Florida Southern Athletics Hands Out Annual Awards at 2022 MOCSYS

The Florida Southern College Department of Athletics gathered on April 26 to celebrate the outstanding achievements of both coaches and student-athletes over the past year with the MOCSYS at the Jenkins Field House.

The annual awards banquet was re-branded as the MOCSYS by the combined efforts of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Florida Southern Athletics Administration this year.

Several honors were handed out Tuesday night including the Pat McFadden Scholar-Athletes of the Year, Moment of the Year, Comeback Players of the Year, Newcomers of the Year, Best Team Spirit, Community Service Award, as well as the Iron MOC Award. The Department also recognized seniors prior to the awards ceremony and held a Senior Walk as the seniors made their way from the reception to the awards ceremony.

"What a special night for our student-athletes to come together and celebrate all the hard work and success from this year," Florida Southern Director of Athletics and Dean of Wellness Drew Howard said. “It isn’t often we get to slow down and reflect on everything that happens within the athletic department but it is great time when we do.  The year isn’t quite over and we have plenty more to work towards, but tonight was special."

The individual Academic Awards were the first given out to the student-athlete on each team with the combination of the most credit hours and highest GPA. The recipients were: Andrew Williamson (baseball), Justin Wit (JV baseball), Farris Kabalaoui (men’s basketball), Marte Moe (women’s basketball), Curry Ward (beach volleyball), Cassidy Schmidt (cheerleading), Bryson Yamnitz (men’s cross country/track), Sarah Zamot (women’s cross country), Rachel Henn (equestrian), Isaac Garay (e-sports), Max Coutsolioutsos (men’s golf), Nathalie Svensson (women’s golf), Ethan Oliva (ice hockey), Matt Halperin (men’s lacrosse), Ally Louden (women’s lacrosse), Jadin Dewith (softball), Holt Ragsdale (men’s swimming), Grace Sill (women’s swimming), Danny Thomas (men’s tennis), Mathilda Vidgren (women’s tennis), Erica Ronda (volleyball), Jamie Calhoun (men’s water skiing) and Rea Jorger (women’s water skiing).

The Iron MOC awards were up next, which were given to the athletes who displayed tremendous work ethic and passion in the weight room. Baseball’s Nathan Madej and women’s lacrosse team member Madison Kennedy earned the honors.

Community service honors were next with the softball team contributing a department high 586 total hours, which averaged 24.4 hours per team member. Men’s lacrosse was next with 18.5 hours per team member and men’s cross country was third with 3.6 hours.

Women’s soccer coach Paul Lawrence was awarded the MOCward Moment of the Year for his kick of the midfield flag at Nova Southeastern.

The Best Team Spirit award went to men’s swimming, outdoing men’s basketball and volleyball.

Ludovico Viberti (men’s swimming) and Eunique Ford (cheerleading) won Newcomers of the Year, while Santiago Erazo (men’s soccer) and Curry Ward (beach volleyball) won Comeback Player of the Year awards for battling back from injuries.

The Support of Excellence Award, given annually to the assistant coach or staff member who goes above and beyond behind the scenes to support excellence in athletics, went to Kevin Campbell of the men’s tennis team for stepping in for head coach Greg Van Emburgh, who was out on medical leave.

The 2021-22 Moment of the Year was next on the docket with several top moments vying for the top spot. The men’s lacrosse team’s victory over No. 1 LeMoyne took the top prize. The defeat was the first in nearly three years for the Dolphins, who are the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, and had not lost since the 2019 NCAA Championship semifinals. It also marked the first win over a No. 1 ranked program in FSC men's lacrosse program history.

The Pat McFadden Student-Athlete of the Year Awards were the final awards of the night. The awards are given to the top Florida Southern College male and female scholar-athletes annually. Established during the 1991-92 school year, the award is named for former Florida Southern athletics academic counselor Pat McFadden. The first two awards handed out were for the 2020-21 academic year, with the female award going to softball’s Lindsey Wilson and the male winner was the golf team’s Johnny Tucker. The 2021-22 winners were Tierra Porter of the volleyball team and Jeff Atlas of men’s lacrosse.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Go Mocs!