GENERAL
Furman’s Morgan and Ponder, UTC’s Strange named SoCon Athletes of the Year
Morgan is third straight Furman female winner; Ponder and Strange become first to share men’s honor
Past male winners
Past female winners
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman golfer Anna Morgan has been named the 2021-22 Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year and Paladin cross country/track and field runner Cameron Ponder and Chattanooga football player Cole Strange were voted co-winners of the Bob Waters Southern Conference Male Athlete of the Year award, the league announced Thursday.
The Athlete of the Year Awards are selected annually by the Southern Conference athletics directors and a media member representing each conference school. The award recognizes athletic achievement, academic performance and civic involvement. Prior to 1990-91, the award was selected solely by members of the Southern Conference Sports Media Association. Beginning in 1991-92, the men's award was named after the late Bob Waters, who was Western Carolina's head football coach from 1969-88.
Ponder and Strange are the first student-athletes in league history to share the athlete of the year award. Morgan and Ponder make Furman just the third school to win both awards in the same year, with ETSU’s Keith “Mister” Jennings and Nicole Hopson winning in 1990-91 and Mercer’s Will Bagrou and Kahlia Lawrence doing so in 2017-18.
Morgan is Furman’s third straight SoCon Female Athlete of the Year, following former teammate and current Epson Tour player Natalie Srinivasan, who won in 2019-20, and professional Adidas runner Gabbi Jennings, who claimed the honor last season. Morgan is the 11th Paladin to win the award.
The 2022 SoCon Player of the Year, Morgan led the league with a 72.25 stroke average over 36 rounds. The junior from Spartanburg, South Carolina, finished ninth at the NCAA Championship, punching her ticket to the final event by tying for fifth at the NCAA Stillwater Regional. She finished the season ranked No. 16 nationally and was a second-team All-America selection by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association.
The Edna Hartness Furman Female Athlete of the Year earned All-SoCon honors for the second straight season after posting nine top-10 finishes and six top-five finishes in 2021-22, including wins at the Lady Paladin Invitational, where she set a tournament record at 13-under-par and helped Furman to the team title, and the UNF Collegiate. Morgan also tied for ninth at the SoCon Women’s Golf Championship to help the Paladins to the team title. She was the SoCon Player of the Month for September, February and March and earned SoCon Player of the Week honors five times on the season.
On the national and international stages, Morgan finished 21st at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April and played in the U.S. Women’s Open in early June. She competed for the U.S. Team at the Arnold Palmer Cup last weekend.
Off the golf course, Morgan earned WGCA All-America Scholar Team accolades for the second straight season and is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the honor society for communications studies. She was the winner of the Pinnacle Award, which goes to the student-athlete with the top GPA on the SoCon championship-winning team. Morgan is also a member of Kappa Delta sorority, through which she works with local Girl Scout troops and which raised money for the Julie Valentine Center, a nonprofit that provides services to sexual assault and child abuse survivors.
Ponder is Furman’s 10th winner of the Bob Waters SoCon Male Athlete of the Year award and the first since tennis player James Cameron won in 2002-03.
Furman’s Male Athlete of the Year for a second straight season, Ponder earned All-America honors in the 3,000-meter run for the second straight year by finishing 11th in the event at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. He qualified for the meet with a career-best time of 7:45.56, which ranked 14th nationally.
The senior from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, won the mile run at the SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships in a meet-record time of 3:59.75 and helped the Paladins’ distance medley relay finish second.
In the fall, Ponder won the SoCon Cross Country Championship with a time of 24:40.0, earning SoCon Runner of the Year accolades and leading Furman to its ninth straight team title. He finished ninth at the NCAA Southeast Region Championship, earning all-region honors and helping the Paladins to a second-place team finish, a No. 17 national ranking, and a spot in the NCAA Championship.
Ponder won the individual title at the Furman Invitational, leading the Paladins to the team title, and helped the squad to the team win at a loaded Notre Dame’s Joe Piane Invitational.
