BUIES CREEK, N.C. – As 2022 ends, Campbell fans can look back at a historic calendar year. One that included 12 conference titles, new leadership, and the announcement of a new conference home.
Here's a look back at the year that was in Campbell Athletics.
January
24 – Jeff Gross was named head women's soccer coach at Campbell, replacing Samar Azem, who took the head coaching position at Villanova. Gross spent the previous eight seasons at UNCG, including two as associate head coach.
February
12 – The men's basketball team set a school record for fewest points allowed in a Big South Conference regular season game win a 60-42 victory over High Point at the Qubein Center. The Camels broke the old mark of 44 points scored by UNC Asheville on Feb. 14, 1994 in a 45-44 CU win at the Justice Center.
23 – Campbell football signed 247 Sports' best high school class for an FCS program and finished with a class ranked better (88th nationally) than several Power 5 schools, including Washington and Arizona State, plus nearby FBS schools like Liberty (97th) and Charlotte (107th).
25 – Campbell won its first-ever Big South Conference men's indoor track & field title at Winston-Salem, N.C. Virgil Givens was awarded Big South coach of the year after leading the Camels to eight event titles. Athanas Kioko was named Most Valuable Athlete after earning first-place finishes in all three events in which he competed.
26 – The women's basketball team defeated High Point 60-53 in overtime to claim its second Big South regular season title in three years. The Camels advanced to the Big South Championship title game and earned the program's first-ever berth in the WNIT.
28 – Taya Bolden was named Big South women's basketball scholar-athlete of the year and named first-team all-conference.
March
6 – John Payne, the first 4-time all-conference award winner in Big South men's soccer history, was inducted into the Big South Hall of Fame in ceremonies at Charlotte, N.C. He was named the 1989 Big South player of the year and to the league's 1984-89 all-decade team.
6 – Campbell claimed its fourth consecutive Southern Conference wrestling tournament championship. All 10 Camels in the field wrestled for medals with nine making the podium, including individual championships from Shannon Hanna at 141 pounds, Caleb Hopkins at 184 and Taye Ghadiali at heavyweight. Six Campbell wrestlers advanced to the NCAA Championships.
27 – NCAA and Campbell Baseball school records fell during a 36-4 win over Presbyterian at Jim Perry Stadium. Campbell tied NCAA records for grand slams in an inning: 2 (Jarrod Belbin and Grant Knipp, seventh inning, first time since 2018); grand slams in a game: 3 (Jarrod Belbin (2), Grant Knipp, first time since 2007) and for individual home runs in an inning: 2 (Connor Denning, third inning, first since 2011). Belbin tied the single game record for RBI in a game (10), while the team tied the mark for most home runs in a game (10).
April
9 – Campbell won the Big South men's tennis regular season championship with a 4-3 triumph over Presbyterian. CU extended its win streak to 13 matches in the league semifinals before falling to Radford 4-3 in the title contest.
16 – Campbell won its sixth-straight Big South Conference women's golf title after Patricia Garre Munoz birdied the fourth playoff hole to give the top-seeded Camels a 3-2 victory over USC Upstate in the match play final at Ninety Six, S.C. CU earned its 10th-consecutive postseason trip and competed in the NCAA Stillwater Regional. Emily Hawkins was named golfer of the year, while John Crooks was tabbed as coach of the year and Tomita Arejola scholar-athlete of the year. Hawkins was joined on the all-conference first team by Big South individual champion Anna Nordfors.
21 – After guiding Campbell to its first unbeaten league regular season record since 1993, David Johnson was named Big South men's tennis coach of the year. Damien Nezar, Pol Otin and Benjamin Maes were named first-team all-conference.
21 – Marissa Pennings was named Big South freshman of the year and joined by Mialy Ranaivo, Rhona Cook and Sandra Gines on the league's women's tennis all-conference teams.
25 – Henrik Lilja was named Big South men's golfer of the year and scholar-athlete of the year, while Henric Bjelke was named freshman of the year. Edwin Blomander joined Lilja on the all-conference first team. Lilja earned an individual berth in the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional.
