BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Gulf South Conference unveiled its 2023-24 Top Ten Award recipients. This year’s selections represent nine member institutions and eight different sports. It also featured several new faces as nine of the ten selections for the 2023-24 are first time honorees.

Being recognized this year was Alabama Huntsville’s Lawren Hayes (softball) and Sam Wilhelm (cross country/track & field), Auburn Montgomery’s Gia Martin (softball), Delta State’s Patrick Shegog (football), Lee’s Kate Dirkse (women’s soccer), Mississippi College’s McCall Lee (softball), Union’s Shanique Lucas (women’s basketball), Valdosta State’s Sammy Edwards (football), West Florida’s Dalton Neuschwander (baseball), and West Georgia’s Zawdie Jackson (men’s basketball). 

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The award recognizes the top female and top male student-athletes for their athletic, academic, and extracurricular achievements, during the 2023-24 academic year. The one student-athlete from each group of honorees will be also be awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy, which is the conference’s most prestigious individual honor and will be announced in-person at the GSC Awards Ceremony.

The GSC Top Ten Award recipients are selected with the assistance of an advisory committee representing Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators (SWA), Athletic Communication Directors, Faculty Athletic Representatives, and Presidents from randomly selected GSC schools, which makes a recommendation to the Commissioner, who has the final decision.

For more information about each Top Ten recipient, click here. 

Top Ten awardees and GSC Commissioner’s Trophy winners will be honored on Thursday, May 30 in Pensacola, Fla. The ceremony will be streamed at no charge, on the conference's YouTube channel, and will be part of the GSC Hall of Fame induction.