FlamesNation Player of the Year 2013

Introducing the inaugural FlamesNation Player of the Year award! This award will be voted on by you, FlamesNation, as we seek to award the most outstanding Liberty University Athlete from the calendar year 2013. Below you will find the 10 candidates which you can vote for. Voting runs now through December 20th at which time we will reduce the list of 10 to the top 3. Voting will reset December 21st, when you can then vote from the pool of the top 3 as we select our FlamesNation Player of the Year! We will announce the winner on December 31st.

Brittany Aanderud, women’s soccer
Aanderud helped lead the Lady Flames to one of their best seasons in program history. The Flames finished with an overall record of 16-6-2, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament after capturing the Big South Championship. Aanderud led Liberty in goals (6), assists (10), and points (22). The sophomore from Fullerton, California was also named to the Big South 1st team all-conference.

Natalie Barr, women’s field hockey
Barr and the Lady Flames won their first ever NorPac conference championship to advance to the NCAA Field Hockey Championship. She was named to the 2013 Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-South Region first team and was the NorPac East Division Offensive Player of the Year. Barr also won the NorPac East Division Offensive Player of the Year in 2012. She led the NorPac in points (44), goals (17), and shots (94) and finish 2nd in assists.

Devon Brown, women’s basketball
Brown concluded her stellar career at Liberty as the Lady Flames’ 2nd all-time scorer. Last season, she was named to the Big South 1st team all-conference to become 1 of just 3 Lady Flames to earn four 1st-team all-Big South honors. Brown helped guide Liberty to another Big South Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance where they fell to #4 seed Purdue.

Jade Craycraft, volleyball
The senior setter was named to the Big South All-Conference first team for the 4th time in her career. Craycraft had a Big South-best 5 triple-doubles and a team-high 11 double-doubles on the year. During conference play, she ranked 2nd in the Big South with a .365 attack percentage, and finished 8th in assists per set. She also ranked 2nd on the team in kills, aces, digs, and blocks.

Jacob Hagen, football
Hagen was named 1st team all-Big South following his standout junior season for the Flames’ football team. He led the team with 6 interceptions and was 3rd with 61 tackles and added 1 fumble recovery to go along with 7 pass breakups. Hagen has also been named a 3rd team all-American by College Sports Madness.

Josh MacDonald, men’s cross country
MacDonald finished 15th in the men’s 10K in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships as he helped the Flames finished 10th as a team. He also helped the Flames to the Big South Cross Country championship after finishing 4th in the men’s 8K.

Davon Marshall, men’s basketball
Marshall’s hot shooting helped lead the Flames back to the NCAA Tournament for the 1st time since 2004. He averaged 18 points per game during the Big South Tournament en route to his Tournament MVP honors. He set a tournament record with 17 3-pointers during Liberty’s 4 games. He set a school record for most 3-point field goals made in a season with 107. Marshall is off to a solid start this season as he is averaging a team-high 12.6 points per game.

John Caleb Sanders, men’s basketball
John Caleb was the Big South Scholar Athlete of the Year and led the team in both scoring (14.4) and assists (3.6) during 2012-13. During the 2013 Big South Tournament, he averaged 17 points per game and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Sanders is currently averaging 10.7 points and 4 assists per game so far this season.

Trey Wimmer, baseball
Liberty catcher Trey Wimmer was selected to the 2013 Big South All-Conference 1st team. He batted .296 with a team-high 43 runs, 17 doubles, and 3 triples. He also added 72 hits and 5 home runs with an impressive .993 fielding percentage. Wimmer threw out 24 of 25 base runners who attempted to steal on him. He helped guide the Flames to the 2013 Big South Championship and an appearance in the regional final after defeating Clemson twice to advance to face South Carolina. Liberty concluded their 2013 season just 4 wins away from the College World Series.

Josh Woodrum, football
Woodrum led the Flames to an 8-4 record and a share of the 2013 Big South Football Championship. The sophomore quarterback was named to the Big South Football All-Conference 2nd team. Josh was 198/308 passing for 2,581 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He also added 154 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.

You can vote multiple ways: by leaving a comment on this post, by voting in our poll at LibertyFlamesNation.com, by voting in our poll at FlameFans.com, or by mentioning @Flames_Nation on twitter with the hashtag #FlamesNationPOY and your selection. So, you can vote up to 4 times.

All photos are courtesy of LibertyFlames.com