Austin Peay State University Athletics

Freshman quarterback Draylen Ellis, of the Austin Peay football team, has been named this week’s Austin Peay Athlete of the Week.

Ellis threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns in Sunday’s 37-34 Homecoming loss against UT Martin, earning his second-straight Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week—the first player in league history to earn both honors in back-to-back weeks.

The precocious talent was the first Austin Peay signal-caller with a 300-yard day since 2016 and has now thrown 10 touchdown passes to one interception over the last two games. Ellis aired it out early and often, throwing his four scores by distances of 51 (to Eugene Minter), 13 (to Jay Parker), 27 (Minter again) and 45 yards (to DeAngelo Wilson). He also kept drives alive with his feet (11 yards on third-and-11 in the first quarter) and his arm, converting a trio of conversions that all ultimately kept scoring drives alive in the second and third quarters.

Other notable performances by Austin Peay athletes included:

• Junior forward Rachel Bradberry, of the soccer team, scored the gamewinner in the 100^th minute against Eastern Kentucky to lead Austin Peay to a 2-1 victory.
• Senior outfielder Bailey Shorter, of the softball team, hit .444 with three runs, three RBI a double and a triple at Eastern Illinois, maintaining an season-long batting average flirting with .400.
• Redshirt sophomore infielder Gino Avros, of the baseball team, enjoyed a 6-for-7 day at the plate against Southeast Missouri, equaling the program single-game record. His day included a double, two triples and five RBI, most by a Gov this season.
• Junior Aleks Topalovic, of the women’s tennis team, helped the Govs and Jana Leder secure the doubles point against Western Kentucky and also won a hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) singles contest at No. 5.
• Sophomore Kenisha Phillips, of the track and field team, wont the 400-meter dash with a personal-best 55.43 mark that ranks eighth in the NCAA East and leads the OVC by nearly three seconds after her outdoor debut at the Bill Cornell Invite. She also ran a leg of Austin Peay’s victorious 4:01.84 4x400-meter relay attempt.
• Junior Anton Damberg, of the men’s tennis team, teamed with Frederic Schlossmann for a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles and also won at No. 4 singles (6-3, 6-3 over Daniel Perez Carabal) during Austin Peay’s win against Tennessee State.