By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With the Golden Wings Awards rapidly approaching, seven Tennessee Tech athletes are up for one of the night's biggest awards – the Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year Award.
The award, voted on by the TTU Awards Committee, will be handed out during the presentation. This honor, as well as the Female Athlete of the Year, Man of the Year and Woman of the Year, had previously been announced in late June and early July, but has been added into the Golden Wings Awards presentation this year.
The timeframe of the awards period is the current season (2016-17 in this instance) except for baseball, softball and outdoor track & field. With those sports still competing with a large portion of their seasons still left, the previous spring campaigns (2016 in this instance) are recognized. The Man and Woman of the Year awards encompass the 2016-17 period for all sports.
The criteria for the award is strictly based on the athletic achievements of each student-athlete in the 2016-17 academic year. The seven finalists, in alphabetical order, are:
<<< Michael Birdsong | Senior | Colonial Heights, Va. | Football
Gilbert Boit | Freshman | Eten, Kenya | Cross Country >>>
<<< Dontez Byrd | Junior | Louisville, Ky. | Football
Aleksa Jugovic | Junior | Leskovac, Serbia | Basketball >>>
<<< Eduardo Mena | Junior | Bultrago del Lozoya, Spain | Tennis
Josh Poplar | Sophomore | Knoxville, Tenn. | Football >>>
<<< Ethan Roberts | Sophomore | Sparta, Tenn. | Baseball |
The Outstanding Male Athlete Award was first established in 1994 and 27 winners have been selected in the previous 23 years, including four years with co-winners.
The previous winners include:
1994 – Mike Jones (Football)1995 – Greg Bibb (Basketball)
1996 – Michael Penix (Football)
1997 – Mark Maberry (Baseball)
1998 – Andre Caballero (Football)
1999 – Branon Vaughn (Football)
2000 – Branon Vaughn (Football)
2001 – Chad Evitts (Football)
2002 – Grant Swallows (Football)
2003 – Casey Benjamin (Baseball)
2004 – Willie Jenkins (Basketball)
2005 – Willie Jenkins (Basketball) / Frank Omiyale (Football)
2006 – Scott Stallings (Golf)
2007 – Scott Stallings (Golf)
2008 – Larry Shipp (Football)
2009 – A.J. Kirby-Jones (Baseball)
2010 – A.J. Kirby-Jones (Baseball) / Chad Oberacker (Baseball)
2011 – Zac Swansey (Basketball)
2012 – Tim Benford (Football)
2013 – Syrym Abduhkalikov (Tennis)
2014 – Daniel Miles (Baseball) / Brandon Thomasson (Baseball)
2015 – Alex Arovin (Tennis)
2016 – Eduardo Mena (Tennis) / Kevin Strohschein (Baseball)