Clarksville, Ark.-The University of the Ozarks Athletic Department held a virtual awards ceremony Tuesday, May 19 on Zoom to honor student-athlete accomplishments and name the 2019-2020 Athlete of the Year winners.

Headlining the virtual awards were Chase Edwards, Kiara Henry, Angelo Ito Tost, Megan Madden, Nathan Rankin and Rosie Wade. Edwards and Ito Tost were named co-Spring Male Athletes of the Year, while Madden was named Spring Female Athlete of the Year. Henry and Wade were named co-Winter/Fall Female Athletes of the Year, while Rankin won the Winter/Fall Male Athlete of the Year. 

Edwards, a senior baseball player, hit .333 with four home runs and 20 RBI in a shortened 2020 season. He also owned a .632 slugging percentage and recorded five doubles.The designated hitter from Chandler, Ariz., was recently named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team for the second consecutive season. Last season, he additionally earned Google Cloud Academic All-America Second Team, ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Second Team, First Team All-Conference and D3Baseball.com All-Region Second Team. In the classroom, he achieved American Southwest Conference All-Academic Team and the Dean's List. He finishes his career ranked among the top hitters to go through the program. Within the program career records, he ranks fourth in batting average (.370) and slugging percentage (.588). He ranks fifth home runs (19) and sixth in RBI (103) and career on-base percentage (.453).

Henry, a senior soccer player, was a four-year starter in goal and finishes her career owning numerous school records. She ranks first in goals against average (1.49), shutouts (12), goalie games played (67) and minutes played (5788:45). Henry is second all-time in saves (373). In 2019, she owned a 1.20 goals against average, recorded 109 saves and four shutouts in 1501 minutes. The native of Rogers is a four-time All-Conference player and earned multiple ASC Player of the Week honors.

Ito Tost, a junior tennis standout, finished the 2020 shortened spring season ranked as the No. 24 NCAA III singles player in the country. The native of Brazil was No. 5 in the West Region according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. In the Fall, he advanced to the Southwest ITA Fall Tournament Finals, and was one win from All-American status and an automatic bid to Nationals. His spring record against NCAA III opponents was 6-0. During the 2020 spring season, Ito Tost was named ASC Player of the Week and now owns the highest singles winning percentage for a season (1.000) in program history.

Madden, a junior softball player, was off to a hot start before 2020's abrupt ending. The outfielder from Flower Mound, Texas, was hitting .457 with ten runs and 16 hits. She also owned a .964 fielding percentage. On the field, Madden has been All-Conference, and in the classroom, she has been on the President's List, ASC All-Academic Team and NFCA/Easton All-American Scholar-Athlete Team. In 2018, Madden was an integral part of the program's first-ever post-season appearance. At the end of 2020, she ranks tenth in career batting average (.323) and career sacrifice hits (11). She ranks ninth in career fielding percentage (.968).

Rankin, a junior member of the cross country and wrestling team, won his third straight Athlete of the Year award. In 2019-2020 Rankin became the first athlete from Ozarks to qualify for the NCAA III Nationals in both cross country and wrestling. In cross country, Rankin won his second ASC individual title and was a member of the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region Team. Additionally, he was named ASC Runner of the Week four times and repeated as an All-Conference runner. He owns the program 8K record with a 25:14.2. In wrestling, he was named the program's first All-American. Rankin won the Southeast Conference individual 125-pound title and was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. He owned a 25-4 overall record and was ranked nationally by D3Wrestle.com. A native of Plano, Texas, he is a three-time All-Conference Cross Country runner and three-time All-Conference Wrestler. He owns the school record with 79 career wrestling wins. In his career, he has qualified for NCAA III Nationals in Cross Country and Wrestling twice. In the classroom, Rankin has been a member of the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, NWCA All-Academic Team and ASC All-Academic Team.

Wade, a freshman swimmer, broke nearly every school record in her first season. She now owns 14 individual records, including the 50 free (25.86), 100 free (58.41), 200 free (2:03.22), 500 free (5:22.44), 1000 free (11:11.43), 1650 free (18:37.77), 50 back (30.06), 100 back (1:04.05), 200 back (2:18.37), 50 fly (28.70), 100 fly (1:02.30), 200 fly (2:21.10), 100 IM (1:04.35) and 200 IM (2:20.93), She was also part of four relay teams that set school records. At the 2019-2020 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, the Clarksville native finished fifth in the 500 free and 1650 free.

Karlee Hart and Cory Wilhelm were given the ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor. Hart is a tennis player from Van Buren and Wilhelm is a basketball player from Ratcliff. The ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor is presented to one male and one female member of the graduating class who has compiled the most outstanding record in academics, athletics and leadership over their collegiate career.

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