TROY UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Governor of Alabama President, ex-officio
President pro tempore Area 5
Vice President pro tempore Area 2
John D. Harrison
Forrest Latta
Earl Johnson
Allen E. Owen III
Lamar P. Higgins
C. Gibson Vance
Karen Carter
Roy H. Drinkard
Edwards F. Crowell
C. Charles Nailen
Kay Ivey
Area 3
Area 4
Area 1
Area 4
Year in Review
Area 2
Gerald O. Dial
2017-2018
1
Area 6
Area 7
At Large
At Large
DEAR TROJANS: Great universities stir great emotions! Our emotions are stirred when we hear “Pomp and Circumstance” at graduation. Our emotions are stirred when we see the new freshmen arrive on campus. And, our emotions are stirred when we watch our Trojan athletic teams perform. This annual report details a watershed year for Trojan athletics, including our best finish ever in the competition for the Bubas Cup—the all-sports trophy for the Sun Belt Conference. You will be impressed by the story of growth and progress found throughout this publication. It’s important to remember, however, that you play an important role in this story of excellence. You are vital to our success through your attendance and your financial support. Thank you for your investment in Troy University and Trojan athletics. With your help, even brighter days lie ahead for this great University!
Sincerely,
Jack Hawkins, Jr., Ph.D. Chancellor
2017-2018
4
Year in Review
DEAR TROJAN FAITHFUL: As we wrap up the 2017-2018 academic year, I feel so blessed to be a Trojan! It has been another remarkable year, highlighted by many individual and team records and the outstanding support offered our student-athletes by the Troy University community. We created this Athletics Year in Review to help document the successes of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. I hope you enjoy reading about and reliving many great moments and memories that will last a lifetime. However, none of this would be possible without the support we receive from Trojans around the country. At a time when we have been laser-focused on growing into a premier FBS athletic department, this support has allowed us to reach many of our goals. While there is plenty of road left to travel, the future is very bright for Troy Athletics. Together we can succeed as‌One TROY! Sincerely,
Jeremy McClain Director of Athletics
CONTENTS Board of Trustees
1
Letter from the Chancellor
2
Letter from The Director of Athletics
4
Head Coaches 7-8 Team Highlights Soccer & Volleyball
9
Men’s & Women’s Basketball
10
Men’s & Women’s Golf
11
Men’s & Women’s Tennis
12
Cross Country &Track & Field
13-14
Baseball
15-16
Softball
17-18
Football
19-20
Freshmen Takeover 21-22 All-Conference Selections
23-24
Individual Accolades
25-26
Trojans Trending Upwards
27-28
Attendance Records
29-30
Trojans Making a Difference
31-32
Special Olympics Night
33-34
NOLA Graduation 35-36 Bowl Socials 37-38 Trojan Tour 39-40 Hall of Fame
41-42
TROY ATHLETICS HEAD COACHES
NEW COACHES Randy Keck (Women’s Golf)
12-year collegiate coaching veteran who was named the 2012 Conference USA Coach of the Year as he served as head coach at the University of Tulsa. While with Tulsa, Keck guided the Golden Hurricane to a pair of Conference USA titles and eight overall tournament victories. His teams advanced to the NCAA Regionals in four of seven seasons including a berth in the 2008 NCAA Championship.
Rolando Vargas (Men’s Tennis)
Year in Review
Former Troy student-athlete who played No. 1 singles and doubles during his playing career. Guided the AuburnMontgomery women’s team to four NAIA National Championships (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015) and the men to a runner-up finish in 2013.
