NOVEMBER 12, 2007 --- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

11 SMC Soccer Players Receive Post-Season Honors
Sophomore Midfielder Arroyo Named All-American For Consecutive Year 

SPARTANBURG – Eleven Spartanburg Methodist College soccer players recently received post-season honors. 

Nathan Arroyo, a Sophomore midfielder from Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, SC, was one of four men from Region X to be nominated as an NJCAA Soccer All-American. He finished second in the region for player of the year.

Arroyo, who was All-American as a freshman, is the highest scorer (20 goals, 26 assists) in SMC men’s soccer since 1995. Ben Brannan, a defender, finished (8  goals ,12 assist) is the sixth highest scorer. 

Selections were also recently made for Region X All-Region teams; each All-Region team consists of 11 players, nominated by coaches from across the region. 

SMC men’s team players named to the Men’s 1st Team All-Region include Arroyo, Brannan and fellow Northwestern graduate Mitch Gullick, a midfielder.

This is the second year that Arroyo and Brannan have been named to the 1st Team All Region. 

Lee Smith, a sophomore midfielder from Columbia, SC, and Sergio Flores, a freshman midfielder from Morganton, NC, were named to the Men’s 2nd Team All-Region.

Men’s team defender Harper Kemp, a sophomore from York, SC, was named as one of three All-Region Honorable Mention players. 

SMC women’s goalkeeper Katelyn Gristick, a sophomore from Orefield, PA, was named to the women’s 1st Team All Region for a second year in a row, while fellow Pioneer freshman Samatha Watts, of Columbia, SC, was also named to the team. 

Gristick and the SMC defense set two school records this year -- one with three consecutive shutouts and another with six shutouts in a season. 

Second Team Women’s All Region players from SMC include freshman Kristi Allen, of Easley, SC; Deidra Carter, of Greenwood, SC; and Samantha Decker, of Lexington, SC. 

Head soccer coach Dan Kenneally says he is very proud of his players and their performance this season. 

“They are very deserving of these accolades because of their hard work and dedication to SMC soccer,” says Kenneally.

The SMC men’s and women’s soccer teams both finished their Region X tournaments in 3rd place, with 5-11-2 and 11-5-2 records, respectively. 

Spartanburg Methodist College has 14 intercollegiate teams that compete in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, which includes colleges in the Carolinas, Virginia, and West Virginia.  

The College is in its 97th year of providing a quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning. 

For more information, contact SMC head soccer coach Dan Kenneally at (864) 587-4270 or athletic director Mark Perdue at (864) 587-4237. 

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