He claimed SoCon runner of the week honors twice during cross country season and track honors three times during indoor season. Ponder earned monthly honors a combined three times during the academic year. In addition, he was twice named the SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week.
A member of the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, Ponder volunteers with the Greenville Children’s Hospital and organized various community service initiatives for the Paladins with the children’s hospital, including a toy drive through the Valiant Player organization. He is also a member of the Furman Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
Strange is Chattanooga’s third winner of the Bob Waters SoCon Male Athlete of the Year award, all of which have been football players. Davis Tull won the Mocs’ first in 2014-15 and Jacob Huesman earned the honor the following year.
A standout offensive lineman, Strange was a consensus All-American for the 2021 season, earning first-team honors from the AFCA, Athlon Sports, HERO Sports, Phil Steele, Stats Perform and Walter Camp and third-team honors from the Associated Press. He finished his career as a five-year starter and a three-time All-SoCon selection.
The graduate student from Knoxville, Tennessee, won his second straight SoCon Jacobs Blocking Award in the fall after helping the Mocs’ offensive line to allow just nine sacks, matching a program record. Strange also helped clear the way for 1,000-yard rusher and first-team All-SoCon running back Ailym Ford, who ranked second in the league in yards per game.
After the season, Strange was selected for the Reese’s Senior Bowl and invited to the NFL Combine, where he earned All-Combine Team status at left guard.
In April, Strange was selected with the 29th overall pick in the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, becoming the league’s first first-round pick since 1974 and the Mocs' highest-drafted player ever, surpassing Pro Football and SoCon Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, who was selected in the third round with the 89th overall pick in 1996.
A four-time Academic All-SoCon selection, Strange graduated in December 2020 with a degree in psychology before beginning work on an engineering management master’s degree. A two-time FCS ADA Academic All-Star, Strange was an FCS ADA Postgraduate Scholarship finalist and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 distinction. He had six 4.0 semesters in his academic career.
Strange was also an active participant in the Mocs’ community service efforts.
Past female winners
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman golfer Anna Morgan has been named the 2021-22 Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year and Paladin cross country/track and field runner Cameron Ponder and Chattanooga football player Cole Strange were voted co-winners of the Bob Waters Southern Conference Male Athlete of the Year award, the league announced Thursday.
The Athlete of the Year Awards are selected annually by the Southern Conference athletics directors and a media member representing each conference school. The award recognizes athletic achievement, academic performance and civic involvement. Prior to 1990-91, the award was selected solely by members of the Southern Conference Sports Media Association. Beginning in 1991-92, the men's award was named after the late Bob Waters, who was Western Carolina's head football coach from 1969-88.
Ponder and Strange are the first student-athletes in league history to share the athlete of the year award. Morgan and Ponder make Furman just the third school to win both awards in the same year, with ETSU’s Keith “Mister” Jennings and Nicole Hopson winning in 1990-91 and Mercer’s Will Bagrou and Kahlia Lawrence doing so in 2017-18.
Morgan is Furman’s third straight SoCon Female Athlete of the Year, following former teammate and current Epson Tour player Natalie Srinivasan, who won in 2019-20, and professional Adidas runner Gabbi Jennings, who claimed the honor last season. Morgan is the 11th Paladin to win the award.
The 2022 SoCon Player of the Year, Morgan led the league with a 72.25 stroke average over 36 rounds. The junior from Spartanburg, South Carolina, finished ninth at the NCAA Championship, punching her ticket to the final event by tying for fifth at the NCAA Stillwater Regional. She finished the season ranked No. 16 nationally and was a second-team All-America selection by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association.
The Edna Hartness Furman Female Athlete of the Year earned All-SoCon honors for the second straight season after posting nine top-10 finishes and six top-five finishes in 2021-22, including wins at the Lady Paladin Invitational, where she set a tournament record at 13-under-par and helped Furman to the team title, and the UNF Collegiate. Morgan also tied for ninth at the SoCon Women’s Golf Championship to help the Paladins to the team title. She was the SoCon Player of the Month for September, February and March and earned SoCon Player of the Week honors five times on the season.
