ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson University women's golf and softball standouts Jessica Rathbone and Kayson Boatner, along with men's soccer standout Alexandre Cox-Ashwood, were honored as the Co-Female and Male Athletes of the Year, respectively, at AU Athletics' Honors Celebration, Monday night.
Cox-Ashwood, who recently inked a professional contract with the Greenville Triumph, was an integral part of the Trojans' success on the pitch this past season and helped lead the Trojans to a 12-4-1 overall record, including a 6-3-2 mark in South Atlantic Conference action and a No. 4 seed in the conference tournament.
The native of Wittenheim, France, led the Trojans and ranked second in the SAC with 13 goals, including four game-winners, and was second on the team with four assists, while helping the team climb as high as 15th in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll.
A forward, Cox-Ashwood scored at least one goal in eight different games, including a hat trick in Anderson's 5-2 home win over Lander. He captured First-Team All-Southeast Region honors, along with First-Team All-SAC accolades and was named the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week in mid-September, following wins over Mount Olive and Lander.
The two-time SAC Player of the Week was named AU's Offensive Player of the Year.
Rathbone, who is ranked 11th in the nation by Golfstat, finished tied for first place in two regular-season tournaments and won Anderson's first individual South Atlantic Conference Championship by firing a tournament record and school-record, three-round 208, which shattered the previous record by six shots. The native of Montpelier, Va., finished among the top five in nine tournaments and shot even-par or below-par in 10 of 24 rounds, including a third-round 67 in the conference championship – matching the second-best score in school history and the lowest round by an AU golfer at a conference championship.
She set or tied three of the top five 18-hole scores in school history, five of the top-eight 36-hole scores and the top three 54-hole scores this year.
Rathbone earned First-Team All-SAC honors was named SAC Tournament MVP, while capturing SAC Golfer of the Week accolades in September. Heading into the NCAA South Region Tournament, Rathbone boasts a 73.12 unadjusted scoring average.
Boatner, who captured Preseason First-Team All-Conference accolades, has earned SAC Player of the Week twice this season and was named National Player of the Week on three occasions, while earning a spot on the Schutt Sports/NFCA National Player of the Year Top-50 Watchlist in late March.
She has helped lead the Trojans to a sparkling 37-7 overall record and their first outright South Atlantic Conference regular-season championship with a 20-4 mark.
The native of Phenix City, Ala., has blasted a school-record 23 home runs this season and with one more round-tripper, Boatner will also own the South Atlantic Conference single-season record. She currently leads all three NCAA divisions with the 23 home runs and needs three more to break the league's career record of 63, which is held by former AU standout, Cailah Niles.
She also paces NCAA DII and currently tops the school record books with a 1.069 slugging percentage this season, and has already set AU's single-season record with 155 total bases – which is also tops in the NCAA DII ranks.
The senior first baseman is second on AU's all-time single season list and third in the NCAA with 19 doubles and her .448 batting average currently stands third in the school's single-season record books, while ranking 22nd nationally. Boatner leads the conference with 61 RBI this season – which ties her for fourth in AU's single-season record books.
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
Alexandre Cox-Ashwood, Men's Soccer
ED OXFORD CO-FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Jessica Rathbone, Women's Golf
ED OXFORD CO-FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Kayson Boatner, Softball
MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Mason Carver, Men's Basketball
FEMALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Laken Maxwell
PRESTIGIOUS TROJAN AWARD WINNERS
Baseball, Nick Vella
Women's Basketball, Nelliah Wilson
Men's Basketball, Josh Livingston
Cheerleading, Ashley Aman
Women's Cross Country, Whitney Hanson
Men's Cross Country, Philip Quillen
Women's Golf, Jessica Rathbone
Men's Golf, Reece Coleman
Men's Lacrosse, Rex Hardy
Women's Soccer, Makenzie Pinno
Men's Soccer, Alexandre Cox-Ashwood
Softball, Maddie Carpenter
Women's Tennis, Catherine Blouin
Men's Tennis, Juan Sengariz
Women's Track & Field, Lacey Boozer
Men's Track & Field, Spain Vaughan
Volleyball, Meghan DeVaux
CHI ALPHA SIGMA HONOR SOCIETY (Seniors)
Jacob Kohns, Baseball
Ashley Aman, Cheerleading
Lydia Bell, Cheerleading
Emma Holtel, Cheerleading
McKenzie Wilson, Cheerleading
Beau Henson, Men's Lacrosse
Ryley Zopfi, Men's Lacrosse
Nekoli Crist, Men's Soccer
Yani Diagne, Men's Soccer
Bar Galanti, Men's Soccer
Bryce Goodwyn, Men's Soccer
Andres Osorio, Men's Soccer
Adam Kush, Men's Tennis
Brandon Wilson, Men's Track & Field and Cross Country
Sydney Belcher, Softball
Gracie Williams, Softball
Victoria Hall, Women's Golf
Kerington Lamb, Women's Golf
Margaret Black, Women's Soccer
Erin Cepeda, Women's Soccer
Jade Myers, Women's Soccer
Brooke Penedo, Women's Soccer
Mackenzie Pinno, Women's Soccer
Bailey Will, Women's Soccer
Regan Appleby, Women's Track and Field
Katharine Landry, Women's Track and Field
Kamryn Osterbind, Women's Track & Field and Cross Country
Melea Sangl, Women's Track & Field and Cross Country
Meghan DeVaux, Volleyball
Neely Shugart, Volleyball
