Wabash’s Slaughter Receives NCAC Hunsinger Award

Courtesy: Wabash Athletics

Recent Wabash College graduate and men’s swimming & diving student-athlete Wesley Slaughter has been selected as the recipient of the 2021 North Coast Athletic Conference Don Hunsinger Award.

Slaughter saw success in the pool over the course of his four-year career, claiming six All-NCAC honors. At the 2020 NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships, he and his Little Giant teammates captured gold in the 400 medley relay, becoming the first Wabash quartet to win a relay event at the conference championship in school history. Slaughter exits Wabash as the current varsity record-holder in the 50 freestyle (20.57). He is also a member of four relay teams that hold school records in the 200 (1:22.49) and 400 (3:03.57) freestyle and the 200 (1:30.92) and 400 (3:19.95) medley relays. At Wabash’s 2021 season-ending meet, Slaughter and his teammates set a new pool record in the 400 free relay (3:05.19).

As a result of his hard work in the water and on the deck, Slaughter was named captain of the Little Giants’ swimming & diving team during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. He was selected as a co-recipient of the Robert E. “Pete” Vaughan Award in 2021, which declared him as an outstanding athlete of the year at Wabash. Slaughter also earned 2021 College Swimming & Diving Coaches of America (CSCAA) All-America honors as part of the Little Giants’ 200 medley relay team that recorded a season-best time of 1:31.75.

Along with Slaughter’s numerous athletics accomplishments, he graduated with a 3.81 cumulative grade point average as a biochemistry major and biology minor. He was a 2021 Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honor Society inductee, a three-time NCAC Academic Honor Roll honoree and Wabash’s 2021 selection for the NCAC Scholar-Athlete Award. On campus, Slaughter was an active student researcher for three and a half years, examining miniscule crystal content in common pharmaceuticals using a home-built second harmonic generation microscope. For three years, he served as a chemistry tutor for the college’s Quantitative Skills Center and as a resident assistant. In 2018, Slaughter served as a member of Wabash’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, leading the philanthropic activities of the group. Moving forward, he plans to continue his studies at the Indiana University School of Dentistry.

“I am so proud of Wes and all that he has accomplished here at Wabash,” Wabash head swimming coach Will Bernhardt said. “To win the Hunsinger Award is just the perfect way to cap off his phenomenal career both in the water and out. He is a great leader and even better person. I am proud to have been able to coach him and that he was a part of our team. He is very deserving of this award. I am glad the committee recognized all his accomplishments and accolades over his four years.”

Slaughter was one of five outstanding nominees considered for the selection committee. The other candidates included:

Nolan Ginther, Men’s Basketball, DePauw University
Drake Horton, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Denison University
Jake Lininger, Men’s Golf, Hiram College
Andreas Xenofontos, Men’s Soccer, The College of Wooster

This award commemorates former Oberlin administrator and coach Don Hunsinger, who had a far-reaching influence on the athletes he coached in a wide variety of sports. Over more than three decades, Hunsinger served Oberlin as athletic director, chairman of the department of physical education, had stints as head coach for Yeoman football, baseball, and men’s and women’s tennis, and assisted with the men’s and women’s basketball programs. Four times he earned NCAC Coach of the Year recognition, twice in men’s tennis and twice in women’s. Hunsinger, who retired from the College in 2008, continues to serve the conference as Director of Tennis.

The award recognizes one male senior student-athlete who has distinguished himself throughout his collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Each conference institution can nominate a distinguished male student-athlete for the honor. A committee of North Coast Athletic Conference administrators and faculty representatives, in conjunction with the conference office, makes the selection.

Slaughter is the second Wabash College student-athlete to receive the Hunsinger Award. Little Giant baseball player Erich Lange received the award in 2019.

NCAC Don Hunsinger Award Winners
2021 – Wesley Slaughter, Wabash
2020 – Ahmed Hamed, Ohio Wesleyan
2019 – Erich Lange, Wabash
2018 – Jason Wesseling, Denison
2017 – Trevor Manz, Kenyon
2016 – Geno Arthur, Oberlin
2015 – Casey Cempre, Denison
2014 – Andrew Chevalier, Kenyon
2013 – Curtis Ramsey, Kenyon
2012 – Sharif Kronemer, Ohio Wesleyan
2011 – Kyle Herman, Ohio Wesleyan
2010 – J. David Gatz, Ohio Wesleyan
2009 – Kyle Holliday, Ohio Wesleyan