Simpson Athletics hosts banquet to celebrate 2022-23 year
INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson College Athletic Department hosted its second annual All-Sports Banquet on Monday night inside Cowles Fieldhouse.
Women's soccer senior Abby Cozzoni and baseball senior Ryan Willis were the recipients of the department's Sarah Crosby and John Wesley Awards of Excellence, which are awarded to the male and female athletes who best represent Simpson's core values of discovery, access, citizenship, belonging, justice and integrity.
Women's soccer captured the Whalen Community Service Award for the second year in a row after leading the department in community service hours. The program also earned an Academic Excellence trophy for boasting the highest team grade point average in the 2022 spring and fall semesters among teams larger than 20 athletes. Women's tennis was the recipient of the trophy for the small team division.
Lara Kallem of the Storm cross country and track and field teams was honored as this year's Barb Overton Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion. Kallem is actively involved with the Women's Gender and Resource Center House, has organized and promoted a variety of events on campus related to women's and gender issues, and collaborates with other campus groups to promote and advocate for gender justice.
Athletic trainer Rebby Kimzey was voted the department's Staff Member of the Year after stepping up into an interim role and helping student-athletes stay as healthy and injury-free as possible. She also presented the Sports Medicine Comeback Player of the Year award to Baraka Ellie of men's soccer, who missed almost all of 2021 due to a broken foot but came back in 2022 and led the team in goals and points while earning all-conference and all-region recognition.
Softball's Maddie Luderman and men's wrestling's Shyler Langley were named the Sports Performance Athletes of the Year by Director of Sports Performance Sam Schmitz. Luderman and Langley were recognized for putting in the time and effort outside of their scheduled lift times as well as exemplifying what it means to be a complete sports performance athlete through a holistic approach.
Each head coach selected one student athlete to receive the Golden Thunder Award for their program. Athletes were chosen for a number of reasons including being the unsung hero of the team, having an excellent academic career, serving as a positive role model on campus, overcoming adversity, displaying great improvement, etc. A full list of recipients is below.
The department also revealed finalists for a number of its annual ESPY awards, including male and female newcomers of the year as well as male and female athletes of the year. Award winners will be announced in the summer following the completion of spring sports.
Sarah Crosby Award of Excellence
Abby Cozzoni, women's soccer
John Wesley Award of Excellence
Ryan Willis, baseball
Athletics Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion
Lara Kallem, women's cross country and track and field
Whalen Community Service Award
Women's Soccer
2022 Academic Excellence Award - Small Team Division
Women's Tennis
2022 Academic Excellence Award - Large Team Division
Women's Soccer
Staff Member of the Year
Rebby Kimzey, interim head athletic trainer
Sports Medicine Comeback Player of the Year
Baraka Ellie, men's soccer
Sports Performance Athletes of the Year
Maddie Luderman, softball
Shyler Langley, men's wrestling
Golden Thunder Recipients
Baseball - Lucas Juhl
Men's Basketball - Jack Hutchinson
Women's Basketball - Anna Wanek
Cheer - Sophie Reese
Men's Cross Country - Noah Nelsen
Women's Cross Country - Lara Kallem
Dance - Makenna Mullin
Football - Joe Bream
Men's Golf - Isaac Roe
Women's Golf - Taylor Elam
Men's Gymnastics - Milo Staley
Women's Gymnastics - Kaley Bristow
Shooting Sports - Tori Barksdale
Men's Soccer - Sam Hying
Women's Soccer - Sky Delzell
Softball - Maddie Luderman
Men's Swimming & Diving - Christopher Olds
Women's Swimming & Diving - Maude Steinbeck
Men's Tennis - Javier Robles Solis
Women's Tennis - Kennedi Wright
Men's Track & Field - Max Cleveland
Women's Track & Field - Alexis Crozier
Men's Volleyball - Anthony Potratz
Women's Volleyball - Iman Ghalibaf
Men's Wrestling - Sam McCoy
Women's Wrestling - Kari German
