Clarksville, TN – Celebrating the 2023-24 athletics season, Austin Peay State University (APSU) athletics honored its top performers on the field, in the classroom, and in the community at the seventh annual ESPEAYs, Monday, in the Winfield Dunn Center.
This year’s ESPEAYs had a new twist, with student-athletes Sai Witt and Anala Nelson serving as the masters of ceremonies. They are the first student-athletes to host the event since Carlos Paez and Myah LeFlore hosted the virtual ESPEAYs in 2021. Witt and Nelson emceed a night filled with spectacular nominees and memories to celebrate another remarkable year in Austin Peay State University athletics.
Highlighting the night was the presentation of the 2023-24 Legends Award winners. The Legends Award continues APSU’s long-standing tradition of honoring the most valuable male and female senior athletes. The honor began with the Joy Award in 1947, which the late Wilson Goodrich, then owner of Joy’s Jewelers, created.
The Female Legends Award was earned by volleyball and beach volleyball’s Kelsey Mead. She was the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President for the last two years and has been a vital part of the APSU volleyball and beach volleyball teams for the previous four years. She is seventh all-time with 2,876 career assists in the indoor game, and her 66.7 winning percentage and 48 career wins are second and fourth all-time in beach volleyball history, respectively.
The Male Legends Award went to Jau’Von Young, one of the first two Austin Peay football players to win three conference titles. Young was among 15 finalists for the Stats Perform Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award his senior season. Young was also a senior captain for the Governors’ defense, closing his career with 118 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and an interception while playing in 53 games and making 31 starts in his collegiate career.
APSU women’s Basketball Shamarre Hale won the 2023-24 Female Athlete of the Year award. She was a First Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference honoree after averaging 13.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while leading the Govs with seven double-doubles. Hale also earned ASUN All-Tournament team recognition after averaging 18.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, including 27 points against Kennesaw State in the first round, as the Govs reached the ASUN semifinals.
Baseball’s Lyle Miller-Green was named the 2023-24 Male Athlete of the Year in recognition of his outstanding senior campaign with 16 games remaining in the regular season. Last weekend he became only the second Governors hitter to record 20 home runs in a season and is six home runs shy of breaking the program’s single-season home run record. Miller-Green leads the ASUN in home runs, runs scored (60), and runs batted in (57) while also ranking among the league’s top five in batting average (.380), slugging percentage (.861), and on-base percentage (.502).
Lucas Bales of the men’s cross country team and Emma Dalton of the women’s soccer team were awarded the Total Gov Concept Award by Austin Peay State University Vice President and Athletics Director Gerald Harrison. In its second year, the award honors a male and female student-athlete who embodied the ‘Total Gov Concept’ ideology and sought excellence in all aspects of their student-athlete experience and their teammates during the year.
The department also recognized its 2023-24 Scholar-Athletes of the Year, recognizing the ungraduated student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPA. Baseball’s Jacob Weaver was the male honoree after compiling a 4.0 GPA and working toward his bachelor’s degree in marketing while also being a member of the President’s Emerging Leader Program. Hannah Wilson, of the women’s soccer team, earned the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year after posting a 4.0 grade-point average and earning a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry while also a member of the university’s honor college.
Those eight major awards were the tip of the iceberg as the Austin Peay State University athletics department recognized its best performances of 2023-24.
APSU Men’s basketball was named the Team of the Year after a season culminating in a run to the Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Basketball Championship game. With his team’s success on and off the court in his first season back at his alma mater, head men’s basketball coach Corey Gipson was named the Coach of the Year in his first season at Austin Peay.
In addition, Demarcus Sharp was named the Male Newcomer of the Year, and Dez White was named the Male Rookie of the Year. Sharp was a Third Team All-ASUN performer and was selected to the 2024 ASUN Championship All-Tournament Team, while White was named to the 2024 ASUN All-Freshman Team.
The men’s basketball team also earned Game of the Year recognition for its 77-71 win over North Alabama in the ASUN Championship semifinals at F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville.
The Male Breakout Athlete of the Year was football’s Sam Howard. Howard earned First Team All-United Athletic Conference honors after being one of two players in the league to record 100-plus tackles and double-digit tackles for loss. Howard captained Austin Peay’s defense from the linebacker position while helping the Govs win the 2023 UAC Championship.
