Four Virginia Student-Athletes Earn ACC Postgraduate Awards

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Feb. 21, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Four Virginia student-athletes have been honored with 2013 ACC Postgraduate Awards, as announced Thursday by ACC Commissioner John Swofford. Ari Dimas (men’s soccer), Simone Egwu (women’s basketball), Lauren Perdue (women’s swimming) and Matt Snyder (wrestling) are part of a list of 41 ACC student-athletes who have been selected for the Weaver-James-Corrigan Award. Perdue was one of five ACC student-athletes to earn an honorary award.

The Weaver-James-Corrigan scholarship is awarded to selected student-athletes – three from each league institution – who intend to pursue a graduate degree following completion of their undergraduate requirements. Each recipient will receive $5,000 toward his or her graduate education. Those honored have performed with distinction in both the classroom and their respective sport, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.

The 41 student-athletes will be honored at the annual ACC Postgraduate Luncheon presented by ESPN on April 17 in the Guilford Ballroom at the Sheraton Greensboro at the Four Seasons.

Dimas (Chesapeake, Va.) made the Virginia soccer team in 2009 after walking on and soon became a starter as the Cavaliers won the national championship in ’09. He was a three-year starter at midfielder for UVa. At UVa’s 2012 valediction ceremony, Dimas received UVa’s Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for character and service (presented to two graduating students). He served on UVa’s Student Council and his Class Council, and was a student-athlete mentor. Dimas worked with first-year students through a program that orients them to college life. A double major in philosophy and sociology, he also spent a semester as an intern in the office of University President Teresa Sullivan.

Egwu (Odenton, Md.) has been a four-year starting center for the Cavalier women’s basketball team, averaging 6.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game during her senior season. Egwu is simultaneously finishing her bachelor’s degree in government while already pursuing a master’s degree at UVa’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She is an Echols Scholar, an extremely prestigious honor at the University of Virginia, and earned the athletic department’s Bob Williams’ Award for best exemplifying a partnership of academics and athletics her freshman year. Egwu, who served as the 2012 president of Virginia’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee, is active in the community, including participating in the Hope 4 Kids Program for low-income elementary school students, and also looks to make an international impact with raising awareness about clean water access issues in the Middle East.

A four-year starter for UVa, Snyder (Lewistown, Pa.) is a two-time NCAA qualifier and the 2012 ACC champion at 125 pounds. He ranks in the top 10 in career wins at Virginia and is third in career falls. A 2012 Academic All-American and the 2012 ACC Wrestling Scholar Athlete of the Year, Snyder graduated last year with a degree in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise physiology and is currently working on his master’s degree in that field as well. He plans to enter the medical field upon graduation. During his senior year in 2011-12, Snyder lived on The Lawn at Virginia, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed upon students at the University.

Perdue (Greenville, N.C.) won an Olympic gold medal with the United States women’s 4×200-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Games. A UVa team captain, Perdue was the 2010 and 2011 ACC Swimmer of the Championships, 2011 ACC Swimmer of the Year and the 2010 ACC Freshman of the Year. A 12-time All-American and 17-time ACC Champion, Perdue has broken the ACC and Virginia record in the 100 free (47.88) and 200 free (1:42.51) and is the school record holder in the 50 free (22.01). The 2011 NCAA runner-up in the 200 free has also been selected to the ACC All-Academic squad twice. She is majoring in anthropology.

The Weaver-James-Corrigan Award is named in honor of the late Jim Weaver and Bob James, as well as Gene Corrigan, the first three ACC commissioners. The league’s first commissioner, James H. Weaver, served the conference from 1954-70 after a stint as the Director of Athletics at Wake Forest University. His early leadership and uncompromising integrity are largely responsible for the excellent reputation enjoyed by the ACC today.

Robert C. James, a former University of Maryland football player, was named commissioner in 1971 and served in that capacity for 16 years. During his tenure, the league continued to grow in stature and became recognized as a national leader in athletics and academics, winning 23 national championships and maintaining standards of excellence in the classroom.

Eugene F. Corrigan assumed his role as the third full-time commissioner on September 1, 1987, and served until August of 1997. During Corrigan’s tenure, ACC schools captured 30 NCAA championships and two national football titles.