MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - With spring sports coming to an end, the Berry College Athletic Department has released their 2024-2025 Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year.
Senior, Anna Rose, has been awarded the Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award after a remarkable year, both on the track and as a cross-country runner. Rose's involvement in the campus community also set her apart for the award. Her year began with a bang, as she brought in First Team All-SAA, USTFCCCA All-Region, an NCAA qualification, and two all-academic awards for the fall semester.
Rose's encore came on the track field with three first place finishes at the SAA Tournament. The Jackson, California, native did not take her foot off of the gas in the outdoor season either, as she brought in three more SAA gold medal finishes in the outdoor track season. The long-distance specialist also brought in USTFCCCA All-Region for her work. Anna closes out her career with four USTFCCCA All-Region honors and a total of 11 top three finishes, with 9 of them being SAA Championships. Her hustle and never-say-die attitude catapulted her into Berry's history books as an all-time great runner.
Senior Braxton Benham captured the Male Athlete of the Year honor, after a historic campaign both individually and for his team. The local product from Cartersville, Georgia, had a commanding influence on every single game in the 2024-2025 season for the Vikings, while also making a positive impact on the Berry community. His individual accolades include surpassing 1,000 career points and becoming Berry's All-Time Leading scorer, an SAA Athlete of the Year, First Team All-SAA, an SAA Tournament MVP, two All-Region honors, and tabbed one of college basketball's highest honors as an NABC Third Team All-American.
On the season, the human-highlight reel averaged 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists. He scored a total of 83 points in a two-game span against Rhodes (42 pts) and Sewanee (41 pts), which is the highest point total within two consecutive games in Berry Men's Basketball D3 history. To cap off his career, Benham led the Vikings to their first ever NCAA Tournament win against Guilford. Braxton's final career totals stand at 1,424 career points (1st in D3 Era), 402 assists (1st in D3 Era), 442 rebounds (6th in D3 Era), and 218 steals (1st in D3 era). His senior year is etched in stone as one of resilience, belief in himself, and unselfishness, as he goes down as a Berry great.
