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Athletic Highlights: November 13– November 20, 2017
Football: Jake Sell, center for the Mars Hill football team, earned Academic All-District for the first time in his career. The junior from Greeneville, Tennessee holds a 3.41 GPA in physical education and graded out at an 85 percent overall on the field. The honor qualifies him to earn a bid on the Academic-All American ballot.
Women's Basketball: The Lions were downed in all three contests over the week. Opening up their home schedule with Belmont Abbey, a sloppy second half proved to be the downfall as Mars Hill fell 77-75. Sheena Johnson scored a team-high 15 points and added six rebounds. Tiffany Holloway was 3-4 from the field for seven points and pulled down five rebounds. On day one of the Courtyard Classic, the Hawks of Chowan rolled past Mars Hill, 72-46. Shaigna Wentz had nine points on the afternoon, followed by Gabby Gianikos' eight. Holloway had a team-high eight rebounds. To wrap up the Courtyard Classic on Saturday, Converse picked up their first ever victory over the Lions, coming away with a 66-63 win. Sheena Johnson put up a season and career-high 24 points. Wentz added 13 points while a returning Baylea Loven pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
Men's Basketball: Mars Hill split their two contests over the week, picking up a win against Southern Wesleyan in their 2017-18 home opener and falling to North Greenville on Saturday. Brandon Watkins led the Lions offense over the Warriors with 15 points and six rebounds. Freshman Nassyr Daniel had 14 points, followed by Bennett Wilson's 13 second half points. A late charge by the Crusaders downed the Lions in Stanford Arena. Charles Moore had 13 points, going 8-8 from the free throw line. Luke Van-Rijn knocked down three three-pointers and ended the game with 12 points. Daniel added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort.
Volleyball: The Lions dropped their South Atlantic Conference quarterfinal matchup against Queens on Tuesday night, 3-0. Mars Hill ended the season with an 11-17 record. Maddie Spurgeon paced the Lions' offense with eight kills on the night. Lauren Hochstetler was named to the All-District Academic team for the first time in her career. The honor puts Hochstetler on the Academic All-American ballot. The senior holds a 4.0 GPA, majoring in chemistry with minors in biology and pre-professional studies.
Men's Swimming: Angel Regalado etched his name into the Mars Hill University record book, setting two records in the 1650 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle with times of 15:43.21 and 4:30.79, respectively, at the 2017 Fall Frenzy Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina. Erwin Ortiz also set a new school record in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:39.88. He and Regalado joined Matthew Walker and Vitor Gonclaves to break the school record in the 800 yard freestyle relay. The quartet swam a time of 6:53.89. The Lions finished fifth overall.
Women's Swimming: Numerous Mars Hill University school records were toppled by the women's swim team. On day one of the Fall Frenzy Invitational, the 400 yard medley relay team comprised of Haley Horton, Kathryn Boland, Rachel Nichols and Abby Harty swam a new standard of 4:02.90. Horton shined on day two, breaking the 100 yard backstroke and butterfly marks with times of 59.47 and 58.44, respectively. Boland made the national cut in the 400 yard IM race posting a time of 4:30.57. To wrap up the three-day event, Horton set yet another record in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 53.80. The Lions finished fourth behind defending Division II champion and host school Queens, along with Division I schools Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville.
Men's Track and Field: The Mars Hill men's track & field team opened up their season at the JDL Fast Track over the weekend. Nicholas Izquierdo took first place on the team in the 60m dash with a time of 7.20 and finished second overall in the 200m. Bryan Barbee narrowly missed setting a new personal record in the 3000m as he posted a time of 10:00.00. Izquierdo, along with Malik Frost, Cameron France and Spencer Shade took the 4x4 relay.
Women's Track and Field: Shaniqua Stevens set a Mars Hill University school record in the triple jump, setting the new mark at 34 feet, six inches. Christine Foresha had her best track outing of her career with a personal record of 8.12 in the 60m dash and a personal record by a full second in the 200m with a time of 26.55.