On the national and international stages, Morgan finished 21st at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April and played in the U.S. Women’s Open in early June. She competed for the U.S. Team at the Arnold Palmer Cup last weekend.
Off the golf course, Morgan earned WGCA All-America Scholar Team accolades for the second straight season and is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the honor society for communications studies. She was the winner of the Pinnacle Award, which goes to the student-athlete with the top GPA on the SoCon championship-winning team. Morgan is also a member of Kappa Delta sorority, through which she works with local Girl Scout troops and which raised money for the Julie Valentine Center, a nonprofit that provides services to sexual assault and child abuse survivors.
Ponder is Furman’s 10th winner of the Bob Waters SoCon Male Athlete of the Year award and the first since tennis player James Cameron won in 2002-03.
Furman’s Male Athlete of the Year for a second straight season, Ponder earned All-America honors in the 3,000-meter run for the second straight year by finishing 11th in the event at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. He qualified for the meet with a career-best time of 7:45.56, which ranked 14th nationally.
The senior from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, won the mile run at the SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships in a meet-record time of 3:59.75 and helped the Paladins’ distance medley relay finish second.
In the fall, Ponder won the SoCon Cross Country Championship with a time of 24:40.0, earning SoCon Runner of the Year accolades and leading Furman to its ninth straight team title. He finished ninth at the NCAA Southeast Region Championship, earning all-region honors and helping the Paladins to a second-place team finish, a No. 17 national ranking, and a spot in the NCAA Championship.
Ponder won the individual title at the Furman Invitational, leading the Paladins to the team title, and helped the squad to the team win at a loaded Notre Dame’s Joe Piane Invitational.
He claimed SoCon runner of the week honors twice during cross country season and track honors three times during indoor season. Ponder earned monthly honors a combined three times during the academic year. In addition, he was twice named the SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week.
A member of the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, Ponder volunteers with the Greenville Children’s Hospital and organized various community service initiatives for the Paladins with the children’s hospital, including a toy drive through the Valiant Player organization. He is also a member of the Furman Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
Strange is Chattanooga’s third winner of the Bob Waters SoCon Male Athlete of the Year award, all of which have been football players. Davis Tull won the Mocs’ first in 2014-15 and Jacob Huesman earned the honor the following year.
A standout offensive lineman, Strange was a consensus All-American for the 2021 season, earning first-team honors from the AFCA, Athlon Sports, HERO Sports, Phil Steele, Stats Perform and Walter Camp and third-team honors from the Associated Press. He finished his career as a five-year starter and a three-time All-SoCon selection.
The graduate student from Knoxville, Tennessee, won his second straight SoCon Jacobs Blocking Award in the fall after helping the Mocs’ offensive line to allow just nine sacks, matching a program record. Strange also helped clear the way for 1,000-yard rusher and first-team All-SoCon running back Ailym Ford, who ranked second in the league in yards per game.
After the season, Strange was selected for the Reese’s Senior Bowl and invited to the NFL Combine, where he earned All-Combine Team status at left guard.
In April, Strange was selected with the 29th overall pick in the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, becoming the league’s first first-round pick since 1974 and the Mocs' highest-drafted player ever, surpassing Pro Football and SoCon Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, who was selected in the third round with the 89th overall pick in 1996.
A four-time Academic All-SoCon selection, Strange graduated in December 2020 with a degree in psychology before beginning work on an engineering management master’s degree. A two-time FCS ADA Academic All-Star, Strange was an FCS ADA Postgraduate Scholarship finalist and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 distinction. He had six 4.0 semesters in his academic career.
Strange was also an active participant in the Mocs’ community service efforts.
-www.SoConSports.com-