OKLAHOMA CITY – Mid-America Christian University hosted its annual spring awards banquet at Devon Boathouse on Saturday night as several MACU Athletics student-athletes were presented honors that were voted upon by the MACU student body.
The awards that were presented at the banquet included the Most Impactful Freshman Athlete of the Year, Most Impactful Newcomer of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year and the Heart of the Evangel honor.
Ashley Hopper from the MACU women's basketball team garnered the Most Impactful Freshman Athlete of the Year award. The six-foot forward was named to the Sooner Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team in her first season at MACU. In 25 games, Hopper scored 74 points (3.0 ppg) on a 43.8 percent shooting clip, pulled down 73 rebounds (2.9 rpg) and made a big impact on the defensive end of the floor by blocking 15 shots.
Hopper's best game in an Evangels uniform came in an 89-76 win over Oklahoma Wesleyan at the MACU Classic on Nov. 12, as the Little Rock, Arkansas native narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds while blocking three shots, all of which marked career-highs.
The MACU women's basketball team also garnered the Most Impactful Newcomer of the Year accolade as that was hauled in by junior guard Jaci Littell. In her first season with the Evangels, the 5-10 guard was an All-SAC Second Team honoree while also garnering an NCCAA All-America Third Team honor as well as an NAIA All-America Honorable Mention.
Over the course of the 2022-23 season, the Stillwater, Oklahoma product scored 437 points (16.2 ppg) while shooting 39.2 percent from the floor, 39.2 percent from three and 85.1 percent from the free throw line while also finishing with 89 rebounds, 42 assists and 41 steals.
Littell was named a two-time SAC Player of the Week as well as the NCCAA Student-Athlete of the Week on Jan. 9 after putting together an incredible scoring effort during the first week of the new year. During that week, Littell poured in 27 points at Texas Wesleyan on Jan. 2 before dropping a career-high and MACU team-high 34 points in a home win over UNT Dallas on Jan. 5. Littell closed out the slate with a 20-point effort at Southwestern Assemblies of God on Jan. 7.
The Male Athlete of the Year was presented to MACU men's soccer standout Mason Gonzalez. A senior from Fresno, California, Gonzalez earned the SAC's highest honor as he was named the league's Player of the Year while also earning both NAIA and NCCAA First Team All-America accolades.
The six-foot defender finished his last campaign with the Evangels with seven goals and two assists out of the backfield while helping spearhead a defensively dominant backline that only allowed 11 goals at a 0.47 goals per game clip. The Evangels finished the season as the No. 2 team in the NAIA while closing out the year with a 19-2-2 record and even reached the No. 1 ranking during the season for the first time in program history.
In a 3-2 victory over Southwestern Christian at the Dill Soccer Field on Oct. 25, Gonzalez netted a pair of goals, which included heading in the game-winning goal in the 81st minute to seal the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title for the MACU men's soccer team.
The Female Student-Athlete of the Year was presented to another stellar player from the women's basketball team in redshirt sophomore guard Shy Christopher. An All-SAC First Team honoree, an NCCAA First Team All-American and NAIA All-America Honorable Mention selection, Christopher put together an astounding first season with the Evangels, scoring 508 points (18.1 ppg) on a 49.1 percent shooting clip and 70.9 percent rate from the foul line while pulling down 154 rebounds (5.4 rpg) to go along with 62 assists and 26 steals.
Christopher was named a two-time SAC Player of the Week and garnered the NCCAA Student-Athlete of the Week accolade for Feb. 6 after guiding the Evangels to two huge NAIA Top 25 wins at No. 19 Science & Arts on Feb. 2 and No. 17 Texas Wesleyan on Feb. 4. In the win over the Drovers, Christopher scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting to go with seven rebounds before pouring in 25 points on 11-of-19 from the field to go with seven boards and six assists in the victory over the Lady Rams.
The Heart of the Evangel Award was presented to Cailey Parsells from the MACU softball program. The Heart of the Evangel is presented to the student-athlete that best represents MACU on the field, in the classroom and in Christian character.
A 5-2 outfielder from Oklahoma City, Parsells has put together another outstanding season for the Evangels. Parsells enters the week with a .360 batting average to go with 17 RBIs and a team-leading 43 runs and 39 stolen bases. Earlier this season, Parsells recorded one of the best single-game performances in the history of the program in a 13-0 victory at Southwestern (Kan.) on Mar. 29. In that win, Parsells went 2-for-3 from the plate with a grand-slam inside-the-park home run as well as a two-RBI single to finish with six RBIs, the second-most runs driven in during a game in program history.
Parsells earned the highly distinguished Deb Thompson Award last season from the National Christian College Athletic Association, an honor presented to the student-athlete that best exemplified the four core Christian values of Leadership, Integrity, Faith and Excellence and was an All-SAC First Team and NCCAA Third Team All-American in 2021.
