ATHENS, Ga. — Keturah Orji (women’s track and field) and Roquan Smith (football) claimed Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year awards at the annual Student-Athlete Awards Banquet hosted by the University of Georgia Athletic Association on Monday. Orji received the honor for the third consecutive year.
This is the first year the banquet will be fully run by student-athletes. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee including Gunnar Bentz, John Courson, Mackenzie Engram, Tatiana Gustin, Rashad Roundtree, Aliyah Johnson, Juwan Parker, Jonathan Pelham, Stephanie Peters, Kelly Skoglund, Kayla Smith, and Steven Van Tiflin are facilitating the event.
Orji (women’s track and field) and Joshua Kenway were awarded the Joel Eaves Award which goes to two rising seniors with the highest GPA. Seniors Jeb Blazevich (football), for the third consecutive year, and Tatiana Gustin (women’s track and field) were named recipients of the UGA Athletic Association Sportsmanship-Ethics Award. Grace Porter (equestrian) received the Marilyn Vincent Scholar-Athlete award which is given to the graduating senior female with the highest GPA.
As for postgraduate scholarships, the SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Postgraduate Scholarships were awarded to Alex Larsson (men’s track and field) and Orji (women’s track and field). The Brad Davis SEC Community Service Postgraduate Scholarships were presented to Megan Kingsley (women’s swimming and diving) Gunnar Bentz (men’s swimming and diving).
The men’s cross country and equestrian teams were recognized as the recipients of the Faculty Athletics Representative’s award, after earning the highest team grade point averages of 3.32 and 3.41 respectively, during the 2016-17 academic year.
Other special award winners included:
Dick Bestwick Scholar-Athlete Award: John Courson, Football
Clifford Lewis Leadership Award: Mackenzie Engram, Women’s Basketball (second consecutive year)
Dick Copas Leadership Award: Isaiah Wynn, Football
Hornsby Howell Community Service Award: Mary Terry, Women’s Track and Field
Bulldog Cup: Gymnastics
2016-17 Scholar-Athlete Award Winners: Ryan Avidano (baseball), Juwan Parker (men’s basketball), Ari Henderson (women’s basketball), Allie Harbert, Ashlin Leidberg, Emma Mandarino, & Grace Porter (equestrian), Billy Seward (football), Matthew Beringer (men’s golf), Mary Ellen Shuman (women’s golf), Grace Cherrey (gymnastics), Jackson Ford (men’s swimming and diving), Chantal Van Landeghem (women’s swimming and diving), Andy Martinez (men’s tennis), Elena Christofi (women’s tennis), (men’s track and XC) Bryan Kamau, Samantha Drop (women’s track and XC), Maddie Burdick (soccer), Amanda Ablan (softball), and Sarah Lagler-Clark (volleyball).
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