FRANKLIN – Franklin College student-athletes Tysen Lipscomb, Samantha Phillips and Molly Wallace were recognized on Monday (May 6) night as the athletics department's three major award winners for the 2023-24 academic year.
Lipscomb, a four-year starter on the Franklin baseball team, was recognized as the winner of the Wil B. Nelp Award that is presented to Franklin's top male senior student-athlete. Phillips, a four-year star on the Franklin swimming team, collected the Jenny Johnson Kappes Award that is handed out to the top female senior student-athlete.
Wallace, a junior member of the Franklin softball team, was named the Walter and Nadine Hunter Leadership winner, an award that is presented to the junior or senior female student-athlete based on academic success, displaying team leadership and being involved in campus and community service projects.
Lipscomb became the first Griz baseball player since Ryan Bixler in 2021 to take home the Wil B. Nelp Award. The Wapahani, Ind.-native is a career .353 hitter with 23 home runs and a program record 183 RBI over 162 career games split between the outfield and catcher. He is a three-time First Team All-HCAC selection and was named to the D3Baseball.com Third Team All-Region back in 2021. He was instrumental in Franklin's 2023 conference tournament championship win, earning Tournament MVP honors.
Phillips became the fifth female swimmer in program history to earn the Jenny Johnson Kappes Award, joining Regina Solik (2017), Brynna Sentel (2021), Anna Perkins (2022) and Caileigh McCafferty (2023). The Owensboro, Ky.-native was a dominant force in the pool during her four years with the swimming program, among a group of women who have accomplished many significant accomplishments over the years. During Samantha's tenure, the women's swim team dominated in and out of the conference with a combined regular season record of 33-2-0. Three of those four season led to undefeated seasons (2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2023-2024). In addition, the team won HCAC Championships all four years.
This past season, Samantha led the team in scoring with 472.5 points and also led the team in scoring in 2022-2023. She met the national qualifying times as a member of both the 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle relays. In her individual races this past season across all divisions and types of competition, Samantha was undefeated in every HCAC race in both 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. This award was one of several for Phillips, which included 2023 HCAC Female Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year, 2023 HCAC Female Swimmer of the Meet and 2021 HCAC Newcomer of the Year.
Wallace became the second straight softball player to earn the Hunter Leadership Award after Sydney Bostic collected the honor in 2023. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-native is a two-time First Team All-HCAC selection with a career batting average of .366 with five home runs and 69 RBI in 121 career appearances in the blue and gold. Off the field, she is a three-time member of the Dean's List, two-time selection to the President's List, a 2024 Chi Alpha Sigma National Honor Society member, Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society member and an Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society member.
