Below are the 2022-23 Gulf South Conference Top Ten honorees. The award recognizes the top female and top male student-athletes for their athletic, academic, and extracurricular achievements during the 2022-23 academic year. The top male and top female from each group of honorees will be awarded the Commissioner's Trophy, which is the conference's most prestigious award.
Allie Dishman • Montevallo, Volleyball
Dishman is the Falcon’s fourth woman to receive the award and fifth overall, and the first Montevallo volleyball student-athlete recognized ... the junior earned various awards during the season including an AVCA All-America honorable mention nod, GSC All-Academic, D2CCA All-Region and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® accolades ... academically, posted a 4.0 GPA as a Biology/Pre-Med major ... received an internship with Harvard Medical School's National Center for Funcational Glycomics ... worked volleyball camps with middle and high school-aged student-athletes ... volunteered with City of Montevallo's city clean-up program ... also was a peer tutor at the UM Learning Enrichment Center.
Erin Hederman • Mississippi College, Soccer
Hederman became the seventh Choctaw recognized and is the fourth honoree from the women’s soccer program ... the senior earned a number of accolades including GSC All-Academic Team, United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America, D2CCA All-America honors ... academically, a Pre-Physical Therapy major with a minor in Biology who has a 4.0 GPA ... volunteered time with the Mississippi College Food Pantry, as well as Stewpot, Caring Hands, Salvation Army and Camp Pioneer among others.
Haley Schubert • Lee, Basketball
Schubert seventh consecutive woman from Lee to be honored and is the school’s first basketball student-athlete to be recognized ... a graduate student, Schubert was recognized on and off the court during the season earning GSC All-Academic Team, First Team All-GSC and was named a WBCA All-American ... she is also 1-of-10 DII women's basketball athletes to tally 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a career ... third among GSC career leaders in points (2,284) and fourth all-time in steals (315) ... academically, earned a Bachelor's degree in Information Systems with a 3.71 GPA and recently posted a 4.0 GPA in the MBA program ... was a student assistant in the Lee Univeristy IT Department ... also worked wuth Trousdale Academy, Bradley Country School System and Charleston Elementary.
Johanna Wistokat • Christian Brothers, Cross Country/Track & Field
Wistokat earned her second consecutive Top Ten Award ... she is the Buccaneers’ first two-time winner since men’s honoree Trey Casey also won back-to-back awards (2014, 2015) ... She also made history becoming the first CBU runner to win an individual cross country title at the conference championship and the NCAA regional races ... a cross country GSC Champion Scholar-Athlete award winner, the grad student, was also a USTFCCCA Academic awardee and All-American on the trails as well as an outdoor All-Region honoree ... academically, registered a 4.0 GPA while working towards a Master's in Data Science ... on-campus helped to organize international events such as German movie night and Ukrainian culture night ... also teaches German in CBU language corner ... in the community, she volunteered time with Smith+Nephew to help maintain green areas in Memphis, worked with Wundertuete–a German organization to collect products for the unhoused community and participated with "Be A Match" to help identify potential matches for blood or bone marrow donations.
Taylor Vaneekeren • West Florida, Volleyball
Vaneekeren is the 17th Argonauts woman awardee all-time and the first since Berta Bonardi (2020-21) ... a graduate student, Vaneekeren hauled in various on and off the court accolades during the season, including GSC Player of the Year, D2CCA South Region Player of the Year, AVCA Second Team All-American, and CSC Academic All-America® Team honors ... academically, had a 3.96 GPA majoring in Sport Management and minoring in Sports Psychology & Management ... helped organized UWF volleyball inaugural Silent Set to bring attention to hearing loss and injuction with National Hearing Loss Awareness Month ... also served as UWF's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) President.
Beck Burnette • Lee, Golf
Burnette picked his second consecutive Top Top Award and is the first men’s golfer to be recognized in consecutive years since West Florida’s Matthew Galloway (2007, 2008) ... he also won the Commissioner’s Trophy in 2021-22 ... Burnette was named the D2CCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In 2023, he was named the GSC Golfer of the Year and was GCAA Ping All-Region selection ... academically, posted a 3.86 GPA as a Communications major and minoring in Public Relations and Business ... was active in the community as he participated in reading programs at local elementary schools, youth golf clinics, Bethel Children's Home and more.
Elias Haavisto • West Florida, Golf
Haavisto became the first Argonaut awardee on the men’s side since football’s Tate Lehtio (2019-20) and the first golfer since Christian Bosso (2018-19) ... the senior made conference history becoming the first GSC golfer to win three individual titles ... a First Team All-GSC and GCAA Ping All-Region selection in 2023, Haavisto received GCAA Academic and All-America laurels in 2022 ... academically, posted a 3.76 GPA while majoring in General Business ... contributed to youth clinics at First Tee Gulf Coast in Pensacola.
Luca Mack • Valdosta State, Tennis
Mack became the seventh men’s tennis student-athlete in conference-history to be selected and the first since 2016-17 (Alex Peyrot, UWF) ... he is also the 25th Blazer honoree all-time and the first from tennis since Philip Pakebusch (2010-11) ... a GSC Champion Scholar-Athlete and CSC Academic All-American ... was also named the league's Player of the Year ... academically, has a cumulative 3.58 GPA while double majoring in International Business and Management ... community service includes participation in a Global Cafe for international students.
Patrick Shegog • Delta State, Football
Shegog is the first football honoree for the Statesmen since Tyler Sullivan (2016-17) and seventh all-time ... he is also Delta State’s first selection since golf’s Zack Zediker (2019-20) and the 24th DSU student-athlete awarded ... on the field, graduate quarterback led Delta State to a share of the GSC title en route to earning GSC Offensive Player of the Year, D2CCA All-Region, as well as postseason honors from Don Hansen Football and D2Football.com ... academically, posted a 3.63 GPA while studying Exercise Scrience and minoring in Allied Health ... participated in various service community programs/fundraisers including Relay for Life, Make-A-Wish, blood drives and more.
Michael Zabetakis • West Georgia, Basketball
Zabetakis earned his second Top Ten honor and picked up the Wolves’ ninth award all-time ... he was previously awardaed the Top Ten 2020-21, before winning the Commissioner’s Trophy ... the graduate earned a number of individual accolades during the season including First Team All-GSC, D2CCA All-Region, NABC All-District, NABC/Reese's All-Star, while also being named to the GSC All-Academic Team ... academically, earned a Bachelor's degree in Marketing with 3.38 GPA and has a 4.0 GPA in the MBA program ... In the community, participated in Read Across America program at local elementary school, volunteered time to read to Pre-K students ... led team efforts in Pen Pal program where the team adopted a local elementary school class.