The Governors women’s basketball team saw La’Nya Foster named the Female Rookie of the Year after earning ASUN Freshman of the Year honors and unanimous selection to the ASUN All-Freshman Team.
Bahn led the APSU Govs to its first ASUN Women’s Soccer Championship in program history after earning four shutouts during her first season as a starter after tallying the third-most saves by a goalkeeper in program history with 109.
The Moment of the Year went to the soccer team for defeating Kennesaw State in penalty kicks, 3-2, in the first round of the 2023 ASUN Women’s Soccer Championship. The win marked the soccer team’s first postseason win in nearly a decade and was the Govs’ first win in the ASUN Women’s Soccer Championship.
Below is a complete list of awards presented, along with the nominees and winners (in bold). All award winners are marked in bold.
Male Legends Award
- Jau’Von Young (Football)
- Mike DiLiello, Football
- Jack Fitzgerald, Men’s Cross Country
Female Legends Award
- Kelsey Mead (Volleyball & Beach Volleyball)
- Jana Leder, Women’s Tennis
- Shamarre Hale, Women’s Basketball
Male Athlete of the Year
- Lyle Miller-Green (Baseball)
- Mike DiLiello (Football)
- DeMarcus Sharp (Men’s Basketball)
Female Athlete of the Year
- Shamarre Hale (Women’s Basketball)
- Erica Scutt (Women’s Golf)
- Kylie Campbell (Softball)
Male Total Gov Concept Award
- Lucas Bales (Men’s Cross Country)
Female Total Gov Concept Award
- Emma Dalton (Soccer)
Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
- Jacob Weaver (Baseball)
Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
- Hannah Wilson (Soccer)
Male Rookie of the Year
- Dez White (Men’s Basketball)
- DJ Merriweather (Baseball)
- Seth Smith (Men’s Golf)
Female Rookie of the Year
- La’Nya Foster (Women’s Basketball)
- Brie Howard (Softball)
- Aniyah Mack (Soccer)
Male Newcomer of the Year
- DeMarcus Sharp (Men’s Basketball)
- Tyler Long (Football)
- Andrew Devine (Baseball)
Female Newcomer of the Year
- Ashley Doyle (Women’s Cross Country & Track & Field)
- Riley Marshall (Beach Volleyball)
- Abby Cater (Women’s Basketball)
Male Breakout Player of the Year
- Giovanni Becchis (Men’s Tennis)
- Sam Howard (Football)
- Jacob Weaver (Baseball)
Female Breakout Player of the Year
- Katie Bahn (Soccer)
- Anala Nelson (Women’s Basketball)
- Kady Foshaug (Women’s Golf)
Coach of the Year
- Corey Gipson (Men’s Basketball)
- Roland Fanning (Baseball)
- Brittany Young (Women’s Basketball)
Team of the Year
- Men’s Basketball
- Football
- Baseball
- Women’s Golf
Game of the Year
- Men’s basketball defeats North Alabama in ASUN Championship Semifinals
- Women’s basketball defeats Kentucky
- Baseball defeats Mississippi State
Moment of the Year
- Women’s Soccer defeats Kennesaw State in penalty to advance to the ASUN Championship quarterfinals
- Football’s overtime walk-off win at Southern Utah
- Men’s Golf Seth Smith’s hole-in-one
Courtney Turner Memorial Scholarship
Team Academic Award Winners
- Jacob Weaver, Baseball
- Tiya Douglas, Women’s Basketball
- Daniel Loos, Men’s Basketball
- Tristin Smith, Beach Volleyball
- Courtlyn Richardson, Cheerleading
- Sydney Freeman, Women’s Cross Country
- Lucas Bales, Men’s Cross Country
- Grace Henderson, Dance
- Chandler Kirton, Football
- Erica Scutt, Women’s Golf
- Daniel Love, Men’s Golf
- Sydney Hartoin, Women’s Track and Field
- Hannah Wilson, Women’s Soccer
- Macee Roberts, Softball
- Jana Leder, Women’s Tennis
- Giovanni Becchis & Hogan Stoker, Men’s Tennis
- Kelsey Mead, Volleyball
- Jacob Weaver, Baseball
- Hannah Wilson, Soccer
