Wingate's Troutman and Johnson Named South Atlantic Conference Track & Field Scholar-Athletes of the Year
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate's Jacob Troutman was voted the South Atlantic Conference Men's Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Akyssa Johnson of Wingate earned the women's honor, the League announced today. The pair earned the honor for their achievements in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
The South Atlantic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is presented annually to one student-athlete in each of the Conference's championship sports, and is voted on by the SAC's Faculty Athletic Representatives Committee.
Troutman, a senior from Aberdeen, N.C., finished his four-year career at Wingate with a 3.97 GPA as a chemistry and mathematics double major. He earned Wingate President's List honors all four years as a Bulldog and was a member of the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society for three years. Troutman joined the Wingate honors program during the first semester of his sophomore year, while earning Alpha Chi National Honors Society honors during his junior season. He also earned the League's inaugural Men's Outdoor Track & Field Elite 18 Honor as he posted the highest GPA at the 2017 SAC Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Troutman earned the Wingate University Freshman Chemistry Student of the Year after finishing the year with the highest GPA in chemistry 101 and 102 during his first year.
"Jacob has represented the South Atlantic Conference well throughout his four years at Wingate," said Wingate head cross country coach Ashley Vaughn Glover. "Athletically, he has developed into being an impactful leader in scoring at the collegiate level. Academically, he has taken advantage of every resource around him and used the knowledge that he has gained to have a lasting impact in the chemistry field. I couldn't think of a better representation of what we stand for under the Make It Yours slogan at Division II."
During the 2017 season, Troutman finished sixth at the South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Championship with a time of 10:16.95 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He also competed in the SAC Championship 5K and posted a time of 16:58.04.
Troutman has earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors three times in his career and has served as a lab assistant at Wingate during his junior and senior years. He participated in the United Way Day of Caring as a junior and a senior, while assisting with Xcel 2 Fitness' Big Event days in each of the past two seasons.
Troutman has been accepted into the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering PhD program at the University of Texas at Austin and will begin his studies in the fall of 2017.
Johnson, an elementary education major, graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA. She has made the President's list all four at Wingate and joined the Wingate University Honors Program during her first semester of her sophomore year. Johnson was also inducted into the Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Chi National Honor Societies during her Wingate years as well. She was also named the South Atlantic Conference Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Elite 18 winner this past season.
"I am thrilled that Alyssa has received recognition for her dedication to academics," said head cross country coach Ashley Vaughn Glover. "Her schedule is very rigorous and she competes year round. She excels in both the classroom and on the track because she truly loves what she is doing."
Johnson contributed points to Wingate's first-ever SAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship as she finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:44.22. She also scored points in the 5K by clocking in at 19:21.40 to place eighth.
Johnson has also made a big impact in her community through her extensive involvement. During her senior year, she was a co-leader for BIGG's inaugural "Running of the Bulls." Wingate University's BIGG (Bulldogs into Going Green) partnered with Bullies to the Rescue to help with them raise money for the rescuing and fostering of English and French Bulldogs.
Since her freshman year Johnson has been a member of UCAN, a student-led organization that serves the needs of the community through student involvement that addresses societal problems where Wingate students can step in and take action. Johnson is currently a member of the Student North Carolina Association of Educators and has volunteered and worked with Top Soccer, an outreach program designed to bring the opportunity of playing soccer to boys and girls with mental or physical disabilities.
At Wingate, Johnson served as Presidential Ambassador and participated in the United Way Day of Caring that saw service efforts being made across Union County to help hundreds of families and organizations. This spring, Johnson played a role in Wingate's "One Day, One Dog" Day of Service. The volunteer initiative was a part of the University's installation of Dr. Rhett Brown as the school's 10th president.
Johnson earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship to go along with Vanderbilt's Dean's Scholarship and Iris Scholarship. She will attend Vanderbilt University to continue her education in the fall. This season marks her second-straight SAC Women's Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
Other Men's Track & Field Nominees
Aubrey Hite, Lenoir-Rhyne
Nathan Jones, Mars Hill
Other Women's Track & Field Nominees
Abigail Bozarth, Anderson
Haylea Salamon, Lenoir-Rhyne