Tusculum College student-athletes continue to make news as conference and All-American honors have been announced this summer.
Ashley Sarmiento was named the 2014 South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Presidents Award recipient. David Cooper and Lukas Winkelmann were named to Capitol One Academic All-Americans and Sara Howard, Calley Lawson and Alec Cunningham have been named to the 2013-2014 Women’s Golf Coaches Association Division II All-American Scholar Team.
Ninety-nine student athletes at Tusculum were named to the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Sarmiento honored
Ashley Sarmiento
The SAC Presidents Award is the most prestigious honor the conference awards to its student-athletes. It exemplifies the finest combined qualities of excellence in athletics, academics and community leadership. During the year, the league recognizes 18 Scholar Athletes, representing each of the conference-sponsored sports. The top male and female SAC Scholar Athletes from each represented member school are then nominated for the SAC Presidents Award.
Sarmiento, a native of Dayton, Ohio, earns this award in back-to-back seasons, marking the ninth time that a SAC student-athlete has garnered this recognition on two occasions. She joins Tusculum two-time winners Jarrell NeSmith (Football 2008-09, 2009-10) and Taylor Rakes (Baseball: 2011-12, 2012-13). This also marks the sixth straight year and seventh of the last eight that a Tusculum student-athlete has garnered SAC Presidents Award honors. Tusculum’s nine total SAC Presidents Award winners are the second most by one school.
Sarmiento graduated magna cum laude this past May with a 3.92 GPA in mathematics and math education. She was honored with the Tusculum College President’s Award, which is the college’s top student honor in addition to being named to the SAC Commissioner’s honor roll for a fourth consecutive year. The two time SAC Volleyball Scholar Athlete of the Year is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society and made the Dean’s and President’s Lists during her entire career at Tusculum.
On the court, the setter and team captain guided Tusculum to a 21-11 overall record, a second-place finish in the league and her fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Sarmiento ended her career second all-time in assists (3,849) at Tusculum and eighth in digs (1,154) and is the only player in school history to end her career with 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs.
An active member of the Greeneville community, Sarmiento has served with groups that include Nettie Day of Service, Ride for Life, St. Charles Church, Phoenix Rising volleyball camp, Greeneville Humane Society and “The Point” Christian group. On campus, she has had roles as an elementary school mentor, a leader with service learning classes, and as a member of the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s leadership team – including a term as president.
All-American honors
All-American honors for five Tusculum student-athletes were announced in June.
David Cooper
David Cooper was named to the 2013-14 Capital One Division II Academic All-America® Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field first team as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He garners Academic All-America® honors in consecutive seasons, earning second team distinction last year.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. The Capital One Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program.
Cooper, a native of Greeneville, Tennessee, boasts a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average while majoring in biology. The Chuckey-Doak High School graduate is a three-time member of the Tusculum Dean’s List, Tusculum President’s List and the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He is also a member of the Alpha Chi Honors Society and the Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. He is a two-time winner of the Tusculum Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award and was the 2011-12 recipient of the Tusculum Freshman of the Year Academic Award. On the course, Cooper is a two-time All-SAC selection, earning first team honors in 2012 and finished eighth at this year’s championship, garnering second team recognition. In 2011, he was named to the SAC All-Freshman Team and is a three-year team captain.
Lukas Winkelmann
Lukas Winkelmann, a member of the men’s tennis team, was named to the 2013-14 Capital One Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large first team for a second straight season, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Men’s at-large sports include volleyball, crew, fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, water polo and wrestling.
Last year, he was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® first team, becoming the first sophomore in school history to garner first team Academic All-America® accolades.
In the classroom, Winkelmann sports a 3.97 cumulative grade point average as a pre-medicine major. He has earned selections to the Tusculum Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, the College’s President’s List, the Charles Oliver Gray Honors List, the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and the ITA All-Academic Team.
Winkelmann posted a perfect 23-0 singles record this year and posted a 20-3 record in doubles, including 19-2 with his younger brother Jonas at the No. 1 flight. He swept the top two South Atlantic Conference men’s tennis awards for a second straight year, sweeping the SAC Player of the Year and SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year awards, becoming the first player in league history to achieve the feat. He did not lose a set in singles in his 11 conference matches, and in the process became the first Tusculum player to be a two-time SAC Player of the Year and just the second in league history to win back-to-back Player of the Year awards. He has been named the Tusculum College Male Athlete of the Year in each of the last two seasons.
Winkelmann serves in numerous leadership roles, including as team captain and as a representative on the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He has also volunteered with Tusculum fundraisers and assisted the school in hosting the 2012 SAC Cross Country Championship. He has volunteered with the local “Tennis in Schools” project, the Alpha Chi Angel Tree project, holiday adopt-a-family events and with a local hospital.
Cooper and Winkelmann are among the eight student-athletes in school history to earn Academic All-America® honors on two or more occasions in their career, joining Denise Fliesser (women’s soccer), Jarrell NeSmith (football), Simon Holzapfel (men’s cross country), Taylor Rakes (baseball), Ashley Sarmiento (volleyball and Jillian Corum (women’s golf).
Tusculum College women’s golfers Sara Howard, Calley Lawson and Alec Cunningham have been named to the 2013-2014 Women’s Golf Coaches Association Division II All-American Scholar Team.
