CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Celebrating the 2024-25 athletics season, Austin Peay State University athletics honored its top performers on the field, in the classroom, and in the community at the seventh annual ESPEAYs, Monday, in the Winfield Dunn Center.
Highlighting the night was the presentation of the 2024-25 The Legends Award continues APSU's long-standing tradition of honoring the most valuable male and female senior athletes. The honor began with the Joy Award in 1947, which the late Wilson Goodrich, then owner of Joy's Jewelers, created.
The Female Legends Award was earned by women's golf's Erica Scutt. She is currently the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President and has been a vital part of the women's golf team's success for the previous four seasons. Scutt helped the Govs win the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Championship as a freshman while being named OVC Freshman of the Year and earning All-OVC, All-Newcomer, and All-Tournament honors. Scutt holds the top-four individual 18-hole scores in Austin Peay history and was named a 2024 First Team All-ASUN and 2023 Second Team All-ASUN selection.
The Male Legends Award went to John Bay, who has slashed .336/.457/.751 in 121 games at Austin Peay with 48 home runs, 34 doubles, five triples, 140 RBI, and 148 runs scored. A 2024 Second Team All-ASUN and ABCA All-Southeast Region selection, Bay's 24 home runs in 2024 are the third-best single-season mark in program history and his 48 career homers are the second-best career total in APSU history. Bay is two homers away from being the second Gov to hit 50 in a career and is eight home runs away from matching 2019 APSU Legend's Award winner Parker Phillip's career record of 56.
Softball's Kylie Campbell was the 2024-25 Female Athlete of the Year after posting a .397/.485/.728 slash line with eight home runs, nine doubles, six triples, 30 RBI, and 43 runs scored in the season's first 44 games. Baseball's Cameron Nickens was the Male Athlete of the Year after tallying an equally impressive slash line of .423/.521/.801 with 13 homers, 18 doubles, 51 RBI, and 48 runs scored in 38 games.
Chandler Kirton of the football team and Erica Scutt of the women's golf team were awarded the Total Gov Concept Award by Austin Peay Vice President and Director of Athletics Gerald Harrison. In its third year, the award honors a male and female student-athlete who embodied the 'Total Gov Concept' ideology and sought excellence in all aspects of their student-athlete experience and their teammates during the year.
The department also recognized its 2024-25 Scholar-Athletes of the Year, recognizing the ungraduated student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade-point average. Men's Tennis' Hogan Stoker was the male honoree after compiling a 4.0 GPA while working toward a bachelor's degree in communications, sciences, and disorders. Hannah Zahn, of the women's soccer team, earned the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year after posting a 4.0 grade-point average while working toward a bachelor's degree in biology.
Those eight major awards were the tip of the iceberg as the Austin Peay athletics department recognized its best performances of 2024-25.
Softball coach Kassie Stanfill was named the Coach of the Year after leading her team to 30 wins faster than any team in program history and a program-record 24-game winning streak this season. Stanfill's 33 wins this season are already tied for the second-best single-season total in program history and are just six away from matching the record of 39 set by the 2018 team. Stanfill's squad also has broken Austin Peay's single-season home run record with 62 homers and counting this year.
In addition, softball's Kiley Hinton was named the Female Breakout Athlete of the Year after batting .325 with seven home runs, 12 doubles, 26 RBI, and 24 runs scored in 44 games. Hinton and the softball tea also claimed the Game of the Year recognition for their 5-3 win over No. 22 Florida Atlantic to claim the first-ever win against a nationally-ranked team in program history.
The Men's Breakout Athlete of the Year award went to Andres Matias, who has recorded a .300 batting average with seven doubles, five home runs, 25 RBI, and 32 runs scored while playing shortstop for the Governors.
The baseball team also earned Team of Year recognition after going 30-10 in their first 40 games of the season and becoming the fastest team in program history to win 30 games in a season. The Moment of the Year also went to the baseball team for Lyndon Glidewell's seven-inning no-hitter – the first by an APSU pitcher since 1996 – in a 20-0 win over North Alabama on April 13.