29 – Sam Bischoff was named Big South women's lacrosse midfielder of the year, Rebekah Taylor defensive player of the year and Megan Matthews scholar-athlete of the year. In addition, Bischoff and Taylor were selected to the all-conference first team, Matthews second team, and Chandler Stewart honorable mention all-conference. Campbell tied a school record for wins (10) in a season.
May
15 – Campbell secured back-to-back Big South Conference softball regular season and tournament titles by defeating Longwood in the title game at Farmville, Va. Georgeanna Barefoot was named tournament MVP and the Camels went on to compete in the NCAA Knoxville Regional.
24 – A program record 11 Camels were chosen for Big South Conference honors, led by player of the year Zach Neto, pitcher and scholar-athlete of the year Thomas Harrington and coach of the year Justin Haire.
28 – Campbell claimed its sixth Big South Conference baseball tournament title by sweeping two games from Charleston Southern at High Point, N.C. The league regular season and tournament champs earned a trip to the NCAA Knoxville Regional.
28 – After adding a baseball tournament trophy, Campbell University claimed a school record 13 conference titles in one academic year. None of the other 17 Division I programs in North Carolina won more than six league championships in the 2021-22 season. Fighting Camel teams combined to win 12 Big South regular season and tournament crowns in 2021-22 in addition to the 2022 Southern Conference wrestling tournament. In spite of the fact that no spring sport titles were awarded during the Covid 19-shortened 2019-20 season, the Camels have won 27 conference championships over the last three years – the most in a three-year span in Campbell history.
June
2 – After claiming six titles, Campbell was presented the Big South Conference men's sports trophy for the fourth-consecutive season. Campbell, which combined to win 13 men's and women's league titles during the 2021-22 campaign finished as runner-up in both the George F. "Buddy" Sasser Cup and women's sports trophy standings.
9 – The Big South Conference announced that its annual Female Athlete of the Year Award will be named in honor of Wanda Watkins, the Big South and Campbell University Hall of Fame coach and administrator. The award annually recognizes the top female athlete from each season, and candidates consist of the Players of the Year from each sport.
9 – Dorcas Ewoi earned second team All-America honors in the 800m at the NCAA Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
17 – All-Americans Zach Neto and Thomas Harrington were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. Neto was chosen 13th overall – the highest ever for a Campbell player – by the Los Angeles Angels and Harrington was taken 36th by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
19 – Ryan Chasse was chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 17th round of the Major League Baseball draft, marking the first time three Campbell players were taken in the top 20 rounds of the annual draft.
July
5 – Campbell University announced the appointment of Hannah Bazemore ('07, '09) as the acting Director of Athletics. Bazemore had served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Business and Finance since 2020. She served as Campbell's Athletics Business Manager from 2010-2018 and Assistant Athletics Director for Business Operations from 2018-2020.
8 – Trena Prater was named head softball coach, replacing Sharonda McDonald-Kelley, who accepted the head coaching position at Michigan State. Prater previously served as head coach at Hampton and Buffalo and most recently as associate head coach at Iowa.
8 – Twenty-five Campbell swimmers were named to the CCSA Academic Honor Roll. The team compiled a 3.465 GPA for the 2021-22 academic year.
30 – A total of 296 Campbell University student-athletes were recognized as honor roll members by the Big South Conference, Coastal Collegiate Sports Association and Southern Conference by compiling at least a 3.0 grade-point average over the 2021-22 academic year.
August
3 - Campbell University accepted an invitation to join the Colonial Athletic Association in all sports the league sponsors effective July 1, 2023. Campbell will remain a member of the Big South Conference for the 2022-2023 season before making the move. Wrestling will remain a member of the Southern Conference. CAA membership includes the College of Charleston, University of Delaware, Drexel University, Elon University, Hampton University, Hofstra University, Monmouth University, North Carolina A&T University, UNC Wilmington, Northeastern University, Stony Brook University, Towson University and the College of William & Mary. Football-only programs include the University of Albany, Villanova University, University of Richmond and University of Rhode Island.
28 - Marshall Lovett was inducted into the Campbell University Athletics Hall of Fame during a special ceremony in conjunction with the Seventy-First High School 50th reunion in Fayetteville. The point guard was named NAIA All-American as a senior after he led his team to back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1975 and 1976. He was named NAIA third-team All-American after his senior year.
