimal to no ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year.

SCHOOL-RECORD 14 TEAMS NAMED NAIA SCHOLAR-TEAMS

A school-record 14 teams were named NAIA Scholar Teams by the association for the 2019-2020 academic year as a part of their National Awards Day. The 14 teams joined over 2,000 other teams to earn the impressive distinction of NAIA ScholarTeam. This is the fourth consecutive year Tennessee Wesleyan has had 10 or more teams named NAIA Scholar-Teams. 10 of the 14 teams were named to the 20182019 list. For the fourth straight season, the Women's Tennis team led the way with a 3.76 GPA. The teams to make the list were Women's Tennis, Women's Basketball, Men's Tennis, Women's Soccer, Men's Bowling, Women's Cross Country, Women's Bowling, Women's Indoor Track & Field, Women's Outdoor Track & Field, Women's Golf, Volleyball, Women's Lacrosse, Softball, and Men's Soccer.

54 STUDENT-ATHLETES EARN DAKTRONICS NAIA SCHOLAR-ATHLETE HONORS

Tennessee Wesleyan saw 54 of their student-athletes earn the honor of being named a Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete. The Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete

award honors junior and senior studentathletes who hold a 3.5 cumulative grade point average in the classroom. Women's Soccer had the most student-athletes named to the list with 12.

18 ATHLETES EARN APPALACHIAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD WINNERS IN FALL; TWO NAIA NATIONAL PLAYER OF WEEK AWARD WINNERS

In the fall/winter 2020 season, Tennessee Wesleyan saw 18 student-athletes across five sports earn AAC weekly awards, the third most in the conference so far this year. The department also saw two national Player of the Week awards, tied for the most in the conference. Montel McKenzie (Men’s Soccer) and Chloe Rootes (Women’s Soccer) were the first studentathletes to win national Player of the Week awards for their respective program since at least 2007.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SOCCER BOTH QUALIFY FOR AAC TOURNAMENT; VOLLEYBALL STILL UNDECIDED

At the beginning of the fall season, the Appalachian Athletic Conference made modifications to the fall sports conference tournament due to COVID-19, limiting the soccer tournaments to four teams and the volleyball tournament to eight teams. An 8-1 record with a game left to play clinched a spot for the Men’s Soccer program while a 9-4 record clinched a spot for the Women’s Soccer program. Seeding is yet to be determined. The postseason possibility for Volleyball has yet to be determined due to matches still needing to be played. WOMEN’S TENNIS SETS NEW ITA PRECEDENTS

Program history was made this past fall season for the Women’s Tennis team. First, at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Southeast Regional Tournament, the team had singles players advance to the quarterfinals for the first time. At the same tournament, the doubles team of Natacha Mesa and Maria Way advanced to the semifinals of the bracket to qualify for the ITA Cup, the association’s national tournament, marking the first time the team has had anyone qualify for the national tournament. In November, the ITA, in association with Oracle, released their final rankings for the fall, and four players from the team made the rankings, equaling another first for the program.

INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SETS FOUR SCHOOL RECORDS AND HITS TWO “A” STANDARDS AT FIRST INDOOR MEET THIS SEASON

In their lone meet in the first part of the season, the indoor track and field programs set four new indoor school records. On the women’s side, Paige Manney set the indoor school record for the 60m Hurdles, while Julia Morris set the indoor school record for the Long Jump. On the men’s side, Jeremiah Sullivan set a new indoor school record in the Weight Throw to go along with an indoor school record set by Shariq Dodd in the Long Jump. Dodd and Kenny Benton both hit National “A” Standards to qualify for the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championship Meet.