RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-America Softball teams were announced on Wednesday evening and Conference Carolinas had three student-athletes earn the honor.

Kylie Emanuele of Mount Olive was named to the first team at third base while teammate Courtlynn Cooney Jr. was a third team selection in the outfield. Rikkelle Miller of King was named to the second team at utility.

A 2022 D2CCA First Team All-Region and NFCA All-American selection, Emanuele led Conference Carolinas in hitting this season with a .484 average (77-for-157), a .889 slugging percentage and 82 RBIs. She was named the 2022 Conference Carolinas Player of the Year and was named to the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year Top 25 award list. A junior infielder from Corona, Calif., Emanuele finished the season with 21 doubles, two triples and a school record 13 home runs. She also scored 45 times and was 21-for-21 on the bases. Her 82 RBIs lead all of Division II, while her average is third-best and doubles are sixth.

A senior catcher/infielder from Fayetteville, Ga., Miller hit .383 on the season and her solo home run in the 2022 Conference Carolinas Softball Championship gave the Tornado a 1-0 victory to secure the title. She ranks fourth in the southeast region with 15 home runs, sixth in hits (69), eighth in slugging percentage (.756), 10th in RBIs (49) and 13th in doubles (16). She also owns an OPS of 1.193. Miller was also selected to the 2022 Conference Carolinas Softball All-Tournament Team.

A 2022 D2CCA All-Region selection, Cooney was a 2022 Conference Carolinas First Team All-Conference outfielder and hit .442, second on the team for the Trojans and third-most overall in Conference Carolinas. A junior outfielder from Mechanicsville, Md., Cooney led the conference in runs scored (65) and stolen bases (46-of-47). She slugged .553 with a 1.034 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) with 11 doubles, five triples and 33 RBIs. She currently ranks fifth in the NCAA in runs scored and stolen bases.

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BELMONT, N.C. – King won the inaugural Conference Carolinas men’s basketball developmental championship, 99-89, over Barton at Belmont Abbey on Monday night.

The event, which is a unique championship opportunity for developmental teams within Conference Carolinas, consisted of a preliminary round at King and Barton on Jan. 31 with the winners of each preliminary round playing in the championship at Belmont Abbey.

King defeated Erskine 71-59 and Emmanuel 82-78 to reach the title game while Barton defeated Belmont Abbey (84-59), Francis Marion (85-65) and Mount Olive (69-57) to reach the championship.

The Bulldogs took an early lead in the first half, 14-7, and led until King took a 24-23 lead. Barton responded by building the lead back to six, 43-37 with 3:46 to play in the half. However, the Tornado closed the half on a 12-6 run to tie the score at 49 at the break. There were 10 ties and 15 lead changes in the opening period as each team shot better than 50 percent from the field and 3-point range while King held a slight 12-11 advantage on the boards.

It was a back-and-forth second half that saw several more lead changes and ties, before a Henry Okoye layup for the Tornado gave the visitors a 72-71 lead that they never relinquished. The layup sparked a 12-2 run for King as they pushed the lead to a game-high nine points, 82-73. An Isaiah Williams three-pointer broke the run and sparked an 8-0 rally for the Bulldogs to cut the margin to one, 82-81, but back-to-back layups by Zach Grodziki pushed the lead back to five for King and they never trailed again in the win.

Grodziki led all scorers with 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Tornado while Amarius Beasley added 18 points and grabbed five rounds with four assists. Dami Farinloye finished with 13 points with four rebounds and four assists.

Barton had three players finish with 20-plus points led by Williams with 23.

Farinloye was named tournament Most Valuable Player.

More information can be found on the tournament webpage here.

Earlier this fall Conference Carolinas announced that a developmental championship will be held in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s basketball and baseball. The developmental teams will be composed of student-athletes that have either not competed at the varsity level in 2021-22 or have competed sparingly at the varsity level by the time of the championship.

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BRISTOL – For first-year King University cheer and dance coach Mary Edwards, using cheer and dance as a platform to encourage student-athletes to make a positive impact in the world was a priority from day one. By sharing her personal story with her student-athletes of her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s, and the impact it had on the family, she hoped to expose students to the issue and motivate them to give back.

“I think it is important that I shared my story with my athletes so they can understand why I chose Alzheimer’s Tennessee to be our community service partner,” Edwards said. “Through the tears, laughter, and unimaginable heartache my family faced, my mother’s strength and faith in God always shined bright.”

Almost three years ago Edwards lost her mother to Alzheimer’s disease. While her mother was battling Alzheimer’s, Edwards was her caretaker. Edwards gives her mother’s encouragement and her family’s faith all the credit for her finding the courage to use her voice and share her story. Through her faith and prayer she hopes that being open and talking about her mom’s hardest times, she can help others who are facing this disease or those who do not understand it.

During the 2019-20 season the King University cheerleading and dance teams helped raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s. They visited two memory care homes where they spent time doing arts and crafts and sharing stories with the residence. The teams placed in two categories at a local chili cook-off where they helped raise money for Alzheimer’s Tennessee. The cheer and dance athletes also had the amazing opportunity to travel to Nashville where they used their voice to raise awareness on Capitol Hill.

“We were able to speak with our state representatives and even ran into our governor,” Edwards said. “Our goal for visiting our state capital was to get our representatives signatures, support, and ultimately a bill passed to help those in our community suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. It is my honor to coach such a caring group of young men and women. Their commitment to the community, King University, and their team is truly inspiring.”

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