2017-2018
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Bart Barnes
Neal Brown
Elliott Blount
Phil Cunningham
Marc Davis
Rawia Elsisi
Josh Lauer
Beth Mullins
Men’s Golf
Cross Country
Football
Track & Field
Volleyball
Women’s Tennis
Ged O’Connor Men’s Tennis
Men’s Basketball
Chanda Rigby
Women’s Basketball
Softball
Mark Smartt Baseball
TROY ATHLETICS
SOCCER/ VOLLEYBALL
SOCCER Mikki Lewis – CoSIDA Academic All-District Mikki Lewis finished her career as the school’s all-time leader in wins, shutouts and goals against average Haley Roberson and Julia Winter named Second Team All-Sun Belt Haley Roberson became the first three-time all-conference selection in program history Trojans earned the 3-seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament 35 goals scored on the season by 14 different players – number of players to score a goal is tied for the most in program history 5-0 victory over Georgia Southern marked the largest margin of victory over a conference opponent in program history
VOLLEYBALL One of just three Sun Belt schools to receive “Highest Honorable Mention” honors for this year’s recruiting class by PrepVolleyball.com Advanced to quarterfinals of Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the 8-seed after upsetting 5-seed South Alabama Win over South Alabama in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament was the program’s first Sun Belt Tournament victory since 2013 Advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament for the first time in two seasons
TROY ATHLETICS BASKETBALL
MEN’S BASKETBALL Jordon Varnado (2nd Team) and Wesley Person (3rd Team) named to All-Sun Belt Teams Wesley Person became the fifth player ever to be named All-Sun Belt Conference four times in a career Wesley Person broke the Sun Belt record for most made 3-pointers in a career, set Troy’s all-time scoring record and became the first Trojan to ever score 2,000 points Alex Hicks finished 29th nationally with 14 double-doubles The Trojans defeated South Alabama three times during the season, including knocking the Jaguars out of the Sun Belt Tournament
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Kayla Robinson made Sun Belt Conference History by being named Sun Belt Player of the Week for three consecutive weeks Troy set an NCAA Record with 81 points in the first half against Montevallo on its way to a 130-50 victory. The Trojans also established a program record with an 80-point margin of victory and posted the seventh-most rebounds in NCAA single-game history with 83 Kayla Robinson and Amber Rivers named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team while Sky’Lynn Holmes was named Newcomer of the Year The Trojans led Sun Belt in scoring for the sixth consecutive season Troy finished in the NCAA Top 10 in scoring for the third consecutive season Led the nation in rebounding with 49.52 per game and in offensive rebounds with 21 Only Sun Belt Conference team to defeat league champion Little Rock
TROY ATHLETICS GOLF
MEN’S GOLF Recorded a perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the academic year Bart Barnes named head coach after serving as the head coach for the women’s team since 2013 and serving as an assistant coach for both programs for four seasons prior to that Finished sixth at the Sun Belt Men’s Golf Championship Calum Masters had three top-25 finishes Freshman Connor Futrell tied for 14th at the Sun Belt Championship and led the Trojans with five rounds under par on the season
WOMEN’S GOLF Recorded a perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the academic year Finished in second place at the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Golf Championship Claimed team title at the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate in Morganton, N.C. Beat LSU by 19 shots at the Brickyard Collegiate Classic Bianca Lohbauer had three top-10 finishes and five top-25 finishes Sarah Harrison had four top-25 finishes
TROY ATHLETICS TENNIS
MEN’S TENNIS Pelayo Antuña named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Earned 4-seed at the Sun Belt Men’s Tennis Championship Won Sun Belt Tournament opener to advance to the quarterfinals Eight student-athletes earned their Troy University degree during the 2017-18 academic year
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Rawia Elsisi named Sun Belt Coach of the Year Troy earned the No. 1 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the first time in school history The Trojans advanced to semifinals of Sun Belt Tournament Nancy Karaky selected to represent her home country of Lebanon in the Fed Cup Two student-athletes earned their Troy University degree during the 201718 academic year
TROY ATHLETICS CROSS COUNTRY
Men’s team placed sixth at Sun Belt Conference Championship highlighted by four top-25 finishes Men’s team placed second at the JSU Foothills Invitational Daniel Glick became first athlete in program history to be named a Google Cloud Academic AllAmerican after posting a perfect 4.0 GPA Freshmen Christie Caruana, Kara Coulter and Mackenzie Walsh all recorded top-10 finishes at various meets throughout the season on the women’s side Women’s team earned a perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Rate (APR) score for the second year in a row
Year in Review
Glick, Brennan Garriques and Erika Kulp were named CoSIDA Academic All-District
2017-2018
