Megan Moroney came out on top – and had a special person to thank!

The country star, 27, took home the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday after being nominated alongside Shaboozey, Nate Smith, Mitchell Tenpenny, Zach Top and Bailey Zimmerman.

“I just want to get through this without crying,” Moroney said as she accepted her award. “Thank you, Jesus, for putting this dream on my heart and thank you for the gift of songwriting.”

The rising country star – who also released her hit “Am I Ok?” performed. during the show – continued to dedicate her award to those who support her.

“This is for my fans. I would say they are a big reason why I’m here right now,” Moroney said. “The way they show up for me, the way they care about my songs, and they make signs and T-shirts, and they wait outside the venue from 3 o’clock. It’s really crazy to me.”

She then called out her “incredible team,” including her managers and her record labels, Columbia Records and Sony Music Nashville.

Moroney also mentioned her special bond with Sugarland singer Kristian Bush, who produced her two albums Happy And Am I okay?.

“Thank you for letting me be your intern at the University of Georgia so many years ago,” she told Bush, adding, “Go, Dawgs!” in reference to her alma mater.

The country singer concluded, “Thank you so much, country radio, CMAs. Thank you so much. I’m going crazy.”

Moroney earned three nominations at this year’s awards show, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Music Video of the Year (“I’m Not Pretty”) and New Artist of the Year, which she took home for the second year in a row. Throughout her career, she has earned five CMA Awards nominations. Moroney has released her second album Am I okay? in July and followed it up with the deluxe edition Am I okay? (I’ll be fine) in October 2024.

See all of PEOPLE’s full CMA Awards coverage here.

Moroney opened up to PEOPLE this summer about her and Bush’s creative collaboration.

“I grew up a Sugarland fan, and I started as an intern with Kristian and his brother Brandon at the University of Georgia in the music business program,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “I didn’t tell them I was pursuing music, because I literally walked in and saw a Grammy on the wall, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll shut up. I’m not going to tell them I’m ‘an’ aspiring- songwriter’ because I wrote three mediocre songs”.

Never miss a story: Sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

This year’s list of nominees is star-studded, but Beyoncé isn’t on it. Leading the nominations is Morgan Wallen with seven nods, followed by Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson with five nominations.

Luke Bryan, who is hosting the event for the fourth year in a row alongside Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson, will also perform his No. 1 hit “Love You, Miss You, Mean It” at the CMA Awards.

The 58th Annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on ABC on Wednesday, November 20 from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The show will stream on Hulu the next day.