After a strong performance at the Lee Invitational, McKenna Cavanaugh was named Gulf South Conference track athlete of the week as announced by the league on Wednesday.
McKenna Cavanaugh collected a provisional mark in the 3000-meter Steeplechase. Cavanaugh beat the standard of 11:02.99 with a first-place time and meet record of 10:34.05. Her time is the seventh-best posted this season. Cavanaugh was also the top runner in the Mile after finishing at 4:52.99
After two strong performances, Lee University women's tennis player Asheligh Simes was named Gulf South Conference player of the week as announced but the league on Wednesday. It is the first time this season that Simes has received the honor.
Simes swept all four of her doubles and singles matches this week. In doubles, she and Maria Duarte won #1 singles against the top team from Auburn University Montgomery 6-4. Then they won #1 doubles against the University of Montevallo 6-1.
In her singles matches, She won #1 singles against the top player for AUM, 6-4, 6-1. Then in #1 singles against UM, she won 6-4, 6-4.
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) has announced the South Region Player of the Week as Lee’s Josiah Miller and the NCBWA South Region Pitcher of the Week as Rollins’ Edward Berry.
Miller had a stellar week, batting .636 (7-11) with nine RBI and five runs scored while helping Lee to a 3-1 record, including a GSC series win over West Alabama. The redshirt junior began the week with a two-run homer in a 14-4 win over Trevecca, as he went 1-for-2 while drawing two walks. In a three-game set with UWA, he was a combined 6-for-9 (.667) in the batter’s box, plating seven runs, while scoring three times himself. Miller had two extra-base hits in the series tallying a triple in game two, before notching his seventh home run of the season. His weekly ledger also included 32 total bases, 1.364 slugging, and a .733 on-base percentage with zero strikeouts. This is Miller’s first award in 2024 and the first regional Player of the Week award for Lee this year.
Berry earned his second NCBWA South Region Pitcher of the Week for the second time in 2024 for his performance on the bump versus No. 1 Tampa. The Mountain Brook, Alabama hurler led the Tars to a win following a nine-inning complete-game shutout of Division II's third-highest scoring offense. The junior righty allowed two hits and five walks in the game. He struck out eight batters, four looking, as he held the Spartans to a .077 average.
Miller and Berry move on to the NCBWA National Player of the Week ballot to be announced on Thursday, April 11.
Previous 2024 winners
Week 1: Stephen Klein (Tampa) – Player / Luke Lashutka (Saint Leo) – Pitcher
Week 2: JT Vance (Mississippi College) – Player / Alex Canney (Tampa) – Pitcher
Week 3: Connor Crowson (Montevallo) – Player / Edward Berry (Rollins) – Pitcher
Week 4: Mason Wilson (Rollins) – Player / Dalton Neuschwander (West Florida) – Pitcher
Week 5: Santiago Garavito (Tampa) – Player / Keegan Gagliardo (Lee) – Pitcher
Week 6: Mike Valdez (Tampa) – Player / Dillon Moran (Embry-Riddle) – Pitcher
Week 7: JT Vance (Mississippi College) – Player / Logan Samuels (Montevallo) – Pitcher
Week 8: EJ Cumbo (Tampa) – Player / Seth Dudley (West Georgia) – Pitcher
Week 9: Cooper Doughman (Auburn Montgomery) – Player / Dalton Neuschwander (West Florida) – Pitcher