GREENVILLE, S.C. - Seven Conference Carolinas student-athletes have earned the Comeback Athlete of the Year Award Presented by Vernon Graphics and Promotions for the 2019-20 academic year.
The seven student-athletes that earned the honor were Jordan Blake (Barton), Alexis Rogers (Belmont Abbey), Faith Flanagan (Erskine), Jordan Floyd (King), Katie Lysaght (Lees-McRae), Jarrett Malone (Limestone) and DJ Brooks (North Greenville).
A junior softball student-athlete from Jackson Springs, N.C., Blake suffered an ankle injury during the spring of 2019, but she returned to the lineup this past season and helped her team in numerous ways as a utility player. She finished the 2020 season hitting .410 (16-of-39) with seven RBIs and six runs scored. As a pitcher, Blake also had 11 strikeouts.
A senior on the Belmont Abbey softball team, Rogers returned to the lineup this past spring after rupturing her spleen when she collided with a teammate last March. The Surprise, Ariz., native spent a night in the ICU and three days in the hospital before five months of additional recovery. She played in 10 of the 16 games this past spring and scored the game-winning run in a conference win over Erskine.
A junior on the Erskine women’s lacrosse team, Flanagan had patellar tracking problems that resulted in a patellar chondral lesion requiring surgery. After surgery the Stratford, Ontario, Canada native missed most of the 2019 season rehabbing. She scored 14 goals and had five assists in her return in the 2020 spring campaign.
A senior guard on the King men’s basketball team, Floyd played in one game in the 2018-19 season before fracturing his ankle and missing the rest of the year healing and rehabbing. The guard from Stone Mountain, Ga. returned to be named the Division II Conference Commissioners Association Men's Basketball Ron Lenz National Player of the Year in the 2019-20 season. The Conference Carolinas Player of the Year finished his impressive senior campaign averaging an NCAA Division II-best 31.9 points per game for King.
A junior on the Lees-McRae women’s soccer team, Lysaght missed the second half of the 2018 season with chronic exertional compartment syndrome in her leg. After rehabbing all of the 2019 spring semester the defender from Toms River, N.J. returned in the 2019 season to log significant minutes for the Bobcats.
A redshirt sophomore on the Limestone men's volleyball team, Malone fractured his pelvis, both wrists and hands in July of 2018. Since that point in time he has had multiple surgeries before rehabbing to be able to return for the 2020 season. Upon his return, he rolled his ankle and after rehabbing that separate injury he was able to play in eight matches for Limestone this past season. He had a .517 attacking percentage on the year to go along with 33 kills, 26 blocks, 13 digs and seven service aces in 24 sets played.
A senior guard on the North Greenville men’s basketball team, Brooks played in nine games in the 2018-19 season before having to stop due to pain and swelling in his previously surgically repaired knee. After having a third overall procedure, the Simpsonville, S.C. native returned to the lineup as a team captain in the 2019-20 season. He logged the second-most minutes on the team (31.4) and averaged 15.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He was named All-Conference Carolinas for his efforts this past season.
In its seventh year, the Comeback Athlete of the Year Award Presented by Vernon Graphics and Promotions recognizes Conference Carolinas student-athletes who participate in a conference-sponsored sport that had suffered an injury and then came back to make significant contributions to their team after recovering.
Nominees were selected and then voted on by the Conference Carolinas head athletic trainers.
Comeback Athlete of the Year Award Presented by Vernon Graphics and Promotions Winners
2020:
Jordan Blake, Barton
Alexis Rogers, Belmont Abbey
Faith Flanagan, Erskine
Jordan Floyd, King
Katie Lysaght, Lees-McRae
Jarrett Malone, Limestone
DJ Brooks, North Greenville
2019:
Zack Bowers, Erskine
2018:
Trey Matthews, Southern Wesleyan
2017:
No selection
2016:
Avery Wallis, Lees-McRae
2015:
Nolan Albrecht, Belmont Abbey
2014:
Amber Weaver, Barton