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MISHAWAKA—With so much uncertainty entering the 2020-21 academic and athletic year due to COVID-19, the Bethel Athletic Department made it a goal to try and make it through the season. Not only did the Athletic Department make it through their 2020-21 seasons, but they did it in style. They claimed four runner-up finishes in the NCCAA National Championships for men’s and women’s cross country, women’s golf and men’s soccer. They also brought home three national championships: two individual and one team. The women’s volleyball team brought home the NCCAA National Title, while Emma Mott and Thomas Jackson both brought home individual titles for Bethel. So, after so many trials and tribulations for Bethel University, Athletic Director Tony Natali wanted to put on an awards ceremony to show the department’s appreciation for their athletes.
“I told our staff that I had wanted to celebrate our athletes,” Natali said. “We wanted to celebrate having all of our athletes in one place because we haven’t been able to do that this year. We also wanted to celebrate making it through this period of COVID, we wanted to celebrate the successes that we’ve had this season, and we wanted to celebrate the identity that we’ve grown in the athletic department, and that’s a Christ-centered department.”
Not only did they want to honor the athletic accomplishments of their athletes, but their academic ones as well. They handed out two team scholar awards, one to the best women’s team and one to the best men’s team. The best men’s team GPA went to the men’s golf team who had a 3.73 GPA as a team, and the best women’s team GPA went to the women’s tennis team who had a 3.53 GPA as a team. Along with team scholar awards, they also handed out awards to the best performing individuals on each team to form an all-academic team.
Pilots All-Academic Team
Baseball: Colby Sidenbender
Men’s Basketball: Filip Segota
Women’s Basketball: Maggie Deboy and Maddie Hess
Men’s Bowling: Reed Ellis
Women’s Bowling: Ashleigh Neier
Competitive Cheer: Faith Livensparger
Men’s Cross Country: Josiah Railton
Women’s Cross Country: Emma Mott
Esports: Corey Bridgeman and Brianna Densmore
Men’s Golf: Logan Marshall
Women’s Golf: Brooke Thomas
Men’s Soccer: Matheus Santiago
Women’s Soccer: Hannah Mihut
Softball: Sydney Anderson
Men’s Swimming: Jakob Forsythe
Women’s Swimming: Emma McClelland
Men’s Tennis: Evan Roth
Women’s Tennis: Emili Runestad
Men’s Track & Field: Jacob Ropp
Women’s Track & Field: Cailyn Pentecost
Women’s Volleyball: Megan Hosinski
Women’s Lacrosse: Marissa Berg
Along with announcing the academic awards for the athletes, they also announced the various national awards that the athletes accumulated over the course of the season.
NAIA All-Americans
Men’s Basketball: TreVion Crews
Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Thomas Jackson
Men’s Swimming: Logan Berndt, Caleb Berrong, Dylan Delong, Ean Erling
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Emma Mott, Megan Cooper, Kayla Kunkel, Haley Wimmer
Women’s Swimming: Abigail Barnes, Sarah Hyska, Vivienne Kunkler, Emma McClelland, Paula Ronda Bou, Elisabeth Wolfe
NCCAA All-Americans
Men’s Basketball: TreVion Crews
Men’s Cross Country: Trevor Miller, Jacob Ropp, Jordan Shoemaker
Women’s Cross Country: Emma Mott, Megan Cooper
Women’s Golf: Maria Pardo Victori, Jessica Shurety, Brooke Thomas
NCCAA Players/Coaches of the Year
Emma Mott: NCCAA Women’s Cross Country Ray Bullock Award
Isabelle North: NCCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
TreVion Crews: NCCAA Men’s Basketball National and North Central Region Player of the Year
Brooke Thomas: NCCAA Women’s Golf North Central Region Player of the Year
Katie Weiss: NCCAA Women’s Volleyball National Coach of the Year
Geandra Almeida: NCCAA Women’s Golf North Central Region Coach of the Year
Steve Drabyn: NCCAA Men’s Basketball North Central Region Coach of the Year
USTFCCCAA Players of the Year
Emma Mott: USTFCCCAA Great Lakes Region Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
Thomas Jackson: USTFCCCAA Great Lakes Region Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year
After they announced the academic and athletic awards for the athletes they went into the superlative awards for the athletes. Those awards included Student Worker of the Year, the Ron Paulsen Memorial Grant recipients, the Dave Slater Spirit Award, Reserves Player of the Year, Play of the Year, Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Player of the Year.
