Kent State Athletics Announces Department Award Winners
7/28/2021 9:26:00 AM | Baseball, General, Softball, Gymnastics, The Golden Flashes Club
KENT, Ohio — Kent State Athletics has announced recipients of the department's top honors for the 2020-21 academic year.
Gymnast Nasha Manitkul-Davis is the recipient of the Judith K. Devine Excellence in Leadership Award, which is awarded to a senior student-athlete exhibiting leadership in all facets of a student-athlete's life, including team, department, collegial unit and community. A team leader in the gym, she was heavily involved in working to create a more inclusive student-athlete experience at Kent State and beyond. Manitkul-Davis was a four-year member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as President of the advisory board this past year. She was also the Golden Flashes' female representative on the Mid-American Conference Council of Student-Athletes the past four years. Last fall, Manitkul-Davis was part of our department's first cohort of Game Changers, which aims to foster stronger working relationships among student-athletes through intentional dialogue across differences. The Academic All-MAC and WGCA Scholastic All-America honoree graduated in May with a degree in psychology
Gymnast Abby Fletcher received the Janet Bachna Award, which recognizes a graduating female student-athlete demonstrating the most exceptional combined qualities of leadership, positive image, athletic ability and academic performance. A three-apparatus performer who served as a team captain, she captured the floor exercise individual title at all three MAC Championships held during her career. Fletcher was named MAC Senior Gymnast of the Year and earned All-MAC Second Team honors this past season. She completed her fashion merchandising degree in May with a 3.902 cumulative GPA, collecting two MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete, three Academic All-MAC and three WGCA Scholastic All-America honors in the process.
Baseball student-athlete Ben Carew was awarded the Merle Wagoner Award, which recognizes a graduating male student-athlete who has demonstrated the most exceptional combined qualities of leadership, positive image, athletic ability and academic performance. A two-time All-MAC First Team selection, he ended his career with a .352 batting average, good for top-10 in program history. Carew also earned a pair of CoSIDA Academic All-District and MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete honors. He completed his undergraduate degree in business administration and added a Master's in Business Administration.
Carew was previously named a recipient of the MAC Medal of Excellence in June, along with softball student-athlete Kennadie Goth. This award is presented annually to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each of the 12 conference member institutions.
2020-21 Kent State Athletics Award Winners
Janet Bachna Award: Nasha Manitkul-Davis
Janet Bachna Award: Abby Fletcher
Merle Wagoner Award: Ben Carew
MAC Medal of Excellence: Ben Carew, Kennadie Goth
Players Mentioned