31 – Campbell graduate and nine-time All-American runner Athanas Kioko was named the Big South Conference Male Athlete of the Year for the second-straight season. He was named 2nd-team All-American at the NCAA Indoor Championships 3000m and added 1st-team honors in the NCAA Outdoor Championships 10,000m and honorable mention All-America recognition in the 5000m.
September
13 – Campbell won the Golfweek Fall Challenge in record-tying fashion Tuesday at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club. With four golfers among the top 15 individuals, the Camels finished at 18-under par 834. The victory marked the 97th team title under John Crooks' direction. He stands second behind only Duke's Dan Brooks (140) in NCAA women's golf tournament coaching wins.
October
26 – Campbell defeated Longwood 8-0 to claim its second-straight Big South regular season women's soccer title.
29 – Dorcas Ewoi finished second at the Big South women's cross country championship to earn first-team all-conference honors. She went on to compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional where she posted a personal record time in the 6K event.
November
1 – Led by offensive player of the year and scholar-athlete of the year Jessica Donald and defensive player of the year Laney Peabody, seven Camels were named to the Big South women's soccer all-conference teams.
2 – Campbell defeated Gardner-Webb 3-1 to win its third Big South regular season men's soccer title in four years.
3 – Campbell extended its unbeaten streak to 14 matches, but the top-seeded Camels were eliminated in penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw with Gardner-Webb in the Big South women's soccer semifinal round. CU finished the season 11-3-4 overall and ran its record against Big South opponents to 34-6-4 since 2019.
4 - Tyler Young was named Big South men's soccer offensive player of the year for the second-straight season and Moses Mensah was chosen as defensive player of the year. Kemy Amiche, Kyoji Hata, Jalen James and Diego Konincks joined Mensah and Young on the Big South first team. Campbell advanced to the Big South final for the fourth time in five seasons. CU posted a 34-3-5 record in its last 42 matches against Big South competition.
11 – Hannah Bazemore was named director of athletics at Campbell University, dropping "acting" from her title after taking over the role in July. A 2007 and 2009 graduate of Campbell, Bazemore previously served as senior associate athletics director for business and finance, assistant director for business operations and business manager since joining the Campbell Athletics staff in 2010.
12 – Campbell Volleyball won its first regular season conference championship in program history (37 seasons) with a straight-set win over USC Upstate at Gore Arena.
12 – Campbell wrestling faced nationally-ranked Michigan and North Carolina in the Battle at Bragg, hosted by the Camels in conjunction with the United States Army, at the Pope Army Airfield at Fort Bragg. The Veterans Day event, sponsored by Cliff Keen, was streamed live, globally, via UFC Fight Pass, in association with Cage Fury Fighting Championships.
16 – Greg Goral was named the Big South volleyball coach of the year and Claranne Fechter was tabbed defensive player of the year. A program record six players earned all-conference recognition, along with a seventh earning all-academic honors.
22 – Campbell placed a school-record 12 individuals on the Big South all-conference football teams. Tight end Julian Hill, offensive tackle Mike Edwards, long snapper Jackson Hayes and punt returner Josh McNeely earned first-team honors.
December
6 – Two-time Big South scholar-athlete of the year Jessica Donald was named to the College Sports Communicators third-team Academic All-America women's soccer team.
7 – The 2023 Campbell Athletics Hall of Fame class was announced. April Cromartie (women's basketball), Jerry Hartman (wrestling), Heather Lee Magill (women's cross country/track & field), John Payne (men's soccer) and Brittany Stanley Lee (softball) will be enshrined on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023 during ceremonies at the Oscar Harris Student Union.
21 – The Fighting Camel athletic department enjoyed another outstanding term in the classroom as its 21 varsity teams compiled a 3.09 overall grade-point average. The accomplishment marked the 12th-straight semester – and 14th out of the last 15 – that Campbell athletes have posted a 3.0 or better combined semester GPA.
21 – Tyler Young and Moses Mensah were selected in the Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft. Young was selected in the second round with the 36th overall pick by Atlanta United. Mensah was chosen 74th overall in the third round by Real Salt Lake. It marked the first time that Campbell had two players chosen in the annual MLS draft in the same year.
23 – Offensive lineman Mike Edwards and long snapper Jackson Hayes were named to the Phil Steele FCS All-America teams.
