Hannah Gordon (women's golf) and Conor Riordan (men's basketball) were named the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Female and Male Athletes of the Year.

Posted: Apr 28, 2020

Gordon, Riordan highlight SAAC Awards

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Hannah Gordon and Conor Riordan highlighted the Simpson College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's (SAAC) SC Espys on Monday by receiving the Female and Male Athlete of the Year awards for their performances for the Storm during their senior campaigns.

Moran Lonning and Jeremy Reinert were the hosts as the SC Espys went virtual for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was aired on the Simpson Athletics video stream portal and the replay can be found here.

Female Athlete of the Year

Nominees: Cassie Chubb (women's basketball), Megan Crockett (softball), Hannah Gordon (women's golf), Hannah Lester (volleyball) and Rachel Neumann (women's soccer)

Hannah Gordon was chosen as the SAAC Female Athlete of the Year after carding second place at the American Rivers Conference Women's Golf Championships this past fall for Simpson. Gordon fired a 71 on the third day to land the runner-up slot, which is the lowest single round score by a Storm women's golfer in program history at the league championships. Her silver showing is the best finish since Jennifer Gafney earned medalist honors in 2012 for Simpson. Gordon finished with a three-day total of 238 to receive her second-straight all-conference honor to become the first Storm golfer to repeat as all-league since 2013.

Male Athlete of the Year

Nominees: Sam Adeniyi (men's track and field), Tanner Alderson (men's soccer), Brendan Holmes (football), Conor Riordan (men's basketball) and Truman Schmitt (baseball)

After receiving his second Academic All-America honor and his third-straight all-conference award, men's basketball senior Conor Riordan was tabbed as the SAAC Male Athlete of the Year. Riordan capped off his career by scoring 20.1 points per game this season to end eighth in program history with 1,533 points. He became the first men's basketball player since 2003 to be named a Jostens Trophy finalist and first Storm student-athlete to land the distinction since 2013. The Ankeny, Iowa native earned two more postseason honors by receiving recognition on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-West District and D3hoops.com All-West Region Second Teams.

Female Newcomer of the Year

Nominees: Niya Harris (volleyball), Cassie Nash (women's basketball) and Rachel Neumann (women's soccer)

Rachel Neumann led the A-R-C in goals-against average and save percentage in her first season with the Storm women's soccer team to be named the SAAC Female Newcomer of the Year. After transferring from Iowa State, the sophomore was second in the A-R-C with seven shutouts to help the Storm finish 10-4-5 and earn a spot in the conference tournament for the first time since 2013. Her 0.61 goals-against average is a new program record and her save percentage of 88.6% was 11th in the nation.

Male Newcomer of the Year

Nominees: Brady Held (baseball) and Spencer Moon (men's cross country and track and field)

Spencer Moon became the first men's cross country freshman to earn All-Region honors since 1995 to be named the SAAC Male Newcomer of the Year. Moon ran a 26:18.6 to finish 30th at the NCAA Central Region Championships to help the team finish 10th. Moon also earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic distinction. During the indoor track and field season, the Lake City, Iowa native broke a 32-year-old school record in the 3,000 meters and went on to finish fourth in the mile at the A-R-C Indoor Championships to just miss out on all-conference honors.

Record-Breaking Performance

Nominees: Sam Bartlett (football), Hannah Gordon (women's golf), Alyssa Harris (women's swimming and diving), Brendan Holmes (football) and Spencer Moon (men's track and field)

Storm football's Brendan Holmes received the SAAC Record-Breaking Performance honor after passing the career tackle mark. Holmes ended his four-year career with 369 career takedowns to clip the previous record of 339, set by Jarod Young from 1993-96. Holmes averaged 92.3 tackles each season to etch his name atop the record books for Simpson.

Team of the Year

Nominees: Women's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Dance, Women's Soccer and Men's Soccer

The Storm men's soccer team went 16-4-2 to tie the program mark for wins in a season to earn the SAAC Team of the Year award. On the pitch, the Storm posted 11 shutouts to reach the A-R-C Tournament Semifinals for the sixth time in nine seasons. During a 12-game stretch without a loss, Simpson won 2-1 over Luther as the Norse would eventually reach the NCAA Tournament Elite 8.

Play of the Year

Nominees: Jordy Triana-Vasquez scored a game-winner with a bicycle kick against Luther for men's soccer, Sam Adeniyi and Austin Greenwalt both earned all-conference honors in the heptathlon, men's basketball's Conor Riordan drained a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime with the score at 142-142 against Greenville and Camry Leo connected on a two-run home run to give the Simpson softball team a 7-6 lead in the seventh inning against Wartburg in the A-R-C Tournament opener.

The SAAC Play of the Year came during the men's soccer team's 2-1 win over Luther on Oct. 12 inside Buxton Stadium. Freshman Jordy Triana-Vasquez connected on the game-winner in the 74th minute with a bicycle kick in front of the goal to give head coach Rick Isaacson his first triumph over the Norse. Triana-Vasquez finished his rookie slate with five goals, three of which were game-winners.