2023 Fall Sports Recap
Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director
Conway, Ark. – With the naming of NAIA Daktronics Scholar Athletes earlier this week, the 2023 fall sports season for Central Baptist College has wrapped up. Let's look back at what happened in cross country, soccer and volleyball this season.
Men's cross country had Josh Brown compete for them all season and Brown competed in the American Midwest Conference championship and was an All-Academic Team selection. Women's Cross Country finished seventh led by Makenzie Milligan in the first ever 6K meet run at the AMC Championship as the distance was changed prior to the beginning of the season.
Men's soccer was the five seed in the AMC championship, finishing the season with a 4-1 loss at William Woods in the AMC Quarterfinals to finish the season with a 5-9-5 record. Jasper Gadellaa and Daniel Pinkney both earned First-Team all-conference honors while Hugh McAuley and Joe McElhinney were both selected to the honorable mention team. McElhinney was the Mustangs' all-tournament team selection and eight players earned AMC All-Academic team recognition with Gadellaa, McElhinney and Ethan Urban earning Daktronics Scholar Athlete recognition from the NAIA.
Women's Soccer also earned the five seed in the AMC championship, falling to Missouri Baptist 8-0 in the quarterfinal to finish the season 5-10-3. Bailey Walerczyk, Amanda Parreiras, Kitanna Richards and Vitoria Loiola all earned first team honors while Annesta Richards and Bayleigh Williams were both selected to the honorable mention team. Williams was also selected to the All-Tournament team and made history with her honorable mention selection becoming the first player in program history to earn four all-conference selections. 11 players earned selection to the conference's all-academic team while Parreiras, Walerczyk, Julissa Arevalo and Sierra Victory all earned NAIA Daktronics Scholar Athlete honors.
Volleyball was the sixth seed in the AMC championship and fell to Stephens 3-0 in the quarterfinals, but made history anyway, finishing at 14-13 for their first above .500 season since 2007. Mikayla Lawrence had a record season, breaking the single-season mark for digs with 554 and became the first player ever to earn a Player of the Year award, doing so on the defensive ledger. Lawrence was joined by Madeline Freeman on the conference's first team while Caitlyn Miller, Brooke Schmitz and Faith Stone all earned honorable mention nods. Lawrence was also selected to the All-Tournament team and was joined by Freeman, Kailee Walker and Sheridan Rogers on the all-academic team while both Freeman and Rogers earned NAIA Daktronics Scholar Athlete recognition.