Student Worker of the Year
Nominees: Nick Sherk – Athletic Department Intern, Jessica Shurety – Facilities and Game staff and Ben Wilt - Athletic Department Intern
Winner: Ben Wilt – Athletic Department Intern
Ron Paulsen Memorial Grant Recipients
Men’s Nominees: Willian dos Santos – Men's Soccer, Trevor Miller – Men's Cross Country, and Evan Roth – Men's Tennis
Winner: Willian dos Santos – Men's Soccer
Women’s Nominees: Emma Mott – Women's Cross Country, Grace Haley – Women's Tennis, Kelsey Brickner – Women's Basketball, and Mattie Reese – Softball
Winner: Emma Mott – Women's Cross Country
Dave Slater University Spirit Award
Men’s Nominees: Luke Hillegonds – Men's Golf, Andrew Miranda – Baseball, and Sebastian Alonso – Men's Track & Field
Winner: Sebastian Alonso – Men's Track & Field
Women’s Nominees: Gabrielle Reinhoehl – Competitive Cheer, Paige Sextella – Women's Bowling and Women’s Golf, and Grace Beck - Women's Soccer
Winner: Grace Beck – Women's Soccer
Reserves Player of the Year
Men’s Nominees: Seth Shetler – Men's Basketball and Jacob Imhoff – Men's Soccer
Winner: Jacob Imhoff – Men's Soccer
Women’s Nominees: Paige Sextella – Women's Golf, Haley Berger – Women's Volleyball, Halle Shipp – Women's Basketball, and Shaelyn Mulder – Softball
Winner: Halle Shipp – Women's Basketball
Play of the Year
Men’s Nominees: Jared DeHart – Men's Basketball and Eli MacDonald – Baseball
Winner: Jared DeHart – Men's Basketball
Women’s Nominees: Isabelle North – Volleyball, Emma Mott – Women's Cross Country, and Nyla Asad – Women's Basketball
Winner: Isabelle North – Volleyball
Breakthrough Athlete of the Year
Men’s Nominees: Nathan Aerts – Men's Basketball, Myles Moser – Men's Bowling, and Elisha Fleming – Men's Track & Field
Winner: Nathan Aerts – Men's Basketball
Women’s Nominees: Megan Cooper – Women's Cross Country, Haley Ragonesi – Softball, and Sarah Konecny – Women's Lacrosse
Winner: Megan Cooper – Women's Cross Country
Rookie of the Year
Men’s Nominees: Edward Mitchell – Rocket League, Caleb Berrong – Men's Swimming & Diving, and Kurtis Davis – Men's Tennis
Winner: Caleb Berrong – Men's Swimming & Diving
Women’s Nominees: Maddy Payne – Women's Volleyball, Paula Ronda Bou – Women's Swimming & Diving, and Maria Pardo Victori – Women's Golf
Winner: Maddy Payne – Women's Volleyball
Player of the Year
Men’s Nominees: TreVion Crews – Men's Basketball, Thomas Jackson – Men's Track & Field, and Jose Barquin – Men's Soccer
Winner: Thomas Jackson – Men's Track & Field
Women’s Nominees: Emma Mott – Women's Cross Country and Women’s Track & Field, Isabelle North – Women's Volleyball, and Grace Haley – Women's Tennis
Winner: Emma Mott – Women's Cross Country and Women’s Track & Field
“I think we’ve learned some things since it’s the first time we’ve held something like this,” Natali said. “Next year we hope to have a dinner to go with the ceremony. We also want to make this an annual event. We wanted to make it happen last year, but we couldn’t. This is something that we want to celebrate yearly. We want to celebrate not only the achievements that our athletic teams accomplish, but also celebrate Christ and Him being at the center of all that we do.”
For more information on Bethel University athletics visit www.bupilots.com.
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