BREVARD, N.C. – Six Brevard student-athletes were selected to the USA South All-Sportsmanship team for their respective sports in the fall 2017 season. Among them included Anton Borjesson (men's soccer), Bubba Craven (football), Mary Gray Davis (women's cross country), Hannah Elmore (volleyball), Ashley Hughes (women's soccer) and Hassan Kiprono (men's cross country).
Borjesson, a freshman from Gothenburg, Sweden, was a significant contributor to the men's soccer team during the 2017 campaign. The freshman played and started in 14 out of the team's 15 matches on the season, and helped lead the defensive side of the ball for the Tornados that allowed only five goals in the team's seven wins. Borjesson tallied two goals on the season, as both goals came in victories over LaGrange and Averett. He finished sixth on the team in total points scored with four on the year.
Craven, a junior wide receiver from Pleasant Garden, N.C., eclipsed the 100-yard mark four times over the course of the 2017 football season as he led the team in receiving yards (868), receptions (50), yards per game (86.8), yards per reception (17.4) and receiving touchdowns (11). Those numbers also placed Craven among the USA South statistical leaders, where he finished the season tops in the league in touchdowns, while ranked second in receiving yards, yards/game and yards/reception as well as third in receptions. Craven finished 36 yards shy of topping each Tornado receiving corps in the 11-year history of the program, the only exception being the 2011 squad that tallied 904 yards.
Davis, a sophomore from Raleigh, N.C., is a "senior" member on the Brevard women's cross country team. She competed in four events in 2017, and was one of two Tornados to compete in the USA South Conference Championships, where she crossed the line in a time of 32:35.43 (94th). Davis' first event of the season came at the Furman Invitational, where she finished the course in a time of 33:59.89 (161st). She rebounded with a solid performance at the Maryville Invitational, crossing the line in 44th in a time of 33:54.2. In her final regular season competition, at the Piedmont Invitational, Davis placed 52nd in a time of 33:00.60.
Elmore, a four-year letter winner for the Tornados from Salisbury, N.C., was instrumental in guiding the volleyball team to a 13-7 record in 2017. The 13-7 mark was the first time since the move to the NCAA ranks in 2008 that Brevard posted a winning record and first winning season since 2007, when the Tornados finished 16-15. The team's leader in kills (239) and kills/set (3.32), Elmore was also an active defender with 27 total blocks (22 assisted) and 67 digs. She caught fire in the second half of the season, recording nine straight double-digit kill performances between Oct. 4 and Oct. 28, posting 11 on the season. Elmore had a pair of 20-kill outings in that span, recording a season-high 28 in a four-set victory over Maryville (Oct. 21) which was preceded by a 22-kill performance in a five-set victory over Piedmont (Oct. 10).
Hughes, a junior from Charlotte, North Carolina, started in every match for Brevard in 2017, as she was a significant contributor to the program's best season since the school moved to the NCAA ranks in 2008. The junior notched four goals on the season, and was fourth on the team with eight total points. She also played an important role on the defensive side of the ball, as she was a part of a defense that surrendered an average of 1.15 goals per match, and shut out their competition seven times on the year.
Kiprono, a native of Iten, Kenya, capped off his collegiate career with a fifth place finish at the USA South Conference Championships at Tallulah Falls, one of three top 10 finishes for Kiprono on the season. His season got off to a solid start with an eighth place finish at the Tusculum Open (Sept. 1), crossing the finish line in a time of 16:30. In Kiprono's final tune-up for the league championship, the Piedmont Invitational (Oct. 7), he finished a seventh place in a time of 27:53.27.
For more information on Brevard athletics check out www.bctornados.com.