Anderson's Mollenhauer and Lenoir-Rhyne's Artis Named 2019-20 South Atlantic Conference Athletes of the Year

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Anderson University's Alexy Mollenhauer and Lenoir-Rhyne University's Jaquan Artis have been selected as the 2019-20 South Atlantic Conference Athletes of the Year, the conference announced on Wednesday (June 17). The Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards are selected by a vote of the league's athletic directors.

Mollenhauer, a senior guard on the Trojan women's basketball team, was named SAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and was a first team All-SAC selection. She was named D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year for the second time, was a D2CCA First Team All-American, and WBCA First Team All-American. The five-time SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week earned United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Player of the Week honors on Feb. 4, 2020, and became the first player in Anderson program history to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for their career. She led the conference in both scoring (19.7 ppg.) and rebounding (12.4 rpg.) during the 2019-20 season.

The Lindale, Texas native graduated a perfect 4.00 GPA in English/secondary English education. She was a 2019-20 a CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division II Women's Basketball First Team selection, a CoSIDA Academic All-District® honoree, as well as being a four-time Dean's List selection. She was named the 2020 SAC Women's Basketball Elite 20 winner and was a four-time SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll selection.

Artis, a senior defensive end from Kingston, N.C., was named the D2CCA Super Region Two Defensive Player of the Year and helped Lenoir-Rhyne to a 13-1 mark as the Bears advanced to the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. He was a finalist for both the Harlon Hill Trophy and Gene Upshaw Award closing his senior campaign with 82 tackles with 23 stops for loss and 14.5 sacks. Artis was just the second Bear to be up for the Harlon Hill Trophy, most prestigious individual award in Division II, and the first since Leonard Davis was named a finalist in 1994. He was also the only defensive player selected as a finalist.

The 2019 South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and consensus All-American, finished his collegiate career with a staggering 47.5 tackles for loss and 29 sacks.

Mollenhauer becomes the first-ever back-to-back Female Athlete of the Year honoree from Anderson, while Artis becomes the fourth Lenoir-Rhyne athlete to receive Male Athlete of the Year honors.

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