TAMPA, Fla.--The Sun Conference has selected its seven nominees for the NAIA’s National Awards Day awards.
 
Four student-athletes, along with a coach and two administrators have been put forward by the league for consideration for awards that will be announced September 15^th.
 
Shania Domingue and Jordon Murrell were nominated for the A.O. Duer Scholarship, which recognizes academic and athletic excellence by a junior student-athlete.
 
Domingue was a First Team All-Sun Conference selection in softball for USCB, helping the Sand Sharks win the conference tournament. Additionally, Domingue carries a 3.8 GPA as a Business Administration major. “She was always coming to practice early to get better, and is always willing to help out other teammates whether it is listening to them vent and offering advice, throwing front toss, getting extra infield work, and even catching a bullpen,” said teammate Kayla Boyle.
 
Murrell is a member of the Webber International track & field team and carries a 3.9 grade point average as a Sport Business Management major, and is in the honors program. Additionally, Murrelll works as a youth camp counselor, a resident assistant, and has been a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and with various hurricane recovery projects. “Jordon has taken three classes with me and has never had an unexcused absence or been late,” said Dr. Elfie Farchmin, Faculty Athletic Representative at Webber International. “Many of my classes have group projects required and Jordon has demonstrated his ability as a leader and as a team member.”
 
Noah Matthews, a baseball player at USCB was selected as the Dr. LeRoy Walker Champions of Character Award, recognizing a student-athlete who excels academically, athletically and embraces the core values of Champions of Character. Matthews holds a 3.5 GPA as a Nursing major and has volunteered at events that serve the community such as Special Olympics, non-profit festivals, and has donated and distributed food and clothing to people in need. In 2018, he went to Ghana with his nursing class, providing education, supplies, health screenings, and vaccinations. He did the same in Nepal in 2019. “We recently had an incident at practice involving a player taking an errant foul ball off his face, causing significant bleeding and an eventual ER visit,” said USCB Athletic Director Quin Monahan. “Before the coaches, athletic trainer, or I were able to get to the field, Noah had his teammates settled, calmed, and assured, and had begun assessing the injury. He flushed out the laceration above his teammate’s eye and had him prepped and ready to be sent to the emergency room.”
 
Ave Maria’s Sarah Miller earned the nod as the conference’s nominee for the Emil S. Liston Scholarship Award, recognizing academic and athletic excellence by a junior men’s and women’s basketball player. Miller holds a 3.91 GPA as an Accounting major, and was the Champions of Character Award recipient for The Sun Conference in women’s basketball. Additionally, she was selected to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Second Team, and is a two-time All-Sun Conference selection. “Sarah brings a level of dedication and leadership to the court each day that goes beyond what is expected, and provides a great example to her teammates on how to become a successful student-athlete,” said coach Megan Becker.  
 
For the second consecutive year, St. Thomas University men’s and women’s tennis coach Bruce Carrington was selected as the Coach of Character nominee. Carrington has been with the Bobcats for 21 years and has rotated the responsibilities and power of authority that comes with being a coach to teach his players character. “His humble, character-driven approach has resulted in developing several leaders, including alum Adrian Escarte, who traded in his tennis shirt for a suit to march on Capitol Hill to pass the new Dream and Promise Act of 2019,” said Laura Courtly-Todd, Director of Athletics at St. Thomas.
 
Additionally, Drew Watson of Southeastern and Paul Dodson of Johnson & Wales have been nominated for the NAIA Athletic Director and Sports Information Director of the Year awards being winners at the conference level.