MVPs of NGU at the top of their game
Whitley Bras, Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of NGU Athletics
North Greenville University is filled with a multitude of students that are academically gifted as well as athletically talented. The student athletes at NGU strive to accomplish excellence on and off the field. The fall season of sports is coming to a close and the winter sports are beginning to kick off so it’s beneficial to look at the fall season and recognize those individuals that were the strongest on their teams.
Football has had a challenging season in the Gulf South Conference but have stood their ground with a record at 4-4 overall and 3-3 in conference. The head coach Jeff Farrington states “Our players and coaches are certainly disappointed with any outcome that falls short of our goal to win, however, we are not discouraged with where we are and where we are heading. Our attitudes are positive and looking to improve each day.”
Some stand out players on the NGU football team include, Seth Laughter who is one of the overall strongest players on the team and is having a fantastic season. Laughter is able to anchor the defensive line which has played very well all season up to this point.
Farrington also states “We have several young men that have tested well with the off-season lifts that are playing well including Jewl Bell a center, Matthew Thomas an outside line backer, Devon Turman a defensive lineman, Desmond Williams a defensive lineman, Bobby Foos a tight end and Jeremy Hunt an inside line backer.”
When looking at what sets these players apart from the rest of the team Farrington states “They are good players in the game and able to bounce back each week from the physical sport of football. They set a standard in the strength and conditioning programs by Coach Novatosky to be followed by their teammates.”
Some characteristics of leadership that valuable players on the team have to acquire consist of being passionate, humble, honest, unselfish and have an inner drive. North Greenville football has done well this season and the bold players that they have will set the foundation for the team to come next season.
The men’s soccer team at North Greenville University just finished their season and as far as their head coach, Bill Martin is concerned this was the most successful season when looking at wins and losses of the team. Martin states that the roster is a lot stronger than it has been in the past.
Although the team is stronger this year there was some frustration when they lost playoffs by a single point which was disappointing, but was still an accomplishment considering how far they were able to go in conference play. Looking at the 2018 roster, the team was fortified with talented individual players that brought a lot to the table.
A stand out player is Marlon Evans who is a senior from Guam. Head coach Martin discussed how Evans is an absolute anchor for the back line defensively. Another strong player for Men’s soccer is Casey Brady a senior who has an immense amount of strength in the midfield. Thirdly, another player to spotlight is senior Gareth Greene who is a standalone forward for the crusaders.
Martin highlighted that the entire team works hard and that’s what makes them so successful as a unit. He stated that hard work and leadership are two keys that are vital when comprising a team. Martin states that some valuable characteristics for exceptional players include the ability to be individually skilled but also to be able to knit as a team because the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
The women’s soccer team at North Greenville is a powerhouse program and has had a very successful season. The head coach, Andy Robinson stated “this season has been the best in the school history, we finished second in the Conference Carolinas and are hosting the first round of tournament play. The development of players is getting better every year and they have a great work ethic to go along with that development”.
Looking at some of the strongest and standout players for the women’s soccer team the coach picked out several that he felt were spotlight worthy. Those players include mostly seniors such as Asheton Robinson a midfielder and forward, Jaimie Shutt a midfielder and forward and Michaela Gleed a defender. Head coach Robinson admires the work of the team that has gotten them so far in conference play.
Robinson states “they are leaders not only verbally but also by their actions. They are great people who have earned the respect of their teammates and lead by example, through success and failures.” The success of a team not only lies in the hard work of the leaders but in the drive and efforts of the team as a whole unit and the women’s soccer team at NGU is able to emphasis that characteristic.
The cross-country team at NGU has had a considerably rewarding season in which they have set both personal record and school records. The biggest meet of the season was held on Saturday November 3 at Mount Olive and this was the Conference Carolinas Cross Country Championships event, and was the second to last meet for the season.
Running is an extremely individual sport but it takes great individuals to support the team and allow the team as a whole to be successful at meets. The head coach of the cross-country team for both men and women at NGU is Cameron Stober. He gave a run-down of some of the top runners on the team.
Those individuals included for the girls’ team Kaleigh Roach, a senior and Hope Whisman a junior. Kaleigh and Hope have led the way for the women’s team this season. Stober states “they both are hard workers and encourage their teammates. Kaleigh is the lone senior on the women’s team.
She has been an absolute rock for our women’s team for some time now. She is everything you want in a student-athlete, and in a leader.” The top runner for the men’s team is junior, Jonathan Keller. Keller has finished first for the men’s team in all of his races so far this season.
When talking about the work ethic of Keller head coach Stober says, “Jonathan has been extremely consistent with his training this season, and h
e has seen the results of that. He also does a good job of encouraging and motivating his teammates.”
In order to be at the top of a college athletic team it requires an immense amount of hard work which these individuals have shown. When discussing the required characteristics needed for success Stober explained, “our theme this year has been ‘commitment and consistency.’
I think a good runner must demonstrate those qualities towards their training on a daily basis. A good work ethic, a positive attitude, and a genuine mindset of ‘team before self’ are other qualities that I value as a coach.”
Every team’s goal is to be better at the end of the season than how they started at the beginning of preseason, and the women’s volleyball team at NGU has set their mind to that concept. Assistant coach Justin Bass of the women’s volleyball team states, “we have had a lot of adversity this season as far as who we’ve played, when we’ve played them.”
Even through the challenges that they have faced several individual players stepped up to support and lead the team to success for the season. Due to the adversity and hard work the NGU volleyball team was able to have a home play off game and finish out the season with seven wins in a row in the conference.
Assistant coach Bass felt that not one individual should be held above the rest of the team in recognition because he believes that “the strength of a team is an individual and the individual is the strength of the team.”
NGU is home to excellent athletic programs and it is because of the individual talent of student-athletes that increases the quality and success of the programs with each year of play.
The end of a sports season allows for a wonderful opportunity to recognize those individual student-athletes that have put all of their blood, sweat and tears into their teams’. When you get a chance make sure to say congratulations on a great season to those individuals and the players on the teams listed above and to continue to show support for the Crusader athletic programs.
Sources: Coaches: Cameron Stober, Justin Bass, Jeff Farrington, Andy Robinson and Bill Martin as well as NGU Athletics.
