Malcolm Brogdon and Leah Smith UVA's Top Athletes
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May 4, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va – Malcolm Brogdon (men’s basketball) and Leah Smith (women’s swimming) were honored as Virginia’s top male and female athletes for the 2015-16 academic year at UVA’s annual awards dinner on Wednesday (May 4) at John Paul Jones Arena. Brogdon earned the WINA Award as the top male athlete for the second consecutive year, while Smith garnered the IMP Award as the top female athlete.
Brogdon became UVA’s first consensus first-team All-American since Ralph Sampson in 1983 after leading the Cavaliers to a 29-8 record in 2015-16 and first NCAA Elite Eight appearance since 1995. Brogdon became the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to earn league player of the year and defensive player of the year in the same season. He averaged a career-high 18.2 points and earned first-team All-ACC honors for the third straight year. Brogdon finished his UVA career ranked ninth all-time in scoring with 1,809 points and first on UVA’s career free throw shooting chart at 87.6 percent.
Smith captured the NCAA titles in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle at the 2016 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, successfully defending her titles from 2015 and becoming the first University of Virginia student-athlete to win four individual NCAA championships. Also in 2016, Smith captured three ACC titles in the 500 and 1,650 free as well as the 800 free relay en route to leading the Cavaliers to their ninth-consecutive ACC Championship. In addition to her titles, Smith holds the current NCAA records in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650 freestyle events, which the latter two were set at the 2016 conference meet. A 10-time All-American and an 11-time ACC Champion over her career, Smith has led UVA to back-to-back fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships, the highest team finishes in program history. Smith has also been named to the All-ACC Academic Team in 2015 and 2016.
Men’s soccer player Patrick Foss (South Riding, Va.) earned the Ernest H. Ern Jr. Award for outstanding contributions to student life at Virginia, while Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) of women’s basketball was the recipient of the Ralph Sampson Scholarship Award. Lucy Hyams (Whitstable, England) of field hockey received the Virginia Athletics Department’s Distinguished Student-Athlete Scholarship Award.
Life Skills Director Phil Gates earned the Bus Male Memorial Service Award for his years of service to the athletics department. Mike Marsella (Hope Valley, R.I.) of men’s track and Hannah Solis-Cohen (New York, N.Y.) of rowing each received Craig Fielder Memorial awards for overcoming adversity. Softball’s Aimee Chapdelaine (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) earned the Life Skills Scholarship Award.
Katrina Tippett (Chester, Va.) was the recipient of the Bob Goodman Memorial Award for her service to Virginia athletics as a team manager for women’s basketball, and Nathan Jones (Ruckersville, Va.) of the football and rowing programs received the Tim Abbott Memorial Award as the student assistant trainer most dedicated to and possessing empathy for the student-athletes.
Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) of the men’s tennis team and Makenzy Doniak (Chino Hills, Calif.) of the women’s soccer team received Virginia’s ACC Scholar-Athlete Awards. Football’s James Coleman (Martinsville, Va.) earned the Susan J. Grossman Memorial Award in recognition of outstanding service to student-athletes and contributions to the Student-Athlete Mentor Program.
Haley Durmer (Decatur, Ga.) of the women’s swimming and diving 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 Carl Buergler (Arlington, Va.) of the men’s swimming and diving program garnered the Gus Tebell Memorial Award as the fourth-year male student-athlete with the highest scholastic average through his four years at Virginia.
Virginia’s ACC Top VI Award recipients included Eric Holden (Orange, Conn., men’s swimming & diving), Caid Kirven (Raleigh, N.C., men’s basketball), Taylor Sarcone (Staten Island, N.Y., softball), Coleman (football), Foss (men’s soccer) and Durmer (women’s swimming and diving).
Team Awards
Baseball — Billy Word Memorial Award — TBA
Men’s Basketball – Sidney Young Memorial Award — Caid Kirven
Women’s Basketball – Coaches Award for Excellence — Faith Randolph
Men’s Cross Country – Coaches Award for Excellence — Chase Weaverling
Women’s Cross Country – Coaches Award for Excellence — Cleo Boyd
Field Hockey – Coaches Award for Excellence — Rebecca Holden
Football – John Acree Memorial Award — Demetrious “Tra” Nicholson
Men’s Golf – F. Dixon Brooke Memorial Award — Derek Bard
Women’s Golf – William E. Eacho Memorial Award — Elizabeth Szokol and Lauren Coughlin
Men’s Lacrosse — Henry Gaver Memorial Award — TBA
Women’s Lacrosse — Coaches Award for Excellence — Maggie Preas
Rowing – Coaches Award for Excellence — TBA
Men’s Soccer – Stanley Lerner Memorial Award — Scott Thomsen
Women’s Soccer – Coaches Award for Excellence — Emily Sonnett
Softball – Coaches Award for Excellence — TBA
Men’s Swimming & Diving – Brooke Maury Memorial Award — Yannick Kaeser
Women’s Swimming & Diving – Diane Montgomery Greene Memorial Award — Haley Durmer
Men’s Tennis – Norton Pritchett Memorial Award — Ryan Shane
Women’s Tennis – Coaches Award for Excellence — Danielle Collins
Men’s Track & Field – Henry Cummings Memorial Award — TBA
Women’s Track & Field – Z Society – The Lou Onesty Memorial Award — TBA
Volleyball – Coaches Award for Excellence — Lauren Fuller
Wrestling – David Senft Memorial Award — George DiCamillo