Athletic Department Announces Award Winners

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Athletic Department is pleased to announce its team award winners for the 2019-2020 academic year. The awards were scheduled to be presented at a ceremony in early May, but because of the Covid-19 Pandemic that plan was cancelled.

"It was very important that we recognize our student-athletes, even if it wasn't in the way that we had envisioned," said State Fair Community College Athletic Director Darren Pannier. "Our student-athletes work daily at their sport and in the classroom to get the recognition they deserve."

Women's soccer sophomore midfielder Kimberly Rosas of El Paso, Texas was named the Offensive Player of the Year. Freshman defender Natalie Clarke of England was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year. Sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Curphey of Raymore earned the Team Player Award. Sophomore midfielder Hailie Acton of Fulton was named the Overall Most Valuable Player. Sophomore defender Andrea Ramos of Saint Robert earned the award for the Highest Grade Point Average.

Sophomore forward Aaron Latimer of Amarillo, Texas earned the Offensive Player of the Year for the men's soccer team. Freshman defender Aaron Collins of England earned the Defensive Player of the Year. The Team Player Award went to sophomore defender Lucas McEwen of Lee's Summit. The Overall Most Valuable Player Award went to sophomore midfielder Mani Hondroudakis of Australia. The Highest Grade Point Average Award was shared by freshman forward Jordan Bishop of Australia and freshman midfielder Wagner Simoes of Brazil.

Freshman guard/forward Darlisha Reed of Gary, Indiana earned three awards for the women's basketball team. She won the award for the Most Rebounds per Game at 10.8, the Highest Field-Goal Percentage at 53% and the Mia Wesley Award. Sophomore guard/forward Nadia Thorman-McKey of Evanston, Illinois was the team's leading scorer with 18.8 points per game. Freshman guard Ryann Haynes of St. Louis won the Highest Free-Throw Percentage Award at 71.7 and led the team in assists with 3.7 per game.

Freshman Nicole Moore of O'Fallon won the Most Spirit Award from the SFCC Spirit Squad. Freshman Delaney Thornburgh of Sedalia was named the Best All-Around Cheerleader. The Most Improved Award went to freshman Bailey Mitchell of Hallsville. The Scholar Athlete of the Year went to sophomore Allison Eppenauer of Sedalia. Sophomore Caitlin Brandt of Cole Camp earned the Kayla Snapp Award.

Redshirt freshman guard Nate McClure of Houston, Texas and freshman forward Kohen Thompson of Memphis, Tennessee tied for the Highest Grade Point Average on the men's basketball team both earning a perfect 4.0. Sophomore guard Damaria Franklin of Chicago, Illinois was the Scoring Leader on the team at 19.6 points per game. Sophomore guard Kailleb Walton-Blanden of Rapid City, South Dakota was the team's Assists Leader in Region play with 3.4 per game. Redshirt freshman forward Dimitri Georgiadis of Richmond, Virginia was the team leader in Blocked Shots with 20. Freshman guard John Egbuta of Bronx, New York won the Mr. Roadrunner Award.

The spring sports saw their season come to an end in March because of the pandemic. The softball team honored freshman catcher infielder/outfielder Brooke Conner of Sweet Springs, freshman pitcher/first baseman Aleah Paxton of Lincoln and sophomore second baseman/outfielder Reagan Hockett of Sedalia for earning perfect 4.0 grade point averages during the year.

Sophomore infielder Kole Ficken of Boonville was named the Academic Player of the Year for the baseball team. Sophomore infielder Brett Holden of St. Joseph was named the Most Valuable Player.

 "Our baseball team was playing well. They beat nationally ranked Johnson County Community College on the road," said Pannier. "They had only lost one Region game before the season ended abruptly. Our men's basketball team played its best basketball at the end of the season. They took a good Mineral Area College team to overtime in the Region Tournament. That was an outstanding game. I also thought our men's soccer program did well. I thought our athletic programs had a good year overall."

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics