DAHLONEGA - The University of North Georgia Department of Athletics announced the winners of the 5^th Annual Golden Nighthawks Awards Gala August 26 and 27. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time, the awards were not given out at an in-person awards ceremony but were instead announced on all of Nighthawk Athletics' social media channels throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday using the hashtag #GNA20.

For the second consecutive year, Northeast Georgia Health System served as the event's presenting sponsor.
 
The GNAG is held annually to honor UNG's 13 teams and more than 240 student-athletes. A total of 13 awards were announced.
 
The day started with a welcome video from the UNG SAAC Executive Board before honoring the champions dating all the way back to the 2019 GNAs, including Abigail Kirkland's 2019 PBC 400 meter hurdles championship, Kimberlee Nettles' 2020 SoCon smallbore championship and the women's tennis team's Southeast Regional 1 championship from 2019.
 
There were four coaching milestones recognized as well from the 2019-20 year with women's golf's Sierra Campbell and track and field's Tom Williams being named PBC Coaches of the Year, baseball's Tom Cantrell earning his 900th career win on February 7, 2020, and women's tennis's Marcy Huck being named the ITA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019.
 
Cross country's Karmen LeRoy took home the first award of the day for Newcomer of the Year after winning PBC Freshman of the Year honors and placing in the top 10 four times in 2019.
 
Tobin Sanctuary from the rifle team was named the Male Senior Scholar Athlete. The Alstead, New Hampshire, native posted a 3.90 GPA in 2019-20 and was named to the SoCon All-Conference first team for both smallbore and air rifle.
 
The women's tennis team earned the award for Highest Women's Team GPA, posting a 3.65 cumulative grade point average for the spring 2019 and fall 2019 semesters.
 
Taking home the Outstanding Team Performance award was the women's golf team for their efforts at the DBU Classic. The Nighthawks shattered the 54-hole scoring records, both team and individual, to jump start their record-breaking season.
 
Nettles earned Female Performance of the Year honors after being named both the Smallbore and Air Rifle Athletes of the Year at the SoCon Championships, marking the first year that a UNG shooter earned both honors in the same year.
 
The Team of the Year was awarded to the women's tennis program after the 2019 squad made the furthest run toward a national championship in program history, making it to the national quarterfinals. The women's tennis team started and finished 2020 as the No. 10 team in the nation after going 8-0 in the COVID-19 shortened season.
 
Baseball's Steven Bower earned Male Performance of the Year honors after fanning 18 Claflin batters on February 9, 2020, to set a new UNG record for strikeouts in a single game.
 
The Female Senior Scholar Athlete award went to Aleah Johnson after she was named CoSIDA Academic All-District with a 3.93 GPA. She is the only women's cross country/track and field runner from UNG to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in program history.
 
The men's tennis team was given the award for Highest Men's Team GPA after posting a 3.32 cumulative GPA for the spring 2019 and fall 2019 semesters.
 
The Team Comeback of the Year went to the baseball program after mounting a nine-run ninth inning to erase a 5-1 deficit on the road at USC Aiken. UNG scored the final 10 runs in the game after initially trailing 5-0.
 
Women's basketball's Julianne Sutton was named the Most Outstanding Female after scoring double figures in every game during the 2019-20 season. The rising senior from Flowery Branch, Georgia, was also named PBC Player of the Year, WBCA All-American Honorable Mention, CoSIDA Academic All-District and UNG's nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year.
 
The Most Outstanding Male went to men's basketball's Ephraim Tshimanga after the Acworth native surpassed 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 made field goals for his career this season. He earned PBC Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference third team honors as well.
 
Finally, the Play of the Year went to men's soccer's Victor Galterio for his goal from 35 yards out against West Alabama back on October 3, 2019. Galterio took a pass from Michael Walsh and, after a touch to his right foot, curved a shot over the Tiger goalkeeper to put UNG up, 1-0, in a game the Nighthawks would win, 2-1.