Taylor, Moon receive top honors from SAAC
INDIANOLA, Iowa -- For the second year in a row, the Simpson College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) aired a virtual awards show to highlight the achievements of Storm student-athletes and teams from the 2020-21 school year on Wednesday.
Jenna Taylor and Spencer Moon took home top honors as the Female and Male Athletes of the Year. Taylor tallied three All-America awards for women's basketball and Moon led the cross country and track and field teams among conference and national competitors.
Simpson women's basketball assistant coach Moran Lonning and women's soccer head coach Jeremy Reinert were the hosts once again. The awards show highlighted the duo's dancing abilities, as well as Reinert's vocals. Men's basketball head coach Brad Bjorkgren made a special appearance for the SAAC Plays of the Year segment.
Female Athlete of the Year
Nominees: Megan Crockett (softball), Cassie Nash (women's basketball and soccer), Molly Sheehan (shooting sports club), Jenna Taylor (women's basketball) and Anna Wanek (women's basketball and tennis)
It's no surprise that Jenna Taylor is tabbed the SAAC Female Athlete of the Year after claiming three All-America honors and two MVP awards. Taylor tallied 20.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per outing to land on the D3hoops.com and Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America Teams, while also being named the CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year for her efforts on the hardwood and inside the classroom. She was also tabbed the American Rivers Conference and D3hoops.com All-West Region Players of the Year. Taylor was the second player in program history to receive D3hoops.com All-America First Team honors.
Male Athlete of the Year
Nominees: Brady Held (baseball), Chris Honz (men's basketball), Dylan McChesney (wrestling), Spencer Moon (men's cross country and track and field) and Jordy Triana-Vasquez (men's soccer)
Spencer Moon excelled inside and outside to earn SAAC Male Athlete of the Year honors with men's cross country and track and field. In the fall, the sophomore ended fourth at the A-R-C Championships for the program's best individual performance since Dave Halferty ended first in 1989. Moon guided the Storm to a third-place mark at the meet for the program's best result since 1990. During the indoor track and field season, Moon helped the distance medley relay earn all-conference honors and break the school record. In the spring, he became the first men's distance runner to qualify for nationals since 1996. Moon ended 13th in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Division III Championships. He qualified for the meet with the 10th-best time in the nation after crossing the finish in 14:26.13 to break a 37-year-old program record in the event, which he set on home soil at the Kip Janvrin Open.
Female Newcomer of the Year
Nominees: Regan Freland (women's basketball), Karlie Hill (softball), Cassie Nash (women's soccer) and Anna Wanek (women's basketball and tennis)
For not playing competitive tennis since high school, junior Anna Wanek wasted no time in making herself known across the conference to tally SAAC Female Newcomer of the Year accolades. She earned the program's second conference MVP honor after posting a 14-0 record in the fall, and she won the A-R-C Individual Tournament A-Singles flight. Wanek closed her first season with the Storm with a 19-0 mark at No. 1 singles and went 13-5 in doubles play. The Urbandale, Iowa native currently owns the record for most wins in a season, career win percentage and best singles record. In the winter, Wanek transitioned her talents to the hardwood to appear in five games for head coach Brian Niemuth's squad. In her limited role, Wanek tallied 10 points in the conference title bout to help the squad clinch its 13th league crown.
Male Newcomer of the Year
Nominees: Colton Major (baseball) and James Murray (men's cross country, track and field and soccer)
Traveling to Indianola from Australia, James Murray stayed busy by competing with the men's cross country, soccer and track and field programs to receive the SAAC Male Newcomer of the Year award. He raced in all five meets for the cross country squad in the fall. Murray led off the distance medley relay to a runner-up finish at the league championships. The quartet also ended third at the Division III Elite Championships to clip the school record. On the pitch, Murray appeared in seven matches with two starts as he was the only freshman to register a start for the Storm.
Record-Breaking Performance
Nominees: Brady Held (baseball), Spencer Moon (men's cross country and track and field) and Anna Wanek (women's tennis)
Junior Brady Held broke the program record for lowest earned-run average in a season at 1.53 to secure SAAC's Record-Breaking Performance. He paced the league in ERA to land on the All-A-R-C First Team and secure American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings and D3baseball.com All-Central Region honors. Held started the season with just one win in four appearances and closed the year with five straight triumphs, including three complete games. During that span, he allowed just two runs.
Team of the Year
Nominees: Women's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Dance and Shooting Sports Club
For the 13th time in team history, the Simpson women's basketball team won the league championship en route to earning the SAAC Team of the Year honor. Niemuth guided his team to a 12-0 mark to close the season ranked fourth in the final D3hoops.com Top-15 poll. The Storm tallied two overtime victories, including an 89-84 thriller in the league championship against Coe. Across the nation, the squad was third in scoring (84.7), sixth in free throw percentage (79.6%), seventh in assists per game (18.6) and ninth in 3-point percentage (37.1).
Play of the Year
Nominees: Cameron Kincaid making both free throws to tie the game at the end of regulation at Wartburg and against Coe in the A-R-C Championship, Mason Madren scores with three minutes left to force a draw against Loras to spoil the Duhawks winning the conference title, Andrew Curran scores from the free throw line as time expires to defeat Loras, 102-100, TJ Stephenson hits a walk-off single to seal Simpson's 5-4 victory over Wartburg and Regan Freland drains a 3-pointer to hand the Storm an 81-80 double overtime win at Wartburg.
The SAAC Play of the Year occurred during Simpson women's basketball's 81-80 double overtime triumph at Wartburg on March 1. With the Storm down 80-78 with five seconds left in the second overtime, Freland inbounded the ball to Taylor, who then passed it right back to her teammate for a wide-open 3-pointer for the game-winner. Freland's clutch shot handed Simpson it's second win in three tries against the Knights and secured the No. 1 seed in the A-R-C Tournament.