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TROY ATHLETICS TRACK &FIELD
Highest finish in program history at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships (5th) Jared Hayes was named Sun Belt Male Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Precious Ogba was named Sun Belt Female Freshman of the Year Hayes and Ogba both competed at the USA Junior National Championships – Hayes advanced to the World U20 Championships in the 200-meter Outdoor squad boasted three Sun Belt individual champions – Amir Harris in the 400m, Precious Ogba in the 400m and the men’s 4x100m relay Indiya Summerville claimed the gold in the women’s indoor shot put at the SBC Indoor Championships Sent 12 athletes to the NCAA East Preliminaries in Tampa, Fla. The team set 22 new school records in the indoor and outdoor seasons combined – 12 and 10 respectively Freshman Amir Harris won the 400-meter dash at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships. He was followed by fellow freshman Jared Hayes as the Trojans claimed the top two spots. Freshman Precious Ogba won gold in the women’s 400-meter dash at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships The 4x100 men’s relay team captured gold at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships with a 39.85-second time Additional individual medalists at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships include: Women – Riley Schwietz (2nd in Javelin and Heptathlon), Tiarra Bailey (2nd in 800-meter dash), Jaevyn Wortham (3rd in Discus), Alexis Garrett (3rd in 100-meter hurdles), Madison Kennedy (3rd in 400-meter dash), 3rd in 4x100 relay and 2nd in 4x400 relay Men – Jared Hayes (2nd in 200-meter dash), Daniel Glick (3rd in Steeplechase) and 3rd in 4x400 relay
TROY ATHLETICS BASEBALL
First Troy team since 2013 to advance to the NCAA Regionals after receiving an at-large bid to the Athens Regional Troy won 42 games on the season, the sixth-most in school history, and finished the year with a 41 RPI. Included in the 42 wins were victories over Auburn, Duke, Coastal Carolin and South Alabama (2) Outfielder Joey Denison was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year and an All-American after leading the league and setting a new school record with 81 RBI Matt Sanders scored 90 runs to become Troy’s first NCAA Statistical Champion since the program’s impressive streak of six consecutive years with a stat leader ended in 2009 – he was drafted in the 10th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Seattle Mariners Brandon Lockridge became just the fifth player in school history to be drafted in the top five rounds of the MLB Draft as the New York Yankees selected him in the fifth round at pick 157. Lockridge also won Rawlings Gold Glove Award – just the second player in program history to do so – and set both the single-season and career triples records Rigsby Mosley was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American – he batted .322 and drove home 51 runs in his first season of collegiate baseball The squad set three different school records with 30 triples, 478 strikeouts and 63 games played. Troy led the nation in triples, ranked sixth in stolen bases (117) and 12th in doubles (131)
Andrew Crane, Matt Sanders and Rigsby Mosley named All-Sun Belt Second Team
15
Three Trojans were taken in the MLB Draft – Lockridge (5th), Sanders (10th) and CJ Carter (29th) – tying for the most by any Troy team since four were selected in the 1999 draft
2017-2018
Year in Review
Sophomore Drew Frederic was chosen to the All-Sun Belt First Team at third base. He led the conference and ranked 20th nationally with 28 stolen bases
Troy propelled itself into the NCAA Regional conversation with an impressive run in the Sun Belt Tournament, advancing all the way to the championship game for the first time in eight years
TROY ATHLETICS SOFTBALL
Troy won 34 games during the 2018 season; the most by a Trojan team since 2009 and a 14-win improvement from 2017 Pitcher Annie Willis named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year in addition to being named to the All-Sun Belt First Team Sophomore infielders Katie Webb and Logan Calhoun named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team The Trojans improved their win total by 14 games from 2017 to 2018 and won four games in the conference tournament – more than the previous seven years combined The Trojans played with a youthful roster as Beth Mullins’ squad featured just three seniors Troy advanced to Sun Belt Tournament semifinals The Trojans won series against regular season Sun Belt Conference champion No. 21 Texas State The Trojans defeated No. 21 Louisiana during the regular season at the Troy Softball Complex Junior Peyton Glover ranked 13th nationally and second in Sun Belt Conference in saves Troy finished the season ranked 16th nationally in fielding percentage
Year in Review
For the second straight season, Troy signed the best high school arm in the state by recruiting back-toback Miss Softball Recipients (Annie Willis – 2017 / Leanna Johnson – 2018)
2017-2018
17
TROY ATHLETICS FOOTBALL
Finished the season with 11 wins; its most as an FBS Program Finished 7-1 in the Sun Belt for its league record sixth conference title Defeated North Texas, 50-30, to win the R&L Carries New Orleans Bowl Finished the season on a seven-game winning streak, the fourth-longest active streak in the country
