Second annual Lippy Awards honor excellence in athletics

Student athletes traded their uniforms for formal wear for the second annual Lippy Awards Wednesday evening in Allen Arena. The Lippys honor athletes, coaches and others who contribute in various ways to Lipscomb sports teams. Before the show, guests enjoyed live music from Marquee Mayfield and showed off their formal wear at photo booths. The show was hosted by soccer coach Chris Klotz and cross county coach Marcus Evans. To begin, the James R. Byers Award was presented to senior field thrower April Terry and senior baseball player Josh Lee. It is the highest award given to student-athletes. Terry quoted the Mary Mary song “God in Me” in her acceptance speech, saying, “I hope that you see that I’m really not that outstanding, but all of the accolades, the records, the titles – it’s all God working.” Lee, who made his way from Vandy to Central Arizona College and finally landed at Lipscomb, said that he’s blessed for the opportunities at Lipscomb. “This is a great accomplishment, but the one thing I’ll remember is all the relationships I’ve built with my teammates,” Lee said. Golfer Dawson Armstrong and cross country runner Paige Stoner took home the male and female Freshman of the Year awards. Senior soccer player Luke Gearin won International Player of the Year. Women’s soccer coach Kevin O’Brien received the Don Meyer Head Coach of the Year for his inspiration to the athletic program. “I think I have the best job in the world,” O’Brien said. “I’m so thankful to get to work with the girls I work with every day.” Luke Syverson, who coaches track and field, was...

Track and Field to open outdoor season with first ever home meet

The Lipscomb track and field team has anticipated hosting Belmont in a home meet for some time, and now it finally gets to do this Friday as the outdoor season kicks off. The track and field Battle of the Boulevard is historic for the Bisons because it is the first home meet the team has ever hosted. “I think it’s a good idea that we have a home meet, and I’m kind of excited, being a senior, that it is the first home meet that we have ever hosted,” senior sprinter Kenny Smith said. Even though running at home is exciting for the team, they said there are still a few factors they feel uneasy about. Smith said that the team’s motivation could be higher. “It’s hard [to get motivated] because some people aren’t taking it as seriously as it should be taken, like a normal, big track meet,” Smith said. “We’re not really looking at this meet as a meet, we’re looking more to it as practice, which is never good going into a meet — thinking of it as practice when you should be thinking of it as a meet — as competition.” Regardless of the team’s degree of motivation toward the meet, the team is excited since it is the first outdoor meet of the season. At the end of the indoor season, the Bisons showed some success. Sophomore Wayne Newman set the Lipscomb and Atlantic Sun record for the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.95 seconds, and Madi Talbert, Sally Larson, Barbara Lee Ball and Paige Stoner dominated the 5000m. “I think we ended on a...

Underclassman stand out at TSU Invitational

The Lipscomb Bisons Track and Field team saw many of the younger athletes succeed with personal records as well as in team records as they competed in their third indoor meet of the season at Tennessee State University. The Bisons saw success in both the field events as well as running events. Starting with the women’s team, several athletes set new personal records, and some broke even bigger records. Senior thrower April Terry, one of the Bisons’ leading throwers, broke the school record in the weight throw with a throw of 17.82m, and sophomore thrower Rachel Dixon set a PR in the shotput (10.01m). On the running side of the events, the Lady Bisons were at the top of many of the events with several of the younger athletes taking some of the glory. The Lady Bisons swept the mile. Madi Talbert took first with a time of 5:00.89, Barbara Lee Ball finished second at 5:01.05, and Sally Larson rounded out the top three running a time of 5:03.47. Freshman Kayla Montgomery won the 5k with a time of 18:02.39. Freshman Kacey Kemper won the 800 (2:16.06), and the team’s DMR team finished in first (13:10.94). When it came to the men’s events, it was the freshmen and sophomores that stood out as well. Sophomore Devon Wade won the pole vault with a jump of 4.10m, while freshman Grayson Webber took first in the weight throw (13.33m), and freshman Kade Hinkle set a personal record in the weight throw (11.35m). Senior Kenny Smith took second in the 400 meter race (0:50.71) with sophomore Brian Gentry following closely behind to take third (0:51.22). Sophomore...

Men’s and women’s cross country sweep A-Sun titles

Another year, another successful season for the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country programs. The Women scored 21 points in the Atlantic Sun Championships to secure their fourth consecutive conference title. Madi Talbert, Paige Stoner, and Dani Walker swept the top three spots, taking first, second and third respectively. All three runners, along with Sally Larson who finished sixth overall, earned spots on the A-Sun All-Conference First Team. Stoner was also named A-Sun Freshman of the Year. Barbara Lee Ball, Kayla Montgomery and Minna Fields took spots on the All-Conference Second Team. Ball and Montgomery finished ninth and 13th in the A-Sun Championship. The Men’s team also had a stand-out day in route to winning their second A-Sun Championship in a row. Juan Gonzalez, Daniel Gardner and Christian Freeman took third, fourth and fifth place in the competition. All three also placed on the A-Sun All-Conference First Team. The Bisons fourth and fifth runners, junior Jared Wingerter and sophomore Jared Daedler, both set personal records in route to finshing ninth and 15th overall. Wingerter earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. “Jared Wingadner had a great race,” head coach Benton Reed said. “He passed two Northern Kentucky guys in the end with an awesome finish. I knew Jared Dadeler was going to have a good race because he just kept on moving up throughout the race and by the end he was where he needed to be and it really made the difference for the team. Without him, we wouldn’t have won.” The Men’s team had made it a goal all season to win Conference again, while the women’s...

The Postgame: October brings success for Bisons

The Postgame brings you up-to-date on all of Lipscomb’s sporting events. Fall sports are in full swing, and the Bisons are finding success in October. WOMEN’S SOCCER The Lady Bisons soccer team is 3-1-1 in the month of October. Lipscomb tied with North Florida 0-0 after two overtimes. On Oct. 5, the Lady Bisons defeated Jacksonville 1-0, then traveled to Stetson to pick up a 4-2 victory on Oct. 10. Two days later, Florida Gulf Coast got the best of Lipscomb 2-1. However, the Lady Bisons bounced back getting a 4-0 shutout against USC Upstate. Junior Anna Lail has scored five goals in October, which has earned her two Atlantic Sun Player of the Week honors. Freshman Elizabeth Ashwood recorded her first goal as a Lady Bison against USC Upstate. Lipscomb has clinched a spot in the A-Sun Championship tournament for only the second time in program history. The Lady Bisons will play their final regular season game Oct. 24 against Northern Kentucky at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. The seniors will be honored as part of Senior Day. MEN’S SOCCER The men’s soccer team sits in third in the A-Sun with seven points. The Bisons posted a 1-0 win over North Florida on Oct. 18. Junior Reece Holcombe scored a goal in the 56th minute off a pass from redshirt junior Matt Kerridge. On Oct. 11, Lipscomb fell 3-1 to Stetson. Senior Luke Gearin scored the Bisons lone goal. The goal moved Gearin into a tie for third place on Lipscomb’s career goal rankings. Freshman goalie Nate Davis earned A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week honor for the week...