Baseball's Johnson named Newcomer of the Year, Fall Golden Eagle Award winners announced
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Over the next two weeks, Tennessee Tech Athletics will recognize the best and brightest of its more than 300 student-athletes by officially releasing the winners of its 2021 Golden Wings Awards.
All-Time Golden Wings Award Winners
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Over the next two weeks, Tennessee Tech Athletics will recognize the best and brightest of its more than 300 student-athletes by officially releasing the winners of its 2021 Golden Wings Awards.
On Wednesday, baseball's Ed Johnson was announced as the Newcomer of the Year Award Winner. Five Golden Eagle Award winners were also released, spanning five fall sports programs including soccer, volleyball, women's cross country, men's cross country and football.
Johnson had an instant impact on the Golden Eagle baseball program in his first season in Cookeville, leading the team in runs scored and ranking second in hits, doubles and on-base percentage. Making 43 starts, the shortstop slashed .331/.406/.483 with 57 hits, 44 runs, nine doubles, five home runs and 28 RBI.
The two-times Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week became the third Tech shortstop in the past 10 years to be named a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, an honor presented by the College Baseball Foundation to the top shortstop in the nation.
An honor created by members of the Tennessee Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), a Golden Eagle Award is presented to each of Tech's 13 teams (indoor and outdoor track & field are combined), as well as the Golden Eagle cheer and dance teams. The teams each vote to select one member of the roster whom they would hold up with pride to represent the team, who is always positive and giving 110 percent, supporting their teammates, win or lose, and serving as the "heart" of the team, no matter whether they were a star or a seldom-used backup.
Following the inaugural show in 2016, Tech's SAAC voted to include both the Golden Eagle cheer and dance teams into the Golden Eagle Awards as a way to honor the two squads that support Tech Athletics year-round. One winner is selected by the members of each team, adding up to a total of 15 winners each year.
For the second straight year, the soccer team selected Katie Bain Lancaster as its Golden Eagle Award winner. The senior forward played in all 10 matches on the season, making four starts and playing more than 350 minutes while constantly displaying her contagious work ethic.
The volleyball team voted setter Ashley Hand as its Golden Eagle Award winner for the first time. The junior started every match and never left the court while pacing the team with 591 assists and ranking fourth with 33 total blocks.
Junior Courtney McCowan was the Golden Eagle Award winner for the women's cross country team, her first such honor in the purple and gold. A Cookeville native, she participated in each of Tech's four events during the abbreviated spring season after the fall campaign was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the men's cross country team, it was senior Ababu Mohamed claiming his first career Golden Eagle Award. The veteran led the Golden Eagles in two of the three events he competed in, including a 15th-place showing at the OVC Championships.
The Golden Eagle Award winner for the football team was senior Mike Rhoades. The offensive lineman started all seven games during the spring season (after the fall season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic), earning All-OVC Second Team honors for the second straight year.
All-Time Golden Eagle Award Winners
The Golden Wings Awards, which enters its sixth year, is an end-of-the-year award ceremony for the Tennessee Tech University student-athletes to honor and celebrate their academic and athletic accomplishments over the past complete seasons. With the cancellation of last year's spring seasons due to COVID-19, this year's awards time frame became simpler than in year's past when multiple years were used to allow for a more complete and fair field of choices. This year, all awards were selected from the accomplishments from the 2020-21 athletic year.
Previously, baseball, softball, outdoor track & field, men's golf, women's golf and tennis nominees were selected from their prior year of competition to allow a more complete campaign from which to gather nominees. The annual awards show was officially cancelled for a second year due to complications with scheduling and COVID-19 protocols. Like the 2020 awards, the choice was made to still honor the student-athletes for their accomplishments from one of the most unique athletic years in history.
Prior to the first Golden Wings Awards show, Tennessee Tech Athletics annually presented four awards to deserving student-athletes, including Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, Man of the Year and Woman of the Year. The first honor established, for the 1990-91 academic year, was the Woman of the Year Award, coinciding with the first NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Two years later, in 1992-93, Tech established its Man of the Year Award. Both the Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year honors were added for the 1993-94 academic year. The four honors were officially adopted into the Golden Wings Awards, including criteria, for the 2016-17 academic year.