Neal Brown named Sun Belt Coach of the Year
19
Three All-Sun Belt First Team selections (Steven Rowzee, Hunter Reese and Blace Brown) and 18 total selections
2017-2018
Year in Review
Marcus Jones named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year; ESPN and FWAA Freshman All-American; Phil Steele Third Team All-American
Second consecutive year of setting a single-season attendance record with an average of 24,456 fans per game
Home opener vs. Alabama State established a Veterans Memorial Stadium record crowd of 29,278. Two weeks later 27,324 fans packed The Vet to see Troy defeat Akron in thrilling fashion as part of the third-largest crowd in school history Quarterback Brandon Silvers set the Troy touchdowns responsible for record with 87 in his career Running back Jordan Chunn became Troy’s all-time leader in career touchdowns scored with 47 Marcus Jones tied an NCAA record with two kickoff returns for touchdowns at Coastal Carolina Defeated #22 LSU in Death Valley – Troy’s second win over a ranked opponent and snapped LSU’s 49game home non-conference winning streak Became just the sixth team in the past eighth seasons to not allow a play from scrimmage of 50 yards or more in a season; the Trojans also led the country in red zone defense Damion Willis set a Troy bowl record with 11 catches, while his 135 receiving yards were the second most in a bowl game in school history
TROY ATHLETICS FRESHMEN TAKEOVER
Year in Review
6 2017-2018
21
Marcus Jones Football
Sun Belt Conference Freshmen of the Year
Pelayo Antuña Men’s Tennis
Annie Willis
Jared Hayes
Softball
Men’s Track & Field
Precious Ogba
Rigsby Mosley
Women’s Track & Field
Baseball
TROY ATHLETICS ALL-CONFERENCE
Niata Alexander
Tiara Bailey
Antione Barker
Blace Brown
Logan Calhoun
Jordan Chunn Football
Track and Field
Andrew Crane
Tristan Crowder
Deontae Crumitie
Kewin Delis
Joey Denison
Deondre Douglas
Tron Folsom
Drew Frederic
Alexis Garrett
Daniel Glick
Amir Harris
Jared Hayes
Gabrielle Henderson Sky’Lynn Holmes
Track and Field
Baseball
Baseball
Track and Field
Football
Track and Field
Football
Football
Track and Field
Football
Track and Field
Track and Field
Softball
Baseball
Track and Field
Football
Track and Field
Mark Cook
Football
Women’s Basketball
Marcus Jones
Kirk Kelley
Madison Kennedy
Alexandria Rankin
Hunter Reese
Cameron Rice Track and Field
Women’s Basketball
Steven Rowzee
Matt Sanders
Jordon Varnado
Katie Webb
Football
Track and Field
Football
Men’s Basketball
Football
Football
Baseball
Softball
Jordan McClesky
Rigsby Mosley
Precious Ogba
Wesley Person
Amber Rivers
Haley Roberson
Kayla Robinson
Cedarius Rookard
Trevon Sanders
Riley Schwietz
Brandon Silvers
Jamal Stadom
Indiya Summerville
Marcus Webb
Annie Willis
Damion Willis
Julia Winter
Jaevyn Wortham
Track and Field
Football
Football
Track and Field
Track and Field
Softball
Baseball
Soccer
Football
Football
Track and Field
Women’s Basketball
Football
Soccer
Men’s Basketball
Football
Track and Field
Track and Field
TROY ATHLETICS ACCOLADES
Mark Smartt 100th Career Victory at Troy as Head Coach
Rawia Elsisi Sun Belt Conference Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year
Year in Review
Neal Brown Sun Belt Conference Football Coach of the Year
2017-2018
25
Beth Mullins 100th Career Victory at Troy as Head Coach
Rigsby Mosley Freshman All-American
Marcus Jones All-American / Freshman All-American
Sky’Lynn Holmes Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year
Joey Denison Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year | All-American
Daniel Glick Google Cloud Academic All-American
Brandon Lockridge, Matt Sanders, and CJ Carter MLB Draft Picks Lockridge – 5th Round – New York Yankees Sanders – 10th Round – Seattle Mariners Carter – 29th Round – Miami Marlins
TROY ATHLETICS TRENDING UPWARDS
Recorded Highest APR
Baseball, Men’s Golf, Women’s Cross Country and Women’s Golf for their sports in the Sun Belt
Bubas Cup Standings
Troy placed third overall; awarded annually for the top overall sports program performance in the Sun Belt Conference. This represented Troy’s highest all-time finish in the standings
4,600 Individual Gifts Made by 1,500 donors
12% Increase
In football season tickets sold increase in 2017
81.52%
Year in Review
Capacity during the 2017 football season which ranked top 60 nationally and top six in Group of 5 schools
2017-2018
27
11% Increase
In sponsorship revenue in 2018 ; eclipsed the $1 million mark for first time in school history
42% Increase
In baseball attendance in 2018, total attendance ranked 40th in Division I
39% Increase
In Trojan Warrior Fund donations the last two years; up 21% from last year
100.4% Increase
Combined impressions on @TroyAthletics and @TroyTrojansFB on Twitter
111% Increase In stores selling Troy merchandise
12% Increase
In basketball season tickets sold in 2017
25% Increase
In women’s basketball attendance in 2018
6% Increase In softball attendance in 2018
34% Increase In licensing revenue in 2018
37% Increase
In men’s basketball attendance in 2018
