HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Seniors Tom Wright and Sydney Greenwalt, along with freshman Katie McElveen highlighted the 2011 Coker College Athletic Awards Ceremony held Wednesday night in Coker’s Watson Theater. Wright and Greenwalt were named the C.G. Timberlake Male and Female Athletes of the Year Award, while McElveen received Freshman of the Year honors.
A native of Sydney, Australia, Wright has been a team leader both on and off the court for the Coker men’s basketball team. The Cobras leading scorer with nearly 14 points per game, Wright was a Second Team All-Conference and All-Tournament team selection. With Tom’s help the Cobras made a historic run in the 2011 Conference Carolinas Basketball Tournament, where they advanced to the championship game for the first time in school history.
Off the court Tom has been a high achiever in the classroom with a 3.93 GPA in business. He earned Academic All-Conference honors and was named the Scholar Athlete of the Year for Men’s Basketball in Conference Carolinas. Along with members of his team he made visits to health care centers and elementary schools, making his impact felt within the Hartsville community and beyond.
Greenwalt is a native of Edwardsville, Illinois, and a member of the Cobra softball team. A left-handed pitcher for the Cobras, she was the leader of the Cobras pitching staff for 2011 and earned First Team All-Conference and All-Tournament Team honors. She had an ERA of 1.86 with a record of 12-9. She threw 140.2 innings, including 16 complete games and six shutouts. She had 74 strikeouts and just 19 walks.
Off the field Sydney is an Academic All-Conference and Academic All-American. She has a 3.77 GPA with a psychology major. She completed two research projects while at Coker and presented them at the Carolinas Psychology Conference, Honors Research Symposium and the Berry Litsey Annual Psychology Symposium. She interned with the women's therapist at the Pee Dee Coalition for Sexual Abuse and Domestic Violence and she also worked for Agape Hospice for the past year.
McElveen is a two-sport star for the Cobras in volleyball and softball from Hartsville, S.C. On the volleyball court she led the team with 192 kills and 203 digs. She was second in aces with 25.
On the softball field she was the Cobras offensive leader with five home runs, 28 RBIs, 12 doubles and a .321 batting average. She was named the Conference Carolinas Softball Freshman of the Year.
In addition to the Athletes of the Year and the Freshman of the Year awards, Coker also recognized award winners from each team. MVP’s from each team included Marc Mergena for men’s soccer, Morgan Hartline for women’s soccer, Katie McElveen for volleyball, Austin McJunkins for men’s cross country, Kendyl Seawright for women’s cross country, Liam Kyle for men’s basketball, Megan Thomas for women’s basketball, Alyssa Blanchard for women’s tennis, James Corfield for men’s tennis, Tyler Witzel for baseball, Sydney Greenwalt for softball, Jake Murphy for men’s golf and Krista Thopre for women’s golf.