LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- In exclusive voting by the senior woman administrators of the conference, Cole Thumann of Colorado College has been selected the 2022 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Man of the Year.
Thumann is the fourth Colorado College student-athlete to earn SCAC Man of the Year honors and the first since Soren Frykholm took home the league’s top honor in 2017.
"We are immensely proud of Cole and so happy for him to receive this conference wide recognition," said CC Vice President and Athletics Director Lesley Irvine. "Cole has been a remarkable leader and achiever in the classroom, pool and community and he represents everything we aspire for here at Colorado College as a Division III student-athlete."
The SCAC Man of the Year award recognizes senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership. The inaugural SCAC Man of the Year was presented in 2013.
Thumann, a native of Katy, Texas and a four-year letterwinner on the men's swimming team, compiled a 4.00 grade-point average and graduated on May 23 with a bachelor's degree in physics. In June, he earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large Team.
A four-year SCAC Academic Honor Roll honoree, Thumann was named the school's 2022 Van Diest Award winner as the top male senior student-athlete. He was the 2020 SCAC champion in the 400-yard individual medley, earned all-conference honors each of his four seasons and is a member of the school-record 200- and 400-yard medley relay teams. Thumann earned the league's prestigious Elite 19 Award this past season.
“I am so proud of Cole for his many accomplishments, and even more for the amazing human that he is," said CC head swimming and diving coach Anne Goodman James. "It is gratifying when others, such as the SCAC, recognize Cole for his excellence. He played such an important role in making our team and his teammates great. We are honored to have had him as a part of our swim team family."
Thumann also received several scholarships during his time at Colorado College for academic success and volunteered with Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity.
"The hours I spent volunteering, recruiting, advising, and mentoring were a blessing to me," said Thumann. "The communities that I helped build and took part in increased my discipline and gratitude; they shifted my entire life-path. In times of loss and hardship they held sturdy and steadfast.
Thumann will soon begin a software engineering job at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas, and plans to attend graduate school in the future.
“I feel deeply that, at an astonishing rate, my time at CC shaped the person that I am and my idea of the person that I want to become," said Thumann. "I am beyond grateful for the friends, teammates, mentors, and coaches that chiseled away at the form of my character. CC was undoubtedly a perfect fit for me."
Thumann was one of five outstanding nominees considered by the SCAC Man of the Year Committee. The other candidates were:
- Xander Spurlock, soccer, Austin College
- Hunter Bajoit, tennis, Southwestern University
- Christian Alaekwe, basketball, University of St. Thomas
- Christian Settles, tennis, Trinity University
To read about past winners of the SCAC Man-of-the-Year award, click here.
Year-by-year SCAC Man of the Year Honorees:
2022 - Cole Thumann, swimming, Colorado College
2021 - Cameron Krimbill, tennis, Trinity University
2020 - Alexis Dimanche, tennis, Southwestern University
2019 - Riley Schaefer, baseball, Texas Lutheran University
2018 - Keenan Gumbs, basketball, Schreiner University
2017 - Soren Frykholm, soccer, Colorado College
2016 - Madison Ross, football, Austin College
2015 – Aaron Skinner, tennis, Trinity University
2014 – Kaleb Roush, swimming, Colorado College
2013 – Nick Lammers, soccer, Colorado College
