Falcon Awards Banquet: Softball

On Tuesday, May 4, 2017, the Falcons packed the gymnasium at the L. Gale Lemerand Center for Daytona State College's annual athletics awards banquet. Students, coaches, parents and staff enjoyed a great evening with catering from Carrabba's Restaurant and a bevy of awards honoring our top student-athletes for the 2016-17 season.

It was a very successful year on the field, in the classroom, on the court, at the course and on the pitch. Every one of the Falcons' eight varsity athletics programs finished with a record at .500 or above for the year. Six of the DSC athletic squads received Top 20 national rankings this year including women's volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer, women's golf, men's basketball and women's fast pitch softball. Seven of our teams qualified for postseason play. Eleven student-athletes received first-team conference honors this year, with many additional honorees receiving second and third team recognitions as well.

The Falcon softball squad finished the year 36-18 overall, 15-9 in the Mid-Florida conference. At the end of the regular season, the Falcons were ranked #17 in the country and #7 in the NJCAA Region 8 Coaches Poll. With a third place finish in the conference, they earned a bid to the FCSAA state tournament where they advanced to the second round before being eliminated by the tournament champions.

Thirty-three of our student-athletes are moving on to four year universities in the fall, with several more still undecided. It is our greatest pride to see our Falcons leave the nest and soar on to their next chapter. We wish all of our graduating sophomores the best and thank parents, coaches, staff and faculty for supporting another stellar season in Falcon athletics.

SOFTBALL ACCOLADES

GALE LEMERAND LEADERSHIP AWARD WINNERS

This award recognizes a student-athlete annually for his/her outstanding leadership, commitment to all responsibilities as a student-athlete, setting a positive role model example for all student-athletes, demonstrating a concern for and desire to help others and a desire to further develop and enhance the Daytona State College intercollegiate athletic program. 2017 Award winners (left to right): Nashad Mackey (men's basketball); Amanda Nikhazy (women's softball) and Gage Hutchinson (men's baseball) with Dr. Thomas LoBasso, President of Daytona State College.

Amanda Nikhazy Falcon Award	Sammi Poehlman Coach's Achievement Award	Karlee Beard Most Valuable Player	Riley Gore Falcon Hustle Award	Megan Woodson Student-Athlete of the Year	Holli Jones Scholar-Athlete of the Year