Jenna Siddiqui
\n<\/strong>MC Contributor<\/em><\/p>\n

Jackson State University hosted its Annual Athletic Banquet on April 13th.\u00a0 This allows all athletic teams to gather in one location to dine while the university recognizes them for their hard work in the classroom as well as the court or field.\u00a0 Recognitions and awards include Most Valuable Player, Offensive and Defensive Awards, Academic Achievement Award and more.<\/p>\n

All teams were represented, except for the baseball team who had a double header that day, where they swept Concordia-Selma.<\/p>\n

Although some teams, such as tennis, baseball and softball are still in season, two JSU sports teams were recognized this year for winning SWAC: volleyball and bowling.<\/p>\n

Senior art major, Keirsten Howard from Austin, Texas was so proud of herself and the rest of the volleyball team when they won SWAC.\u00a0 This is her second title.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning SWAC again as a senior was so surreal but very deserving.\u00a0 After freshman year, the class I came in with, \u201cThe Fab 5\u201d, and I promised we weren\u2019t leaving without another ring and we did just that.\u00a0 The whole team had the same goal and mindset and all our hardworking showed,\u201d said Howard.<\/p>\n

Her hard work definitely showed and was also recognized at the banquet as she received the \u201cUnsung Hero\u201d Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so thankful.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I could help contribute to a successful season and I\u2019m glad my hard work and trust in God these past four years paid off.\u00a0 This being my senior year, this banquet was the best one yet because it was the last and final time to be in the same room with all my fellow athletes and friends.\u00a0 It was a good feeling,\u201d Howard said.<\/p>\n

Some came to support their friends and teammates, but many came to be recognized for all of their hard work and had trouble juggling all of his awards at once.<\/p>\n

Javancy Jones, a junior football player from Macon, Miss., could barely hold all of the awards that he received.\u00a0 He was recognized and awarded: Player of the Year Award, Black College All American Award, First Team All SWAC Award, and National Leader in Tackles for Loss Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the banquet was great. A lot of people don\u2019t understand the actual life of a student athlete.\u00a0 The people who actually understand are our fellow student athletes and it\u2019s a blessing to be around so many people shooting for the same goal,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Some athletes attended and received awards even though they were not finished with their season.\u00a0 One of these players, included Julia Angermann, a senior psychology major from Germany, who is on the women\u2019s tennis team.\u00a0 She received the MVP award and the Acadmic Achievement Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant a lot to me.\u00a0 I always give my best on and off the court and to get those awards made me really happy.\u00a0 I felt like all my hard work payed off,\u201d said Angermann.<\/p>\n

That weekend, the women\u2019s tennis team made it to the championship, but lost in the finals.\u00a0 The men\u2019s tennis team won the SWAC title that weekend, for the first time in over a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JSU football head coach, Tony Hughes presenting football defensive end, Javancy Jones, with his awards. Jenna Siddiqui MC Contributor Jackson State University hosted its Annual…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7410"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}