The Male Rookie of the Year award went to the 2024-25 ASUN Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year Tate McCubbin, who averaged 10.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while making a freshman program-record 71 three-pointers in 31 games last season. Patton Samuels of the men's golf team was named the Male Newcomer of the Year after leading the Governors with a 70.00 scoring average, 13 rounds in the 60s, 19 rounds at even or under par, a 4-0 match-play record, and a counting score in all 26 rounds played this season.
On the women's side, track and field's Taylin Segree and Madelyn Kocik were named the Female Rookie of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, respectively. Segree was a member of the Govs' 4x400 meter relay team that broke the APSU record at the ASUN Indoor Championships, where she also finished as the runner-up in the 400 meters. Kockick was the ASUN Indoor Track & Field Triple Jump Champion and also finished as the runner-up in the long jump.
Below is a complete list of awards presented, along with the nominees and winners (in bold). All award winners are marked in bold.
Male Legends Award
Female Legends Award
- Erica Scutt, Women's Golf
Male Athlete of the Year
- Cameron Nickens, Baseball
- John Bay, Baseball
- Tate McCubbin, Men's Basketball
- Patton Samuels, Men's Golf
Female Athlete of the Year
- Kylie Campbell, Softball
- Madelyn Kocik, Track & Field
- Erica Scutt, Women's Golf
Male Total Gov Concept Award
- Chandler Kirton, Football
Female Total Gov Concept Award
- Erica Scutt, Women's Golf
Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
- Hogan Stoker, Men's Tennis
Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
- Hannah Zahn, Women's Soccer
Male Rookie of the Year
- Tate McCubbin, Men's Basketball
- Grady Cox, Men's Golf
- Corey Richardson, Football
Female Rookie of the Year
- Taylin Segree, Track & Field
- Kiley Reese, Soccer
- Annovia Sheals, Women's Basketball
Male Newcomer of the Year
- Patton Samuels, Men's Golf
- Lyndon Glidewell, Baseball
- Austin Smith, Football
Female Newcomer of the Year
- Madelyn Kocik, Cross Country/Track & Field
- Sam Leski, Softball
- Katie Raper, Softball
Male Breakout Player of the Year
- Andres Matias, Baseball
- Anton Brookshire, Men's Basketball
- Seth Smith, Men's Golf
Female Breakout Player of the Year
- Kiley Hinton, Softball
- Lauryn Berry, Soccer
- Jillian Breedlove, Women's Golf
Coach of the Year
Team of the Year
- Baseball
- Men's Golf
- Softball
- Women's Golf
Game of the Year
- March 1, 2025: Softball defeats No. 22 Florida Atlantic, 5-3
- Nov. 8, 2024: Men's Basketball defeats Butler, 68-66
- Feb. 8, 2025: Men's Golf defeats Murray State, 6-4, in the Battle of the Border Match Play
- Oct. 6, 2024: Women's Golf defeats Murray State, 4-3, in the Battle of the Border Match Play
Moment of the Year
- April 13, 2025: Baseball's Lyndon Glidwell throws a no-hitter at North Alabama
- Sept. 21, 2024: Football scores an offensive, defensive, and special teams touchdown all in the first quarter vs. Alabama A&M
- Feb. 28, 2025: Track & Field 4x400 meter relay team breaks APSU's indoor record at the ASUN Championship
- Oct. 3, 2024: Soccer's Kylie Wells scores an Olimpico goal at North Florida, which was featured on SportsCenter Top 10
Courtney Turner Memorial Scholarship
Govs Cup
- Softball with 3,267 points
Team Academic Award Winners
- Jacob Weaver, Baseball
- Anala Nelson, Women's Basketball
- Isaac Haney, Men's Basketball
- Emily Freel, Beach Volleyball
- Emma Stewart, Cheerleading
- Sydney Freeman, Women's Cross Country
- Lucas Bales, Men's Cross Country
- Grace Henderson, Dance
- Chandler Kirton, Football
- Autumn Spencer, Women's Golf
- Caleb Brummitt, Men's Golf
- Alexis Arnett, Track & Field
- Hannah Zahn, Soccer
- Kylie Campbell, Softball
- Denise Torrealba, Women's Tennis
- Hogan Stoker, Men's Tennis
- Abby Thigpen, Volleyball
