EMORY, Va. - The Emory & Henry College Department of Athletics presents a pair of awards each academic year to honor the dedication and excellence of senior student-athletes – the Porterfield Memorial Award and Hall Memorial Award.
The Porterfield Award, named for former athletic director and football coach T.L. "Pidney" Porterfield '28, honors a male athlete and is presented to an outstanding senior that has distinguished himself in athletic leadership during his undergraduate career. The award recognizes individual athletic accomplishments only when characterized by character, leadership, sportsmanship, and contributions to the college community. The recipient embodies in his conduct, both in athletics and in leadership as a student, those qualities which represent Emory & Henry at its finest.
The winner of the Porterfield Memorial Award for 2021-22 is Devontae Jordan (Bassett, Va.) from the football team. This is the first time since 2017 that a football player has been designated as the outstanding senior male.
Jordan re-wrote the record book for Emory & Henry running backs last fall, setting nine different school records. He led all divisions of college football with 26 total touchdowns and finished as the number two rusher in NCAA Division II by just two yards.
Jordan set new E&H standards including rushing yardage in a season (1,853), rushing touchdowns in a game (six) and a season (26), and points scored in a game (36) and a season (156). He also became the first E&H rusher to gain more than 100 yards in all 10 games of a season and the first player to run for more than 200 yards in three straight contests.
For his efforts, Jordan won the Lanier Award from The Richmond Times-Dispatch designating him as Virginia's Small College Player of the Year. He was also named to the All-State First Team by the Virginia Sports Information Directors as well as the VaSID Offensive Player of the Year.
The Hall Award is named in memory of George A. Hall, the father of retired coach Eleanor Hall Hutton. Coach Hutton arrived at Emory & Henry in the mid-1960s and made an immediate impact, starting some of the first women's sports on campus. This award recognizes an outstanding senior female athlete who possesses qualities of skill, leadership, and character. The recipient will have excelled in one or more sports and will exemplify the qualities which represent Emory & Henry at its finest.
The 2021-22 recipient of the Hall Memorial Award is Anna Thomas (Climax, N.C.) of softball. This marks the second-straight year and the fourth time in the past five years that a softball player has earned this award.
Thomas is one of the top outfielders to ever wear an Emory & Henry uniform. She led the Wasps to a total of 87 wins, two NCAA Division III Regional appearances in 2019 and 2021, and a No. 9 national ranking from the NFCA in 2021. Thomas showed her versatility this past spring, answering the call and stepping into the circle to pitch.
She burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2019 and was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year as well as a second-team selection. She was also a NFCA All-Atlantic Region Third-Teamer and a VaSID All-State First-Team pick.
In 2020, Thomas was picked to the NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team and continued to rack up the awards in 2021, being selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District V First Team as well as the ODAC All-Tournament Team and the Seguin Regional All-Tournament Team. She also has excelled in the classroom, evidenced by a pair of selections to the NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete Team.
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