Criteria for the WGCA All-America Scholar Team include: having a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.50 and have participated in 66 percent of the team’s competitive rounds.
Howard returns to the WGCA All-America Scholar Team for a fourth straight year with her 3.58 GPA, majoring in biology. Lawson, a sophomore from Gaithersburg, Maryland, has a 4.00 cumulative grade point average while majoring in special education and early elementary education. She returns to the WGCA All-America Scholar Team for a second straight year. She was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District 3 Women’s At-Large first team. Cunningham, a junior from Knoxville, Tenn. (Catholic HS), is making her third appearance on the WGCA All-America Scholar Team. Cunningham is majoring in journalism with a 3.83.
Alec Cunningham, Sara Howard and Calley Lawson, from left, were named to the WGCA All-America Scholar Team.
SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll
Ninety-nine Tusculum College student-athletes have been named to the 2013-2014 South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll announced league officials.
The SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll recognizes those student-athletes who carry at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average and have completed at least one season in the sports of football, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
Tusculum’s 99 honorees are the sixth-most of the 12 league members. Lenoir-Rhyne led the way with 137 honorees, followed by Queens (133), Wingate (110), Catawba (108), Newberry (104), Tusculum (99), Anderson (89), Brevard (88), Coker (85), Carson-Newman (79), Mars Hill (78) and Lincoln Memorial (62).
2013-2014 South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll
Tusculum Honorees
Student-Athlete Sport(s)
Brian Alexander Football
Andrea Amettis Volleyball
Ben Arnold Men’s Basketball
Nikki Arthur Women’s Soccer
Victoria Ashley Volleyball
Juan Avendano Men’s Soccer
Sarah Baker Women’s Tennis
Nicole Ball Softball
Mason Ballinger Men’s Soccer
Josh Beam Baseball
Hannah Berling Volleyball
Maggie Bernabei Women’s Cross Country
Taylor Boone Volleyball
Sarah Bouley Volleyball
Katie Brennan Softball
Izzy Brito Baseball
Spencer Brothers Baseball
Kim Brown Women’s Cross Country
Blakeley Burleson Women’s Basketball
Lawson Burrow Men’s Cross Country
Lindsay Butler Women’s Golf
Katie Capel Women’s Soccer
Ethan Carpenter Baseball
Elise Coberly Women’s Basketball
David Cooper Men’s Cross Country
Alec Cunningham Women’s Golf
Eliza Davis Softball
Samuel Davis Men’s Golf
Zach Davis Men’s Basketball
Caitlyn Dean Volleyball
Kyle Dickson Men’s Soccer
Joe Elphingstone Men’s Tennis
DJ Evans Men’s Lacrosse
Nick Forsberg Men’s Golf
Rachel Garnett Volleyball
Ashley Gregg Women’s Cross Country
Courtney Hackney Women’s Soccer
Allison Hall Women’s Cross Country
Tyler Hall Baseball
Michala Hash Women’s Basketball
Megan Hasse Volleyball
Dameon Herring Football
Patrick Holleran Baseball
Sara Howard Women’s Golf
Kate Hutchinson Women’s Tennis
Moriah Jones Volleyball
Martin Jorgensen Men’s Basketball
Courtney Hutcherson Softball
Adrienne Kaye Women’s Tennis
Adam Kulbat Men’s Soccer
Pablo Laguno Men’s Soccer
Calley Lawson Women’s Golf
Guillermo Lazcano Men’s Soccer
Moriah Martin Women’s Soccer
Kelli McCalla Women’s Soccer
Kristen McMillion Women’s Basketball
Jake Mendenhall Men’s Golf
Erin Mills Women’s Tennis
Amy Morford Women’s Soccer
Amy Neltner Women’s Soccer
Dakota Norton Men’s Golf
Victor Olin Men’s Soccer
Ross Parsons Men’s Lacrosse
Monica Perez Women’s Soccer
Roberto Pimentel Men’s Soccer
Nicolas Planchard Men’s Tennis
Leah Powell Softball
Alisha Pugh Women’s Soccer
Leif Ratliff Men’s Golf
Jenna Restivo Softball
Ally Rines Women’s Soccer
Nick Rodriguez Baseball
Ashley Sarmiento Volleyball
Drew Schreder Football
Michael Scott Baseball
Leon Seiz Men’s Tennis
John-Austin Shepard Baseball
Zach Shirah Baseball
David Siegle Men’s Tennis
Billy Sivyer Baseball
Zach Slagle Baseball
Taylor Smith Men’s Golf
Paige Sneed Softball
Jonathan Spicher Men’s Soccer
Kaytlin Stroinski Softball
Amanda Sumner Women’s Tennis
Jose Maria Talegon Men’s Soccer
John Topoleski Baseball
Kassie Voelker Volleyball
Jason Ware Football
Nick Wasylyk Football
Emily Waters Women’s Tennis
Kaily Weiss Volleyball
Shynese Whitener Women’s Basketball
Carly Whitman Women’s Soccer
Marissa Williams Women’s Soccer
Carolyn Williamson Softball
Jonas Winkelmann Men’s Tennis
Lukas Winkelmann Men’s Tennis