May 20, 2013

Winston-Salem, NC-The Salem College athletic department celebrated their 2012-2013 year at the Athletic Banquet hosted at the Downtown Deli in Winston-Salem. The department celebrated the school's first ever Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) President's Cup, which was awarded earlier in May. Sawyer Ferguson (Billings, MT) was selected by the athletic department as the Anne Woodward Student-Athlete of the Year. The volleyball team also received their championship rings for becoming the first program to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Ferguson was a two-sport star for the Spirits. She broke the all-time points, goals, and game-winning goals record for the soccer team. She also broke five records for the track & field team. Sabrina Thiel (Hillsboro, NC) was honored with the Jess Byrd Scholar Athlete Award for her work on the soccer team and as the Student-Athlete Advisory Council President for the past two years. Kayla Kennedy (Goldsboro, NC), a softball player, was awarded with the Nann Tilley Athletics Service Award for going above and beyond as a work-study student. Angela Reavis (Boonville, NC), a tennis player, won the Scholar Athlete of the Year Award for having the highest grade point average as a student-athlete (sophomore or above).

MacKenzie Schmidt (Columbus, OH) received her National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-Region award, and Stephanie Hubbard (Sanford, NC) received her NSCAA All-South Region award. This year, Satavia Taylor (Chicago, IL), a basketball player, became the first student-athlete at Salem to win the GSAC Player of the Year honors. Chelsea Jones (Glade Valley, NC), a volleyball player, won the school's first GSAC Tournament MVP award, and Tarryn Bundy (Deptford, NJ), a soccer player, won the GSAC Freshmen of the Year award. Jay Callahan, the head soccer coach, and Anita Howard, the head basketball coach, were both selected as GSAC Coach of the Year. 

Seventeen athletes received GSAC All-Conference honors this year. Twenty-three students were honored on the GSAC All-Academic teams, and seven made the GSAC All-Freshmen teams.

Basketball selected Taylor as their most valuable player, and Jasmine Shabazz (Buffalo, NY) as their best all-around player. Shamaz Denerson (Atlanta, GA) and Bria Patterson (Winterhaven, FL) were also honored by the basketball coaching staff. Natali Olveda (Salinas, CA) was selected as the cross country most valuable runner, while Nikki Dillon (Sanford, NC) was the most improved runner from the team. In soccer, Hubbard was selected as the most valuable player, and Bethany Kent (Manassas, VA) was selected as the most improved player. Katie O'Leary (Seldova, AK) won the blue award for volleyball, and Brandy Bednorz (Houston, TX) won the gold award. Ayla Pruitt (Wilkesboro, NC) won the coach's award for tennis, while Hannah Greenwald (Englewood, FL) won the most improved player. In track & field, Hubbard was selected as the most valuable in field events. Heather Huffman (Winston-Salem, NC) won the most valuable award for track events, and Stephanie Verdi (High Point, NC) was selected as the most improved track runner.