Caroline Miller and Jarmere Jenkins UVa's Top Athletes
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May 1, 2013
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Caroline Miller (women’s soccer) and Jarmere Jenkins (men’s tennis) were honored as Virginia’s top female and male athletes for the 2012-13 academic year at UVa’s annual awards dinner on Wednesday (May 1) at John Paul Jones Arena. Miller received the IMP Award as the top female athlete and Jenkins garnered the WINA Award as the top male athlete.
The 2012 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, Miller set single-season school records with 20 goals and 47 points this season. The conference leader in goals and points, Miller was a 2012 NSCAA first-team All-American and became the first Cavalier to be named a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, the nation’s top individual women’s soccer award.
The Rockville, Md., native ended her season on a school-record eight-game goal-scoring streak and was named first-team All-ACC for the second consecutive season as well as being selected to the ACC All-Tournament team when Virginia won the 2012 ACC Championship. Miller ended her career with 45 goals and 109 points, both ranking second in school history. She was selected 10th overall by the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League and is currently playing her rookie season with the club.
Jenkins has led the Virginia men’s tennis team to the most successful era in school history. Over the past four years, the Atlanta, Ga., native and four-time All-ACC selection has guided the Cavaliers to four ACC Championships, three ITA National Team Indoor Championships and two NCAA runner-up finishes. The 2012 ACC Player of the Year, Jenkins has posted 132 career singles wins (third in school history) and 101 career doubles wins (10th in school history) heading into this year’s NCAA Championships. He has participated in the NCAA Singles Championship and NCAA Doubles Championship in each of the last three seasons, earning All-American honors in singles and doubles in both 2012 and 2013.
In November, Jenkins won the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship singles title, becoming the fifth Cavalier to win one of college tennis’ three major individual tournaments. Last month, Jenkins climbed to the No. 1 spot in both the ITA singles and doubles rankings, becoming just the third player in the last decade to be simultaneously No. 1 in singles and doubles while playing for the nation’s top-ranked team, joining former Cavalier Somdev Devvarman (2008) and Georgia’s John Isner (2007).
Keith VanDerBeek, former associate athletics director for business operations, earned the Bus Male Memorial Service Award for his years of service to the athletics department. VanDerBeek retired from UVa on March 1 after 28 years of service. He planned, organized, directed and evaluated the business operations of all UVa athletics department activities. VanDerBeek also managed the business operations staff, information systems and operating budget. VanDerBeek also served as the department’s liaison to the University’s audit, budget, financial administration and procurement offices.
Matt Snyder (Lewistown, Pa.) of the wrestling team and Sarah Cowburn (Worcestershire, England) of the women’s rowing team received Virginia’s ACC Scholar-Athlete Awards. Softball player Melanie Mitchell (White Plains, Md.) earned the Susan J. Grossman Memorial Award in recognition of outstanding service to student-athletes and contributions to the Student-Athlete Mentor Program.
Phoebe Willis (Fredericksburg, Va.) of the field hockey team earned the Ernest H. Ern, Jr., Award for outstanding contributions to student life at Virginia, while teammate Elly Buckley (Scarborough Perth, Australia) was the recipient of the Ralph Sampson Scholarship Award. Joe Spisak (Boiling Springs, Pa.) of the wrestling team received the Virginia Athletics Department’s Distinguished Student-Athlete Scholarship Award.
Kate Norbo (Roanoke, Va.) of the women’s soccer team received the Jettie Hill Memorial Award as the fourth-year female student-athlete with the highest scholastic average through her four years at Virginia, while Taylor Gilland (Chapel Hill, N.C.) of the men’s track and field and cross country programs garnered the Gus Tebell Memorial Award as the fourth-year male student-athlete with the highest scholastic average through his four years at Virginia.
Jared King (Radford, Va.) of the baseball team received the Craig Fielder Memorial Award for overcoming adversity and Simone Egwu (Odenton, Md.) of the women’s basketball team earned the Life Skills Scholarship Award.
Johnny Carpenter (Great Falls, Va.) of the men’s basketball team was the recipient of the Bob Goodman Memorial Award for his service to Virginia athletics as a team manager and Emily Cleveland (Woodbridge, Va.) of the baseball, football and wrestling programs received the Tim Abbott Memorial Award presented to the student assistant trainer most dedicated to and possessing empathy for the student-athletes.
Virginia’s ACC Top VI Award recipients included Simone Egwu (Odenton, Md., women’s basketball), Matt Fortin (West Chester, Pa., football), Melanie Mitchell (White Plains, Md., softball), Matt Murray (Saratoga, Calif., men’s swimming and diving), Matt Snyder (Lewistown, Pa., wrestling) and Phoebe Willis (Fredericksburg, Va., field hockey).