Mouton, Edgemon, Westfall top senior athletes

Tracksters Reggie Mouton and Raheema Westfall and Flying Queen Kaylee Edgemon were presented the Roscoe Snyder Award as Wayland Baptist University's top senior athletes for 2021-22 when winter and spring sports awards were handed out Sunday evening.
 
Two golfers – Sebastien Tremulot and Chante van Zyl – went home with the Bill Hardage Champions of Character Award while two basketball players – Jibrael Washington and Jenna Cooper – received the Wallace & Janis Davis Award of the Spirit.
 
Awards for the highest GPA went to footballer Samuel Daily of the football team and baseballer Josh Johnson for the men, and for the women, soccer player Jodi Shea and cross country runner Michaela Phipps.
 
Coralyn Dillard, who serves as WBU director of health services, received the Roy McClung Service Award. Mrs. Dillard proved invaluable in helping WBU athletics navigate the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to her other longtime assistance with the department.
 
Voting for department-wide awards was by WBU coaches and athletics staff members. Voting for program awards was by coaches and/or players within that sport.

In addition to athletic achievement, the Roscoe Snyder Award recognizes academics and character and traditionally honors the top senior male and female student-athletes at Wayland.


Mouton, a 600-meter specialist from Copperas Cove, is a seven-time NAIA All-American and four-time national champion, with this year's outdoor national meet still to come. He's turned in some of the fastest times in the history of WBU track in both the 600 and 4x800 relay.
 
"Reggie has had a very good track career at Wayland, and he's a good student as well," coach Brian Whitlock said.
 
Westfall, a sprinter from St. Louis, is a 10-time NAIA All-American, two-time national champion and five-time national runner-up with one nationals to go. She owns the school record in the 200 and the second-fastest time in the 100 and has been named Sooner Athletic Conference Runner of the Week seven times.
 
"Raheema is without doubt one of the best sprinters in school history," Whitlock said. "She does everything you ask. It's fun to see somebody who works as hard as she does have that hard work pay off."
 
Edgemon, a grad student from Littlefield, is the first-ever four-time NAIA All-American (two-time First Team, two-time Honorable Mention) in the history of the Flying Queens. The 5-foot-11 forward finished as the fourth-leading scorer in program history with 1,856 points. She's a two-time SAC Player of the Year and also was the SAC Newcomer of the Year in addition to being the SAC Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year last season. She is an NAIA Scholar-Athlete and Co-SIDA Second Team Academic All-American.
 
The Bill Hardage Champions of Character Award recognizes student-athletes who exemplify the NAIA's five core character values of respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, servant leadership and integrity, and this year two golfers earned the honor.
 
Van Zyl, a senior from South Africa, is a two-time All-SAC honoree who was conference runner-up as a freshman. She's made the Dean's List every year and the President's List three times while being a member of the Psychology Honor Society.

"Chante has shown impeccable leadership on and off the course her four years here while being exceptionally kind and Christ-like," coach Jim Giacomazzi said. "Chante is always coachable and is constantly looking for ways to get better, always with a smile on her face. Everyone that she plays with in tournaments enjoys her positive attitude and typically ends up with a new friend after the round."

Tremulot, of France, has spent six years at Wayland while earning his Master's degree. He is in position to finish the year as an all-American for the second time and is a three-time Academic All-American while earning multiple SAC Golfer of the Week honors. Coach Tom Harp said Tremulot "supports the young golfers in the community during the school year and has stayed the last two summers helping them."

Winners of the Wallace & Janis Davis Award of the Spirit exemplify spirit, courage and commitment to their team, their coach and the university. The award traditionally is given to a student-athlete who is not necessarily the MVP of the team but does all of the little things to make the team successful.
 
Basketball players Jenna Cooper and Jibrael Washington are this year's Davis Award winners.
 
Cooper, a two-time NAIA All-American from Claude, averaged 18.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and led the NAIA in total assists with 207 (5.9 per game).
 
"I feel like Jenna fits the description of the award to a 'T,'" Flying Queens coach Jason Cooper said. "Jenna's commitment to her team's success was noticeable on the court every time we competed. Not only was she a proficient and consistent scoring threat but she was always ready to do whatever it took to help the team win.  Her selfless attitude could be seen even when she was on the bench as she cheered on her teammates from the sidelines. Always competitive and always intense, Jenna battled every day in practice to help her and her teammates improve daily. Her commitment to the little things daily made huge impacts on the team's success."
 
Washington was the Sooner Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year after he led the SAC and tied for second in the NAIA with 3.2 blocks per game. He also became the Pioneers' all-time leader in blocks with 185, shattering the old mark of 158. The 6-foot-8 senior center from Waco by way of Temple Junior College also averaged 3.7 points and 5.4 rebounds. Washington plans to become an author and minister.
 
Among sport MVPs, Westwall was named most valuable in women's track for the third time while Tremulot and Washington repeated in their respective sports. Other MVPs were Zachary Johnson in men's track & field, van Zyl in women's golf, Jenna Cooper (offense) and Kaitlyn Edgemon (defense) in women's basketball, Kari Matthews in cheer, and Noah Argueta, Matthew Perry, Alex Spencer and Ilan Joffe in eSports.
 
Awards for baseball and wrestling will be announced at a later date.
 
WAYLAND BAPTIST ATHLETICS AWARDS
DEPARTMENT AWARDS
Roscoe Snyder Award
Male: Reggie Mouton
Female: Kaylee Edgemon, Raheema Westfall
 
Bill Hardage Champions of Character
Male: Sebastien Tremulot
Female: Chante van Zyl
 
Wallace & Janis Davis Award of the Spirit
Male: Jibrael Washington
Female: Jenna Cooper
 
Roy McClung Service Award
Coralyn Dillard
 
Academic Awards
Male: Samuel Daily and Joshua Johnson
Female: Jodi Shea and Michaela Phipps
 
PROGRAM AWARDS
Track & Field
Most Valuable Performer, Women: Raheema Westfall
Most Valuable Performer, Men: Zachary Johnson
Newcomers of the Year: Rey Bueno and Jordan Dixon
Character Award: Alex Spencer
 
Men's Golf:
Freshman of the Year: Benjamin Lubker
Most Improved: Vlastimil Miler
Player of the Year: Sebastien Tremulot
Manning Award: Sebastien Tremulot
 
Women's Golf
Golfer of the Year: Chante van Zyl
Most Improved: Morgan Rutledge
 
Men's Basketball
MVP: Jibrael Washington
Coach's Award: Jaxon Recer
Scholar Award: Thad Udoh 
 
Women's Basketball
Fighting Heart: Angel Hayden & Ashlyn Shelley
Hutcherson Award: Kaylee Edgemon
Offensive Player of the Year: Jenna Cooper
Defensive Player of the Year: Kaitlyn Edgemon
 
eSports
"What a Save!" Award: Noah Argueta
"Ultimate Smash Brother" Award: Matthew Perry
"The Hero We Deserve" Award: Alex Spencer
"Mothership Master" Award: Ilan Joffe
 
Cheer
Cheerleader of the Year: Kari Mathews
Most Improved: Aubrey Jaramillo
Leadership: Kira Weatherton, Audrie Blanco
 
Baseball
TBA
 
Wrestling
TBA