Wilkins, Thornton named Zaxby's Athletes of the Week

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University tailback Thurlow Wilkins and middle blocker Tatum Thornton have been named the Zaxby's Athletes of the Week. 

Wilkins, a redshirt freshman from Avon Park, Florida, rushed for a season-high 153 yards in Tusculum's 32-14 South Atlantic Conference win over Catawba College.  For Wilkins, it was his second straight 100-yard game.

His lone touchdown of the day came on a 63-yard run from scrimmage in the third quarter to give Tusculum a 19-7 lead over the Catawba Indians.  He also tallied 58 yards on two kickoff returns to give him 211 all-purpose yards in the contest.

Wilkins has rushed for 305 yards this season on just 44 carries averaging 6.9 yards per attempt.  He leads the league in kickoff returns, averaging 32.9 yards per attempt which is also sixth in the country. After starting the season 1-5, the Pioneers (4-5, 3-3 SAC) have rattled off a three-game winning streak.

Thornton, a senior from Ovilla, Texas averaged 2.08 kills and posted a .413 hitting percentage in the Pioneers' three outings last week.  She opened the week with six kills and four blocks in Tusculum's 3-0 sweep over King University on Tuesday. In that contest she posted a .364 attack percentage. She posted a career-high 13 kills in a five-set marathon loss to Lincoln Memorial University.  She amassed a .476 hitting percentage in the match and tallied five blocks.  Thornton accounted for six kills and hit .357 in Saturday's match-up with Carson-Newman University.

Thornton finished the week with 25 total kills, 10 blocks and 30.5 points as TU went 1-2 to move their record to 12-12 overall and 9-9 in South Atlantic Conference play.

The Tusculum University Athlete of the Week Award is sponsored by Zaxby's, located at 3280 Andrew Johnson Highway in Greeneville.  The Zaxby's Athlete of the Week Award honors one male and one female athlete each week from an in-season sport.

2019-2020 Zaxby's Athletes of the Week