WePlayed Sports Players of the Week - Feb. 2

*Due to weather postponing many games, not enough men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse or softball games were played to award a weekly honor. Those stats will all be counted towards announcing a winner in those sports next week.*

Men's Basketball

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Carson-Newman guard Jack Browder has been named the South Atlantic Conference WePlayed Sports Men's Basketball Player of the Week for games played during week 11 of the 2025-26 season, the Conference announced today. This is the second time this season that Browder has brought home the conference's weekly honor.

Browder, a senior from Kingsport, Tenn., surpassed 1800 points and 800 rebounds for his career last week and is one of three active college basketball players with those numbers. Browder turned in his 46th and 47th career 20-point games and his 35th and 36th career double-doubles to lead all active DII players. For the week, he averaged 23.5 points per game and 13.5 rebounds per contest while adding 4.5 assists per game. The six assists against Coker were one off a career high and his three blocks in that game matched a career best.  

Basketball Players of the Week

Nov. 17 – Drake Downs, Newberry
Nov. 24 – Jack Browder, Carson-Newman
Dec. 1 - Conrad Luczynski, Lenoir-Rhyne
Dec. 8 – Yoro Diallo, UVA Wise
Dec. 15 – Osmar Garcia-Araujo, Anderson
Dec. 22 – Osmar Garcia-Araujo, Anderson
Jan. 5 – Jordan Simpson, Catawba
Jan. 12 – Drake Downs, Newberry
Jan. 19 – Yoro Diallo, UVA Wise
Jan. 26 – Osmar Garcia-Araujo, Anderson
Feb. 2 – Jack Browder, Carson-Newman

Women's Basketball

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Carson-Newman guard Jennifer Sullivan has been named the South Atlantic Conference WePlayed Sports Women's Basketball Player of the Week for games played during week 11 of the 2025-26 season, the Conference announced today. This is the second time in the past three weeks that Sullivan has earned the weekly honor.

Sullivan, a senior from Knoxville, Tenn., reset her career-high for the third time this season with 33 points vs Tusculum on January 28. In the game, she made a career-high 12 field goals as well as making 3 or more three-pointers in both games last week. Sullivan now has 10 games this season with 3 or more triples. For the week, she averaged 26 points per game and shot 66.7 percent from the field and 56.3 percent from long range.

Basketball Players of the Week

Nov. 17 – Caroline Mullins, UVA Wise
Nov. 24 – Lexi Patty, Lincoln Memorial
Dec. 1 – Lyndie Ramsey, Emory & Henry
Dec. 8 – Kamari Thompson, Coker
Dec. 15 – Caroline Mullins, UVA Wise
Dec. 22 – Kamil Collier, Lincoln Memorial
Jan. 5 – Jada Brown, Newberry
Jan. 12 – Abigail Brown, Lenoir-Rhyne
Jan. 19 – Jennifer Sullivan, Carson-Newman
Jan. 26 – Aaliyah El, Lenoir-Rhyne
Feb. 2 – Jennifer Sullivan, Carson-Newman

Men's Indoor Track & Field

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its WePlayed Sports Men's Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week for meets contested during the fourth week of competition. Wingate's Luca Poppe earned the track honor while Lenior-Rhyne's Tobechukwu Nwokocha earned the field honor.

Poppe, a junior distance runner from Zwolle, Netherlands, finished sixth in the John Thomas Terrier Classic mile run with his personal-best time of 3:59.97 Saturday. Poppe was the top D2 finisher in the 230-person Boston University field dominated by D1 athletes. His NCAA provisional time is the sixth-fastest mark in D2 this season.

Nwokocha, a graduate student jumper from Nigeria, set a new indoor school record and NCAA lead with a jump of 7.78m (25-6.25) in the long jump at the Tryon Banked Invitational this weekend. That mark is tied for the 39th longest jump in NCAA DII Indoor history.

2025-26 SAC Men's Track and Field Athletes of the Week

Track

Dec. 9 – Klaus Scholz, Wingate
Jan. 20 – Victor Smith, Catawba 
Jan. 27 – Rylan Jordan, Carson-Newman
Feb. 3 – Luca Poppe, Wingate

Field

Dec. 9 – Cadence Dolgin, Carson-Newman
Jan. 20 – Javier Maxwell, Wingate
Jan. 27 – Lansford Cunningham, Tusculum
Feb. 3 - Tobechukwu Nwokocha, Lenoir-Rhyne

Women's Indoor Track & Field

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its WePlayed Sports Women's Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week for meets contested during the fourth week of competition. It was a sweep for Lenoir-Rhyne as Sharonda Priester  earned the track honor while teammate Mackenzie Pringle earned the field honor.

Priester, a junior sprinter from Taylors, S.C., won the 400m at the Tryon Banked is Best Invitational with an NCAA Provo mark of 56.37. She also took sixth in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.84.

Pringle, a junior jumper from Columbia, S.C., finished second in the triple jump at the Tryon Banked is Best Invitational with an NCAA Provo mark of 11.95m (39-2.50). That mark ranks second all-time in LR indoor history.

2025-26 SAC Women's Track and Field Athletes of the Week

Track

Dec. 9 – Kennedy Roush, Anderson
Jan. 20 – Jahzara Hart, Tusculum
Jan. 27 – Emma Whittaker, Anderson
Feb. 3 – Sharonda Priester, Lenoir-Rhyne

Field

Dec. 9 – Hayat Abdeselam, Wingate
Jan. 20 – Amber Lawless, Wingate
Jan. 27 – Avery Marshall, Anderson
Feb. 3 – Mackenzie Pringle, Lenoir-Rhyne

Baseball

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate's Bowen Powell was named the South Atlantic Conference WePlayed Sports Baseball Player of the Week, while his teammate Chad Harvey was named Pitcher of the Week for games played during week one of the 2026 season, the conference office announced today.

Powell, a freshman infielder from Harrisburg, N.C., hit .385 on opening weekend, leading Wingate to a 2-1 weekend in Florida. He had five hits including a double and a homer, driving in eight runs and scoring five times. He also drew five walks on the weekend, posting a .556 on-base percentage and .692 slugging percentage. Powell blasted a grand slam in his Wingate debut Friday at Lynn, collecting a pair of hits and two runs scored on the day. He had two more hits, two more RBI and two more runs scored at Barry on Saturday, while driving in a pair of runs in the finale, collecting a double and scoring a run.

Harvey, a junior from Mooresville, N.C.., opened the campaign with a five inning gem in a 9-2 victory at Lynn on January 30. Harvey didn't allow an earned run and struck out six batters to earn the win. He allowed an unearned run on three hits and retired the final 11 batters he faced, striking out the side in the third inning. 

2026 SAC Player of the Week
Feb. 3 – Bowen Powell, Wingate

2026 SAC Pitcher of the Week
Feb. 3 – Chad Harvey, Wingate