Letter from the Director of Athletics

TROJAN NATION:

This year has been one of the most unprecedented in our lifetime as we have encountered many newfound challenges. Even in the midst of these times, Troy University Athletics has not only endured, but has thrived during this time period. I am proud to say that our student-athletes achieved records in the classroom over the course of the last year and truly embodied a commitment to the W4 approach of winning in the community, on the playing field, in the classroom and in the stands!

As we look to the future, I am incredibly excited to see all of our student-athletes back in action. Equally as important, all of us with Troy Athletics cannot wait to see YOU – our beloved and devoted fans – once again in the stands this year.

None of our past or future success would be possible without the great support from our University leadership, Board of Trustees and amazing fans. Now is the time for us to come together as One TROY and truly rise to the top of the Sun Belt Conference!

Brent Jones Director of Athletics

CONTENTS

Board of Trustees

Letter from the Chancellor

Letter from the Director of Athletics

Head Coaches

Women’s Basketball

Volleyball

Soccer

Track & Field / Cross Country Men’s Basketball

Football

Baseball / Softball

Men’s & Women’s Golf

Men’s and Women’s Tennis

Individual Accolades

All-Conference

Trojans Trending Upwards Attendance Records

Development Academic Success

Trojans Making a Difference Virtual Tours

Facility Improvements T-Roy’s Parade / FOODraiser Light It Blue 2

3

5

8-9

10-11

12-13

14-15

16-17

18-19

20-21

22

23

24

25-27

28-29

30-31

32-33

34

35

36-37

38-39

40-41

42

43

TROY ATHLETICS HEAD COACHES

Bart Barnes Men’s Golf

Elliott Blount Cross Country

Scott Cross Men’s Basketball

Marc Davis Track & Field

Rawia Elsisi Women’s Tennis

Randy Keck Women’s Golf

Nic Laracuente Cheer

TROY ATHLETICS HEAD COACHES

Josh Lauer Volleyball

Chip Lindsey Football

Beth Mullins Softball

Ged O’Connor Soccer

Chanda Rigby Women’s Basketball

Mark Smartt Baseball

Rolando Vargas Men’s Tennis

TROY ATHLETICS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The 2019-20 season was one for the record books for the Troy women’s basketball team. With a 16-2 record in the Sun Belt Conference, the Trojans won their first-ever Sun Belt regular season championship and second conference title in program history

The Trojans posted a 25-4 overall record, the best record in program history, on their way to earning the No. 1 overall seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Troy’s 25 wins set a program record for wins in a season, surpassing the previous-high of 23 set during the 1996-97 season

Following a loss at Duke at the end of November, the Trojans became nearly unbeatable. They rattled off nine straight wins between Dec. 1 and Jan. 8 and won 16 of their next 17 games. Troy’s nine-game winning streak also included a tournament championship in Las Vegas at the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in late December

The Trojans were well represented on the Sun Belt All-Conference Team. Japonica James earned first team honors while Alexus Dye was named to the second team and Jasmine Robinson to the third team. It was the first time in program history that Troy had more than two student-athletes selected to all-conference teams

Two Trojans scored their 1,000th career point during the season. Seniors Kayla Robinson and Amber Rivers became the 23rd and 24th members of the 1,000-point club at Troy

The senior class of Japonica James, Kayla Robinson, Kate Rodgers, Amber Rivers and Harriet Winchester became the winningest class in program history. The seniors won a total of 87 games in their illustrious careers, surpassing the previous-high of 83 set by the senior class from the 2018-19 season

On Feb. 11 Troy began receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, marking the second-consecutive season the Trojans received votes in a national poll. Troy was also ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 for more than half the season and was ranked 13th in the final poll

The Trojans were truly “Rebounding U” during the 2019-20 season as they led the country in every rebounding statistic; total rebounds (1,595), rebounds per game (55.0), rebounding margin (+15.4), offensive rebounds per game (22.2) and defensive rebounds per game (32.8). It marked the third straight season Troy lead the NCAA in rebounding average

Troy finished inside the top 10 nationally in scoring average (80.2 ppg) while leading the Sun Belt in scoring for the eighth straight season

The Trojans have posted an 87-37 record over the last four years

TROY ATHLETICS VOLLEYBALL

The Troy volleyball program finished 2019 with a 23-10 record and made its first-ever postseason appearance after accepting a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Tournament (NIVC)

