Sidelines
WOMEN’S TENNIS
SUN BELT COACH OF THE YEAR
Coach Sean McCaffrey was named the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year. He led Georgia Southern to a 19-8 overall record in 2021, setting a new school record for single season wins, while also going 7-3 in league play to earn the East Division No. 2 seed. The Eagles went on to win three matches at the Sun Belt Championship to capture the 2021 Sun Belt Conference title. The crown is the first conference tournament title for Georgia Southern tennis since 1996 and also earned the Eagles their first NCAA Championship berth for the first time in program history.
WOMEN’S GOLF
NEW COACH SELECTED
Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Jared Benko has announced the hiring of Mimi Burke to lead the Eagle women’s golf program. Burke comes to Statesboro from the University of Georgia, where she spent the last four seasons. She began her collegiate coaching career at Purdue, where she served as an assistant coach for the women’s program from 2015-17. A native of Mooresville, North Carolina, Burke was a four-year letterwinner at Appalachian State from 2009-13, where she posted the 10th-best stroke average in school history.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
SUN BELT FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR RECOGNITION
Terren Ward was named the 2020-21 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Year. Ward averaged 7.9 points per game and was the Eagles’ leading scorer in Sun Belt Conference games at 9.2 points per game. The Jesup, Georgia, native earned Sun Belt Player of the Week honors on Feb. 8, becoming the first Georgia Southern freshman to earn a weekly league honor in program history. She becomes just the third Georgia Southern women’s basketball player to earn league freshman of the year honors, joining 1990 TAAC Freshman of the Year Markisha Vereen and 2007 SoCon Freshman of the Year Carolyn Whitney. Ward is also the first player to earn a major award from Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball since Georgia Southern joined the league in 2014-15.
WOMEN’S RIFLE
TEAM WINS FIRST SOUTHERN CONFERENCE SMALLBORE TITLE
The Georgia Southern rifle team shot a school-record 2,278 to capture its first Southern Conference (SoCon) smallbore team title. It’s the third team title in the program’s short history – rifle’s first year as a sponsored sport was in 2016-17 – as the Eagles won the 2017 and 2019 SoCon air rifle titles. Sophomore Ashley Judson was named air rifle co-athlete of the year for the second time in as many years while also earning first-team honors. Freshman Brianne Staton was named to the SoCon second team in both smallbore and air rifle for her year-long performance.
CLAY TARGET
TEAM WINS ACUI NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Georgia Southern University’s clay target team won its first national championship during the 2021 Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Collegiate Clay Targets Championships in March. Nearly 50 college teams and more than 550 student-athletes made the trip to the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas, to compete across all divisions. The University team of 12 students won the Division 4 championship after shooting the highest score overall out of 14 teams competing. They also outperformed teams from around the nation to win the Super Sporting and Sporting Clays categories.
SOFTBALL
EAGLES HAVE NEW HEAD COACH
Sharon Perkins has been named the head softball coach for the Eagles. Perkins, the seventh head softball coach in Georgia Southern history, replaces Kim Dean, who stepped down after completing four seasons. Perkins was most recently the head coach at Georgia Tech, where she recorded a 290-138 overall record in seven seasons with the Yellow Jackets, a .678 winning percentage. She turned the Georgia Tech program into a national power, one that set over a dozen school and ACC records. She coached 31 All-ACC selections, 17 all-region selections, five All-Americans, four ACC Players of the Year and two Olympians while leading that program. In her career as a player, assistant coach and as a head coach, Perkins has been a part of 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 10 college conference titles.
BASEBALL
SENIOR SELECTED AS SUN BELT PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Mason McWhorter was named Sun Belt Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference alongside teammate Nick Jones. Both players were also named All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball. McWhorter captured the first Player of the Year honor for the team since joining the Sun Belt Conference, posting a .372 average at the plate and driving in 52 runs. McWhorter broke the Georgia Southern school record for career doubles, surpassing Eric Phillips with 67 and crushed 17 home runs. Jones posted a 1.48 ERA, while leading the nation with 17 saves. Noah Ledford rounds out the three Eagles who were awarded honors by the Sun Belt Conference. Ledford was named to the Sun Belt Conference Second Team as a designated hitter, crushing 14 home runs and driving in 45 runs.