HILTON HEAD, SC -- The University of Montevallo’s Anna Garrison and Flagler College’s Johan Bergfeld were named the female and male Peach Belt Conference Student-Athletes of the Year at a year-end awards banquet in Hilton Head, S.C., site of the league’s annual meetings. The two were selected by the PBC’s Faculty Athletics Representatives, who looked at information on each candidate and based their vote on 50% academic accomplishment, 30% athletic achievement and 20% leadership qualities. The scholar-athlete award is the highest individual award presented by the Peach Belt.
Garrison graduated from Montevallo this May with a degree in communication studies and a minor in public relations with a 3.972 GPA. A first team Capitol One Academic All-American - the first UM female student-athlete to ever receive the honor - she also received an Academic Achievement Award from the Division II Athletic Directors Association, was named Academic All-District three times and PBC Presidential Honor Roll Gold Scholar three times. From LaVergne, Tenn., she was named to the President’s List eight times and received the Senior Elite honor from the communications department, an honor given to the most outstanding senior within each major at UM.
She was equally impressive on the volleyball court. A four-year starter for the Falcons she was named the 2010 PBC Setter of the Year and leaves the school with the second-most assists in UM history. She spent three of her four years as a part of the Peach Belt Conference (UM joined the league in 2009) and amassed 3,737 assists to sit 10th on the PBC all-time list. She is the only UM player ever to have 3,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs. A two-time PBC All-Conference performer she was named a PBC Specialist of the Week nine times in her career. In addition to her academic and athletic accomplishments, Garrison served as the vice president of the UM Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, coaches a club team and is a member of Campus Outreach. She becomes the first Montevallo student-athlete to be named a PBC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Bergfeld graduated from Flagler in May with a degree in business administration with minors in economics, finance and marketing and a 3.96 GPA. The native of Akers Styckebruk, Sweden, was named a Capitol One Academic All-American - only the second men’s soccer player in PBC history to receive the honor. He was also named an NSCAA Scholar All-American and to the Alpha Chi and Sigma Beta Delta honor societies. A four-year player at Flagler, three of those in the PBC (Flagler joined the conference in 2009) he has been named to the President’s Academic Honor Roll Gold Scholar three times. He was a part of the Society for the Advancement of Management’s Case Team which placed third nationally this spring.
On the field, Bergfeld was named the 2011 PBC Player of the Year after leading the Saints to their second PBC regular-season championship and first tournament title last fall. A third-team Daktronics All-American, he started all 23 matches in the midfield, scoring six goals - four of them game-winners - with five assists. Under his direction and leadership, Flagler won the southeast region and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. He leaves the school a three-time first-team All-Conference selection and is now playing professionally for Orlando City on their Under 23 roster. Bergfeld becomes the first Flagler player to ever be named a PBC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