The Trojans secured their first postseason win in program history with a sweep over North Carolina A&T in the first round of the NIVC; it was the first postseason win by a women’s sport at Troy in the Division I era (1993)

Troy’s 12-win improvement from 2018 to 2019 tied for the sixth-best turnaround in the country

The Trojans ended the regular season with an RPI ranking of No. 88 and reached an all-time program high of No. 71 at one point during the season. Troy ended the 2018 season with an RPI of No. 239; a gain of 151 spots year-over-year for end of season rankings

Troy’s 23 wins were the third most in school history and the most since 1995 (27-11). The Trojans finished with a winning percentage of .697, which is the second best mark in program history. Troy tied the school record, which was set in 2012, with 10 Sun Belt Conference wins

Amara Anderson and Cheyenne Hayes each garnered First Team All-Sun Belt honors in 2019 which marked the first time since Troy joined the Sun Belt in 2005 that a Trojan garnered first team honors, and just the second time since 2005 two Trojans received a Sun Belt postseason honor in the same year

After being named to the second team in 2018, Cheyenne Hayes became the first Troy player since 2002-03 to earn conference recognition in back-to-back seasons

Amara Anderson’s 1,348 assists were the 14th most in the nation while her 11.23 assists/set ranked 22nd nationally; both statistics led the Sun Belt

Cheyenne Hayes’ 455 total kills in 2019 were the third most in a single-season in program history and the most in the modern 25-point rally era. Hayes became the third Trojan to record 400 kills in backto-back seasons and the first to do it in the modern 25-point rally era

A Trojan received a Sun Belt weekly award nine times during the season, which is the most Troy has ever had in a single season. Amara Anderson, Cheyenne Hayes, Julia Brooks and Lacey Jeffcoat were all recognized by the league office

TROY ATHLETICS SOCCER

Troy scored 41 goals in 2019; the third most in school history

The Trojans tallied an impressive 123 total points on the season; tied for the second best output in school history

Troy’s 41 assists were the most in the Sun Belt Conference and the 17th most in the country; the Trojans averaged a Sun Belt best 2.16 assists per game

In 2019, Troy soccer notched a program-record seven Sun Belt wins en route to a second place finish in the league

Troy found the back of the net a Sun Belt best 24 times during conference play; the Trojans averaged 2.4 goals per game over 10 Sun Belt games

The Trojans finished the season with a .737 winning percentage; the second best winning percentage in school history

The Troy Soccer Complex was good to Troy in 2019, as the Trojans finished the season 7-0-1 at home and finished the regular season on a seven-match winning streak. It was just the second unbeaten home season in program history

In front of the largest crowd of the season, the Trojans defeated SBC regular-season champion South Alabama for the second consecutive season, earning an impressive 2-0 victory

The Trojans won 12 matches in 2019, the second most victories in school history

Haleigh Mercer (Defensive Player of the Week) and Taytum Terrell (Player of the Week) were the first two Trojans to earn Sun Belt weekly honors since 2017

Four Trojans (Maddie Brune, Kiersten Edlund, Kate Eubanks and Haliegh Mercer) were named Sun Belt Conference honorees; the most since 2015

Kiersten Edlund set the program career and single-season record for assists. Edlund’s 12 assists led the Sun Belt Conference and were in the top-10 nationally

TROY ATHLETICS TRACK & FIELD / CROSS COUNTRY

The women’s indoor squad finished second as a team with a program-record 89 total points at the 2020 Sun Belt Indoor Championships. The second place finish was the Trojans’ best finish in program history, while the 89 total team points are also a new school record, surpassing last season’s 81-point output

Troy placed six athletes on the All-Sun Belt Indoor Team, the most of any team in the league. Gemma Finch was a first team selection while Tanner Guest was named a member of the second team. Rayne Duhart, Madison Kennedy, Precious Ogba and Macki Walsh were all third team selections

Gemma Finch took home two gold medals (800m, DMR) and one silver medal (4x400m) at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships

Tanner Guest captured the silver medal in the 800m at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships with a time of 2:14.75

Macki Walsh took bronze in the 5000m at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships with a time of 17:13.41. Walsh also broke her own school record in the 3000m by nearly three seconds with a time of 9:57.60

