On Monday night, Georgia State Athletics was scheduled to honor its student-athletes, coaches, and Hall of Fame members as a part of the annual Student-Athlete Banquet. Unfortunately, just over six weeks ago the world as we know it changed. Tonight, there will be no banquet, funny jokes told, or recognition for those who have put in hours in the weight room or on the court, or stayed up an extra hour study for a final exam.

However, that doesn't mean we can't look back on what was still a very special year in Georgia State Athletics history and one that will not soon be forgotten.

Although it wasn't the first event of the year, it was pretty close, and no one will forget "Superman" Dan Ellington's run to the checkerboard as football UpseT Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, 38-30. It was one of many great moments throughout the year.

For football it was the start of a great season. The Panthers tied their school record with seven victories and earned their second bowl berth in three seasons under head coach Shawn Elliott with a trip to the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl. The team posted its best home record at 5-1 while setting a program-record for home attendance.

Ellington directed the most prolific offense in GSU history, including new season standards for scoring, rushing and total offense. Senior running back Tra Barnett broke the GSU records for rushing yards in a game, season and career, all in one dominating victory over Troy.

On the pitch, men's soccer had its best start in program history at 6-0-3 this season, surpassing the previous school record of seven straight matches without a loss to start a season set in 1967. The team also made its fifth straight appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final, the first school to achieve that mark since South Alabama from 1991-95.
 
Head coach Brett Surrency earned his 100th career win by beating rival Georgia Southern in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, becoming the second head coach in school history to reach the century mark in career wins. Surrency also led GSU to an upset victory over No. 10 Charlotte in mid-October, the fourth time during his tenure the Panthers have knocked off a top-25 nationally ranked opponent.
 
On the women's side, the Panthers won five of their final six matches, advancing to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for a third-straight year. Head coach Ed Joyce led Georgia State to eight or more wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-08. It was the team's best-ever finish in the Sun Belt standings (tied for 4^th) as the squad finished in the top four of their conference for the third time since 2000.

Senior Brooke Shank and freshman Jimena Cabrero were named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team as both ranked among the top-four in the conference in game-winning goals.
 
If Dan Ellington was Superman on the football field, then Lotte Meyberg was Superwoman during the cross country and track seasons. After winning the Sun Belt Conference Championship and numerous other titles, Meyberg turned around in the winter and won the 3000m and 5000m Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship titles. That just added to an already spectacular career.
 
Back at the GSU Sports Arena, Coach Polhamus' squad finished the year strong with a pair of victories over 'The School Down South' while senior Morgan Hash and sophomore Lauren Bandera were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. Hash was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American Third Team.

Later in the fall, under first-year head coach Rob Lanier, the men's basketball continued the winning tradition built over the last seven years with a 19-win season, including a seven-game winning streak in November and December. Georgia State became postseason eligible for the eighth-straight season for the first time in program history.
 
The season included some remarkable performances and even though it resulted in a loss, standing tied with No. 2 Duke in the second half at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the first week of the season showed what this team was capable of. Following the season, junior Kane Williams earned All-Sun Belt Second Team honors while redshirt-sophomore Justin Roberts earned All-Sun Belt Third Team recognition.
 
On the women's basketball side, head coach Gene Hill's squad rattled off four-straight wins in Sun Belt play, knocking off Arkansas State, Little Rock, Louisiana, and ULM. Early in the season Georgia State won its 600^th game on Nov. 29 against New Mexico State in El Paso. Two Panthers recorded double-doubles in the win as sophomore Taylor Hosendove and senior Shaq Miller-McCray each accomplished the feat. Later in the year Jada Lewis scored her 1,000^th career point on Feb. 15.

In their first season under head coach Brad Stromdahl, the baseball team was off to a strong start with a 9-7 record. The Panthers won three games in their final at-bat, including a dramatic walk-off win over Cincinnati on Opening Day. Elian Merejo scored the winning run and also homered, and the senior was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week.

The Panthers featured a strong crop of freshmen at the plate and on the mound, establishing a bright future for Coach Stromdahl's program.

Softball equally had some early season heroics with some bright young talent in the mix. Coach Kincaid's squad scored seven runs in the fourth inning of an early season game against Bryant to pick up an 11-4 win. Freshman Sophie Mooney threw a complete game, allowing just one run on four hits to lead GSU to a 3-1 win over Texas State. And in one of the biggest games of the early part of the season, Daisy Hess hit her first collegiate home run against top 25 Michigan on Feb. 7.

On the golf course, both the men and women's teams had record-setting rounds during the year and things were moving in the right direction leading into the conference championships.

On the men's side, graduate-transfer Ashton Poole started the season with five-straight rounds in the 60's and helped the Panthers to a final round 275 at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, among the top 10 rounds in program history. Poole, along with senior Josh Edgar's single-season scoring average both ranked among the top 20 marks in school history. Things were shaping up for a run at the school's ninth conference title.

Under first year head coach Jessica Steward, the women's golf team was really starting to get on a roll before things came to a halt. The Panthers opened the spring at the Amelia Island Collegiate shooting a final round 1-under par 287. It marked the lowest round for the team in 4.5 years, while junior Chloe Howard was finding her stride with a final round 69 that tied for the seventh-lowest final round in program history. Just like the men's team, it appeared as though Coach Steward's squad was preparing for a fun week at the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Daytona Beach.

Speaking of the beach, Coach van Fleet's Sandy Panthers were at it once again. They finished the season with an 11-3 record, defeating two top-15 programs, No. 10 FIU and No. 15 TCU along the way. Georgia State earned eight consecutive wins including six sweeps during one stretch of the season, including all three matches during the annual Day of Duals held at the GSU Beach Volleyball Complex.

Three pairs earned 10 wins: Eden Hawes and Maddy Delmonte (10), Becky Tresham and Maddie Gordon (11), and Kate Novack and Kelly Dorn (12). Competing in arguably the toughest conference in the country, the squad was moving in the right direction to return to the NCAA Championship in May.

On a different court, women's tennis was starting to heat up following three-straight wins over local opponents following a tough schedule against ranked opponents to start the year. Among the highlights was Eva Chivu defeating No. 79 Taylor Russo of Auburn on line one to earn Sun Belt Women's Tennis Player of the Week honors. Both Chivu and fellow sophomore Andreea Stanescu had eight wins already this season when play came to a halt.

On the men's side, Coach Wolff's squad had won four of its last six matches before the season came to unexpected end. Andrei Duarte and Roberts Grinvalds were slotted at No. 28 in the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's Doubles Rankings, giving the pair the second-highest doubles ranking in school history. Seniors Bailey Showers and Quentin Coulaud ended their careers on a five-match win streak as doubles partners and were one of only two doubles tandems in the Sun Belt to own 10 or more victories and a win-percentage above .700.
 
After a couple weeks off following the Sun Belt Indoor Track & Field Championship, outdoor competition was set to get underway the weekend that the sports world came to a halt. From the success of the indoor championship, it looked like the outdoor season would be great as well.
 
Along with Meyberg's success at the championship, Angela Alonso missed becoming a two-time Sun Belt champion in the Mile by just .05 seconds, placing second in the event. Alexus Shaw placed second in the Triple Jump with a distance of 12.39m and Jada Watson took third in the high jump at 1.69m. In the Long Jump, Shaw and Jaeda Hunt finished fourth and fifth, respectively, and Anouk Prop claimed fifth in the 800m.
 
So today we honor all of those who won championships and could have won titles, those who succeeded on the court, in the field, and most importantly, in the classroom. The 2019-20 academic year was one like we have never scene before in Georgia State history and will only make us stronger when we return to the fields of competition this fall.