CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina Department of Athletics honored its top athletic and academic performers of 2023-24 on Monday night at the 2024 Student-Athlete Excellence Awards at the HTC Center.
 
The program, hosted by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), included remarks from Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and University Recreation Matt Hogue, as well as a year-in-review highlight video, GPA recognition, and athletic and academic awards.
 


Male Athlete of the Year
Derek Bender – Baseball (Spring 2023)
 
Bender was named the Male Athlete of the Year, earning this year's recognition for his 2023 baseball season.
 
Bender was named the Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week on May 15th, 2023, and was a 2023 Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist.  He also picked up ABCA/Rawlings Division I All-American Baseball Coaches Association honors and was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's All-America second team. CCU's new single-season leader in RBIs with a program-record 83, Bender was an ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic All-Region first-team selection and a first-team All-Sun Belt honoree for his stellar sophomore season.



Female Athlete of the Year
Molly Jones – Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
 
Jones was named the Female Athlete of the Year after being named first-team all-Sun Belt in both cross country and track & field. 

Jones claimed four first-place finishes during the 2023 cross country season, including her second consecutive Sun Belt Conference title, and was named the SBC Women's Runner of the Year. During the 2024 indoor track & field season, she set the SBC record in the 3000-meter with a time of 9:25.94.
 


Presidential Student-Athlete of the Year
Avery McIlwaine - Lacrosse
 
A Recreation Sport Management major with an impressive 4.0 GPA, McIlwaine has been recognized as the Atlantic Sun Conference Scholar Athlete of Year along with being named to the ASUN All-Academic Team. She was a recipient of the Undergraduate Student of the Year award within the Recreation and Sport Management major, a Research Fellow in the Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy and will be presenting research on Title IX at CCU's Undergraduate Research Symposium. She represented Coastal at the College Sport Research Institute Case Study Competition, placing second nationally. She is a Hispanic Honors Society Inductee and was named to the President's List for five consecutive semesters. McIlwaine has also served her community by participating in Caring for Kindergartners, Adopt a Chant, and seasonal food drives.

On the field, McIlwaine became the first Chanticleer in program history to earn the ASUN Midfielder of the Year Award in 2023. She finished the season with 35 goals and 17 assists to earn ASUN First Team All-Conference honors.



Male Newcomer of the Year
Caden Bodine – Baseball (Spring 2023)
 
Bodine was honored as the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and was named to D1 Baseball Freshman All-America First Team, the NCBWA Freshman All-America First Team, the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Second Team, and the Perfect Game Freshman All-American Second Team. The standout freshman also earned a spot on the Buster Posey Award Watch List.

Bodine was second on the team with a .367 batting average on the season, as he totaled 79 hits over 215 at-bats. He recorded 11 home runs, tying the program recrod for home runs by a freshman. Bodine also added one triple, 17 doubles, 47 RBIs, and scored 65 runs on the year while posting a .609 slugging percentage and a .456 on-base percentage.
 


Female Newcomer of the Year
Jalyn Stout - Volleyball
 
Stout recorded an NCAA-record 14 triple-doubles while nearly averaging a triple-double with 365 kills, 506 assists, and 319 digs in 32 matches played. She was named to the First Team All-Sun Belt, earned the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Award, and picked up AVCA Southeast All-Region Honorable Mention honors.

Stout finished the season with 411.5 points, 35 blocks, and 28 service aces, tallying double-digit kills 24 times, assists 29 times, and digs 20 times. She earned a spot on the Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament team and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as she helped the Chanticleers claim the tournament title.
 


Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Louis Bock - Men's Soccer
 
Voted the top male scholar-athlete of the year, Bock was named to the President's List in the fall semester while producing a spotless 4.00 cumulative grade point average as a finance and management double-major. On the pitch, Bock played in 13 matches while making nine starts on the year. He was part of a Chanticleer back line that shut out two opponents and held four teams to just one goal. Bock played 718 total minutes and added a goal and three shots on goal. 
 


Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Madie Lichty – Beach Volleyball
 
Lichty has posted an outstanding 4.00 cumulative GPA while majoring in finance. in her three-plus years at Coastal Carolina. A President's List selection, Lichty is currently sixth all-time on Coastal's career wins list with 63 victories. Last spring, Lichty went 25-11 and was named a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference performer. She was part of an 11-match winning streak playing primarily at the No. 3 flight and notched five wins against ranked opponents. 

 

Linda C. Vereen Team Academic Excellence Award 
Men's Tennis – 3.595 GPA
Women's Tennis – 3.923 GPA
 
The Linda C. Vereen Team Academic Excellence Awards were given to the men's and women's teams with the highest combined grade point average (GPA).
 
The men's tennis team won the award for the third consecutive year, while the women's tennis team won the award for the first time since 2019.



Scholar Baller Award
A new award this year, the Scholar Baller Award is given to the undergraduate student-athlete with the top cumulative GPA from each team.

Caden Bodine – Baseball
Jayden Jackson – Football
Marcus Saunders – Men's Basketball
Jack Benoit – Men's Cross Country
Molly Jones – Women's Cross Country
Owen Kim – Men's Golf
Louis Bock –Men's Soccer
Rivers Cahill – Men's Tennis
Lauralyn Clifford – Women's Track & Field
Killian Oberheu – Men's Track & Field
Keirstin Roose –Softball
Arin Freeman – Women's Basketball
Emma Gonzalez – Beach Volleyball
Elan Fleetwood – Women's Golf
Avery McIlwaine – Lacrosse
Raegan Meyer – Women's Soccer
Isabella Weatherhead – Women's Tennis
Agata Lesiak – Volleyball
Christopher Supple – Cheerleading
Savannah Piziak –Dance

Male and Female Academic Triumph of the Year
The academic triumph of the year award is voted on by the Student-Athlete Academic Services staff and awarded to a male and female student-athlete who has persevered despite difficulty to achieve success academically. 

AJ McKay – Men's Track & Field 
Sydney Lewis – Volleyball


Student-Athlete Faculty Member of the Year
Michelle Singleton – Lecturer of Kinesiology

 
SAAC Community Service Team Honor
Baseball
 

Savannah Thompson Humanitarian Award
Linque Cain-Boatwright
 
 

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