ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson University golf standouts Kennedy McGaha and Reece Coleman were honored as the Female and Male Athletes of the Year, respectively, at AU Athletics' Honors Celebration, Wednesday night.
McGaha, who recently helped lead the women's golf team to its second straight South Atlantic Conference Championship and its fourth league title in four seasons among seven tournament championships this year, is ranked 19th nationally by Golfstat.
One of the most consistent golfers on the squad, the Honea Path, S.C. native captured First-Team All-Conference honors and owns a 73.84 adjusted stroke average after notching a pair of runner-up finishes – at the LeeAnn Memorial and the Findlay Spring Invite – while posting three third-place performances, including a 1-over 217 at the 2023 SAC Championship. McGaha recorded six finishes among the top-11, including five in the top three.
Building on her already-stellar resume that includes SAC Freshman of the Year and Second-Team All-America recognition from a year ago, she carded the third-lowest three-round score in program history with a 211 at the St. Leo Invitational and tied for the sixth-best score in school history with a 214 at the DBU Classic, while finishing lower than 25th just three times in nine tournaments. McGaha posted a season-low 5-under 67 in the second round of St. Leo Invitational, while firing a 3-under 69 on three occasions.
Coleman, who is tabbed third in the nation by Golfstat, helped lead the men's golf team to seven tournament championships this year, including five straight at one point and the program's first-ever South Atlantic Conference Championship a little more than a week ago.
Earlier this month, the Port Elizabeth, South Africa native captured All-Conference accolades for the fourth consecutive season and was named SAC Golfer of the Year on the eve of the SAC Championship. He owns or has equaled six of the top-seven and nine of the top-12 three-round scores in program history.
Coleman was named SAC Golfer of the Week and the SwingU National Player of the Month in early March after winning Georgia Southwestern's Hurricane Invitational. He finished as runner-up at both the SAC Championship and at Columbus State's Cougar Invitational and owns four third-place finishes this season, while posting seven overall finishes among the top-3 and didn't finish lower than 15th in his other two tournaments. Coleman fired a season-low, 5-under 65 at the Cougar Invitational and carded 5-under 67s on two occasions.
In addition to the Male and Female Athlete of the Year recognition, several other accolades were handed out during the ceremony.
AU Athletics Honors Celebration
ED OXFORD MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Reece Coleman, Men's Golf
ED OXFORD FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Kennedy McGaha, Women's Golf
MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Nick Calabrese, Men's Lacrosse
FEMALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Lindsay McCurley, Volleyball
PRESTIGIOUS TROJAN AWARD WINNERS
Baseball, Austin Mercado
Women's Basketball, Britney Bailey
Men's Basketball, Mason Carver
Cheerleading, Olivia Harmon
Women's Cross Country, Whitney Hanson
Men's Cross Country, Spain Vaughan
Women's Golf, Kennedy McGaha
Men's Golf, Alejandro de Castro
Women's Lacrosse, Katy Snyder
Men's Lacrosse, Mason Gore
Women's Soccer, Spencer Heming
Men's Soccer, Lucas Goldberg
Softball, Maggie Nauck
Women's Tennis, Valentina Borda
Men's Tennis, Patrick Cronin
Women's Track and Field, Lacey Boozer
Men's Track and Field, Elliot Dotson
Volleyball, Lindsay McCurley
CHI ALPHA SIGMA HONOR SOCIETY
Jenna Bright, Cheerleading
Olivia Harmon, Cheerleading
Jessica Hicks, Cheerleading
Moore, Ansley, Cheerleading
Ryan Brash, Baseball
Jackson Herring, Baseball
Nathan Ledford, Baseball
JC LeGrand, Baseball
Alexander Maurer, Baseball
Brayden Owens, Baseball
Anthony Pandolfi, Baseball
Jacob Peake, Baseball
Luke Poole, Baseball
Landon Smith, Baseball
Jackson Van Ness, Baseball
Mason Carver, Men's Basketball
Sullivan Reames, Men's Basketball
Noah Brock, Men's Cross Country
Jonathan Roberts, Men's Cross Country
Daniel Coker, Men's Golf
Reece Coleman, Men's Golf
Parker MacDonald, Men's Golf
Tyler Barlan, Men's Lacrosse
Nicholas Calabrese III, Men's Lacrosse
Clinton Hardy, Men's Lacrosse
Garrett Hawkins, Men's Lacrosse
Ethan Pratt, Men's Lacrosse
Eloy Allimadi, Men's Soccer
Martin Carpena, Men's Soccer
Caleb Daniels, Men's Soccer
Wilson Garand, Men's Soccer
Grant Lemen, Men's Soccer
Julian Kenzlers, Men's Tennis
Spencer Snow, Men's Tennis
Hunter Norman, Men's Outdoor Track
Daniel Similton, Men's Outdoor Track
Britney Bailey, Women's Basketball
Brittney Stafford, Women's Basketball
Lauren Childers, Cross Country
Madison Crumley, Cross Country
Whitney Hanson, Cross Country
Elise Matthews, Women's Cross Country
Faith Nelson, Women's Cross Country
Rebecca Ward, Women's Cross Country
Hagan Wilson, Women's Cross Country
Emma Charles, Women's Golf
Jessica Rathbone, Women's Golf
Bethany Anderson, Women's Soccer
Jeanette Campbell, Women's Soccer
Kristen Cole, Women's Soccer
Laura Deadwyler, Women's Soccer
Spencer Heming, Women's Soccer
Victoria McGovern, Women's Soccer
Sarah Miller, Women's Soccer
Zoe Newell, Women's Soccer
Lina Powell, Women's Soccer
Kendall Simpson, Women's Soccer
Laken Maxwell, Softball
Hannah Whitaker, Softball
Laura Alvarez Tello, Women's Tennis
Catherine Drosieko, Women's Tennis
Anna Greer, Women's Tennis
Anne Knox le Roux, Women's Tennis
Megan Pleasant, Women's Tennis
Katie Robeson, Women's Tennis
Autumn Bladen, Women's Track
Lauren Childers, Women's Track
Emily Golden, Women's Outdoor Track
Joeli Hayden, Women's Outdoor Track
Jaelyn Grimm, Volleyball
Megan Harding, Volleyball
Sadie Kluner, Volleyball
Lindsay McCurley, Volleyball
Alexandra Petrilla, Volleyball
Margaret Sansbury, Volleyball
Rylie Sargent, Volleyball
Tabitha Wheeler, Volleyball
