Three student-athletes were honored Thursday evening at the annual Wabash College Awards Chapel. Senior swimmer Wesley Slaughter and junior basketball player Tyler Watson received the Robert E. "Pete" Vaughan Award as the outstanding athletes of the year. Senior Justin Kopp received the Indianapolis Association of Wabash Men's (IAWM) Scholar-Athlete Award for outstanding athletic and academic achievement.
 
Slaughter was a four-time all-North Coast Athletic Conference honoree at the 2020 NCAC Swimming and Diving Championships. He was a member of the Little Giants' 400-yard medley relay that became the first to win a relay event at the conference championship meet in school history. He holds the Wabash school record in the 50 freestyle and is a part of four school relay records. He was a member of the Wabash 400-yard freestyle relay team that set a new pool record in the 2021 season-ending win over DePauw and placed fourth overall in the final standings of the NCAC Swimming and Diving Virtual Challenge. Slaughter was also part of the Little Giant's 200-yard medley relay team that posted the second-fastest time in the NCAC challenge. That Wabash squad completed the race in 1:31.75.
 
Slaughter continues to train to try and earn a spot in the upcoming US Olympic Swimming Trials. He has been accepted to the Indiana University School of Dentistry.
 
Watson recently earned All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honors from D3hoops.com after leading the North Coast Athletic Conference in scoring with an average of 21.6 points per game this season. He also led the NCAC in free throw shooting percentage by making 63-of-68 attempts for 92.6 percent shooting from the line, 22nd-best among Division III players this season. Watson's free throw shooting percentage was the fourth-best single-season effort in Wabash basketball history. He ranked third in three-point baskets per game among conference players with an average of 2.5 per contest.
 
Watson has served as a manager on the Wabash COVID Action Response and Education (CARE) Team, working closely with the Wabash Healthy Campus Task Force to relay information to students and help develop ideas to help with the College's COVID response this year.
 
The Pete Vaughan Award was established by the National Association of Wabash Men on January 17, 1948 in honor of Robert E. "Pete" Vaughan, thirty-one year coach and director of athletics at Wabash College. The recipient, elected by the Wabash coaching staff and presented by the current director of athletics at the College, is deemed the outstanding athlete of the year at Wabash College. A commemorative plaque hangs in the Allen Athletics and Recreation Center.
 
Kopp, the recipient of the IAWM Scholar-Athlete Award, is majoring in both religion and Spanish and has maintained a 3.906 cumulative grade point average. He is a member of both the Wabash soccer and golf programs.
Kopp played in 53 career games and scored five goals and 14 assists. His 14 assists are tied for 11th in Wabash soccer history. He handed out six assists as a freshman, tied for the 12th-most in a single Wabash season. Kopp helped Wabash earn three North Coast Athletic Conference tournament berths. He was a Second Team All-NCAC selection at defense as a junior.
 
Kopp has played 14 rounds in eight events this season as a member of the golf team. He has earned three top-10 finishes and a season scoring average of 78.43 strokes per round. He tied for first place in the first dual match versus Wittenberg with a round of 72. Kopp finished second out of 27 golfers at the Franklin Spring Invitational with a two-day score of 145 (72-73). Kopp owns a career scoring average of 80.38 in 32 rounds and has five top-10 finishes.
 
Kopp earned an Orr Fellowship and will receive executive mentorship through that program with Lev, a Salesforce consultancy marketing company. Kopp has served as a senior consultant with the College's CIBE program and is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, the Wabash Student Senate, and the Sphinx Club.
 
The IAWM Scholar-Athlete Award was established in 1957 and is presented to the Wabash senior who has best demonstrated the combination of scholarship and athletics. The honoree receives a plaque and cash prize. A commemorative plaque hangs in the Allen Center.