TROY ATHLETICS ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Set the all-time highest attended football season which represented a nine percent increase from the 2017 season Football’s nine percent attendance increase from 2016 to 2017 ranked 21st in the nation Per-game football attendance average of 24,456 fans was the highest in Troy football history Set the first, third and eighth highest attended football games in school history Set the second highest attended soccer game in school history as 1,114 fans were on hand for the first home game of the 2017 season Established the highest attended men’s and women’s basketball seasons in Trojan Arena history Crowd of 3,266 for men’s basketball vs. South Alabama on Feb. 3, which was the third-most in Trojan Arena history and the most for a Sun Belt Conference game Established the highest attended baseball season in program history School-record 50,331 fans attended Troy’s 31 home baseball games for an average of 1,623 fans per game - the season attendance numbers ranked third in the league and 40th nationally Two of the three highest-attended baseball games in school history occurred during the final fourgame home stretch against Auburn and South Alabama. 3,189 fans witnessed the Trojans defeated No. 22 Auburn and, just two games later, a record 3,649 fans packed the stands for Senior Day against South Alabama Troy played host to more than 250,000 fans during the 2017-18 athletic year
Trojans
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Year in Review
Giving back to the community that supports us is one of Troy’s fundamental values. Troy student-athletes make a point to donate their time and give back to the local community. Troy Athletics participates in various community service projects throughout the year including:
2017-2018
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Community Clean Up Football Extra Yard for Teachers at Troy Elementary School Donation to Jacksonville State Miracle League
Football Community Service in NOLA SAAC Food Drive Trojan Takeover New Orleans Football Youth Camp
TROY ATHLETICS
SPECIAL OLYMPICS NIGHT
As part of the closing ceremony for the Alabama Special Olympic State Games, nearly 2,000 Olympians and coaches attended Troy baseball’s final home game of the season against South Alabama The national anthem was performed by DeKendrick Graves of York, Ala., while the first pitch was thrown out by Athlete of the Year Dakota Lindsey from Chatum, Ala. Throughout the game, members of the Special Olympics took part in all in-game promotions and were recognized for their accomplishments throughout the State Games
Year in Review
Overall, a Riddle-Pace Field record of 3,649 fans were on hand to watch the Trojans take on the Jaguars
2017-2018
34
TROY ATHLETICS NOLA GRADUATION
Year in Review
Seven football student-athletes and four members of the Sound of the South had their Troy University degrees conferred by Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., and the Troy University Board of Trustees the night before the 2017 R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The unique ceremony took place on the balcony overlooking the patio of Manning’s in New Orleans as an overflow crowd of Troy fans watched during the official New Orleans Bowl Pep Rally. The event was covered by national, regional and local media and highlighted by ESPN during the broadcast of the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
2016-2017
39
TROY ATHLETICS BOWL SOCIALS
Socials held in Troy, Montgomery and Dothan to celebrate Troy football’s sixth conference championship and provide fans with the opportunity to purchase their New Orleans Bowl Tickets. Fans also helped to purchase Community Hero Bowl Tickets at these socials, which were donated by Troy Athletics to local schools, military bases, fire and police departments throughout greater New Orleans.
Year Review Year inin Review
The football coaching staff attended each of the socials to speak with the fans about preparations for the game against North Texas .
2016-2017 2017-2018
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Nine-City Tour
Trojan Tour ‘18 visited nine stops over the state of Alabama and into the Panhandle of Florida (location attendance) Troy (200), Birmingham (150), Dothan (150), Greenville (75), Mobile (50), Enterprise (100), Montgomery (150), Pensacola (75) and Fort Walton (150)
1,200 Miles as part of the tour
Fan Support
Year in Review
More than 1,200 Trojan fans attended nine stops and had the opportunity to purchase new Troy Merchandise at the stops from Barnes & Noble Bookstore
2017-2018
39
Program
Fans who attended Trojan Tour ‘18 had the opportunity to hear from Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain, head football coach Neal Brown, head men’s basketball coach Phil Cunningham, head women’s basketball coach Chanda Rigby, head baseball coach Mark Smartt, head softball coach Josh Lauer and softball head coach Beth Mullins. T-Roy and members of the Troy Cheer squad were also on hand at all nine stops along with the Sun Belt Conference football championship trophy and the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl trophy.
Troy University inducted eight former student-athletes, coaches, supporters and administrators into the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame. The induction class was the sixth all-time into the exclusive group of Trojan greats.
Year in Review
Chuck Ash Mandee Armstrong Ben Bates Bob Lambert Leodis McKelvin Bobby Pierce Wendell Stephens Steve Venable
2017-2018
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ONE TROY TROY ATHLETICS
Year in Review
5000 VETERANS STADIUM DRIVE TROY, AL 36082
2017-2018
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