Rayne Duhart cracked the podium at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships, taking bronze in the 60m dash with a personal-best time of 7.63 seconds

After finishing seventh in the 400m preliminary race, Madison Kennedy shaved over a second off her time to earn bronze at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships with a time of 55.64

Precious Ogba earned a bronze medal at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships with a time of 24.30 seconds in the 200m

The distance medley relay (Gemma Finch, Madison Kennedy, Edita Sklenska, Tanner Guest) took gold at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships with a time of 11:55.44, while the 4x400 relay (Precious Ogba, Madison Kennedy, Gemma Finch, Edita Sklenska) took silver with a time of 3:45.68

In Troy’s only outdoor event of the year, the Trojans won five different events and placed second in two different events highlighted by strong performances from Amaya Anderson (2:23.88) and Martin Bouldo (1:57.53) who each won the 800m

TROY ATHLETICS MEN’S BASKETBALL

Troy swept Georgia State for the second time in school history thanks to a 75-65 victory over the Panthers at Trojan Arena and an 84-78 win in Atlanta

Trojan faithful packed Trojan Arena in 2019-20 as Troy set a new season benchmark with an average attendance of 2,508 fans per game. The figure was the highest single-game average in Trojan Arena history and the third-highest in the Sun Belt Conference

In the season opener against UAB, Troy recorded its largest non-Power 5 single-game attendance (5,010) in Trojan Arena history

The Trojans set a program Sun Belt Conference single-game attendance record when 4,523 fans packed Trojan Arena for a nationally televised match-up against South Alabama

Troy was the only team in the Sun Belt Conference to record four victories against Georgia State, Little Rock and Texas State

Troy defeated Texas State in San Marcos, it was Troy’s first win at Texas State

The Trojans downed Sun Belt Conference regular-season champion Little Rock. The 76-71 victory was Little Rock’s first Sun Belt Conference loss of the season

Ahead of the 2020-21 season, Scott Cross and the Trojans completed one of the best recruiting classes in school history. The 10-man class includes seven true freshmen and three players that played in junior college a season ago

The class includes Sidney Lanier product Antwan Burnett, who became the program’s first four-star true freshman signee in school history. A standout both on the hardwood and the gridiron, Burnett scored more then 2,000 points for Sidney Lanier and finished as the Poets all-time leading scorer

Troy added to its in-state haul when Duke Miles (Lee HS) and Kam Woods (Pinson Valley HS) also signed with the program. Two of the five 2019-20 Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Super Five selections, Miles and Woods, teamed up with Burnett in the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Game leading Alabama to a decisive 118-97 victory

TROY ATHLETICS FOOTBALL

Carlton Martial was named to the Pro Football Focus All-America Second Team and was named the No. 35 player in all of college football by Pro Football Focus

Carlton Martial became just the 12th player and first underclassman in the last 20 years at the FBS level to finish a season with at least 100 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and three interceptions

Kaylon Geiger was named the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year after he finished second in the league in receptions, yards and yards per game. His 77 receptions ranked as the third most in a season in Troy history while his 873 yards finished just shy of the top 10; he tied the school record after topping the 100-yard mark in five different games

Troy hosted South Alabama in a nationally-televised game on ESPN2 and defeated the Jaguars to claim the “Battle for the Belt” for the second straight season

Troy’s 36 wins over the last four seasons are the second most among all FBS schools in the state of Alabama and the sixth most among all Group of Five conferences

Fifteen Trojans were named to the All-Sun Belt Team following the season including Kaleb Barker, Kaylon Geiger, Carlton Martial and Will Sunderland who were named to the first team

Will Sunderland (Seattle Seahawks) and Marcus Webb (Green Bay Packers) signed undrafted NFL free agent contracts

Quarterback Kaleb Barker tied the school record with five touchdown passes in Troy’s win at Texas State – he was named the Allstate Manning Star of the Week and was featured on ESPN

The Trojans signed one of the top recruiting classes in school history with the addition of 17 three-star players

Redshirt freshman A.J. Lewis set a Troy record for tight ends with three touchdown receptions on the season

Troy’s 63-point outburst at Texas State was its highest scoring Sun Belt game in school history and the fifth highest scoring league game in SBC history

Faced with an unprecedented spring semester, the Trojans posted the highest GPA in program history with 57 players earning a 3.0 or higher