Best of Richmond Athletics Honored During Virtual SPIDYS

04/13/2020 | Baseball, Field Hockey, Football, General, Men's Golf, Men's Lacrosse, Women's Basketball, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming & Diving, Women's Track & Field, Men's Basketball, Spider Leadership

2020 Virtual SPIDYS

RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond Athletics Department held its annual SPIDYs Award Show Monday evening but the 2020 version was much different than years' past as it was held online only, airing live on @SpiderAthletics Instagram due to COVID-19 restrictions. The 2020 version of the SPIDYs honors teams and student-athletes from the spring of 2019, fall of 2019 and winter of 2019-20. The awards are voted on by the Spider head coaches, SPIDYs committee and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Men's basketball junior guard Jacob Gilyard (Kansas City, Mo.) and women's track junior runner Brooke Fazio (Basking Ridge, N.J.) were named the Male and Female Athletes of the Year Monday evening. Gilyard picked up one of three individual honors for the men's basketball program after earning First Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference honors and being named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year. His play helped the Spiders post a 24-7 overall record and earn the number two seed in the A-10 Tournament, which was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Fazio was named the Female Athlete of the Year after qualifying for the Indoor NCAA National Championships this spring and qualifying for the Outdoor NCAA Track Regionals last June. She became the first Spider since 2007 to qualify for the indoor championships this year only to see her chance at running at the event end early due to the cancellation. She won the 800-meter championships at the A-10 Conference Meet in February and her time ranked 10^th in the country.

The men's lacrosse program was named the Team of the Year while the women's lacrosse program earned the Spider Pride award after both teams won their respective conference championships last spring and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The men's lacrosse program won its second-straight Southern Conference championship in 2019, advancing to the NCAA Tournament before falling in the final seconds to No. 3 Duke in the first round and finishing the year nationally ranked.

The women's lacrosse program earned the Spider Pride award honoring the team for winning its second-straight Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. The Spiders advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season last spring and were off to a 7-0 start this year before the season was cancelled. The women's lacrosse program also excels in the classroom and the community, leading the way for the department across the board.

Redshirt junior Grant Golden (Winchester, Va.) of men's basketball and senior Abby Lyons (Brookfield, Wisc.) were named the Male and Female Leadership Award winners. Golden was a team captain for the Spiders' 24-7 team this year while Lyons was a captain for the field hockey program that advanced to the A-10 Tournament Championship game this past fall and was president of the SAAC.

Women's basketball senior Jaide Hinds-Clarke (Westwood, N.J.) took home the Civic Engagement Award for all of her work on campus and in the community. Hinds-Clarke was the 2019 recipient of the Service For Change Award at the Engage for Change Awards and was part of the NCAA Diversity and Inclusion event in Indianapolis.

Football's Tristan Wheeler (Bethlehem, Pa.) was named the Male Newcomer of the Year after being named the Colonial Athletic Association's Defensive Rookie of the Year. Wheeler was also a finalist for national Freshman of the Year Jerry Rice Award. Lindsey Frank (Gansevoort, N.Y.) of both field hockey and women's lacrosse was named the Female Newcomer of the Year. Frank was named to the A-10 All-Rookie team in field hockey and scored the game-winning goal in overtime at No. 6 Virginia in women's lacrosse in its shortened season.

Redshirt junior guard Nick Sherod (Richmond, Va.) and swimming's Hannah Gouger (Cockeysville, Md.) were named recipients of the Male and Female Determination Awards. Sherod returned from an ACL injury suffered in 2018-19 to start every game this past season, averaging 12.7 points and a team-high 78 3-pointers. Gouger has persevered through mental health struggles during her time on campus to become one of the most decorated swimmers in program history. She became the third athlete to sweep two events in all four years of her eligibility in Atlantic 10 Conference history.

The 2020 winners of the Iron SPIDY awards for work in the weight room were Philip O'Connor (Philadelphia, Pa.) of football and Emma Nash (Midlothian, Va.) of field hockey. Emma Kennedy (Blacksburg, Va.) of soccer and Garrett Aylor (Austin, Texas) of baseball were award the Donnie Earl Lindsey Jr. First-Year Spirit Awards.

Additionally, the Spiders honored their top academic award winners of the year. Miles Clikeman (North Chesterfield, Va.) and Erika Echternach (Lititz, Pa.) were both winners of the top honor, the Presidential Awards for highest achieving senior.

FULL SPIDYs AWARD WINNERS
Donnie Earl Lindsey Jr. First-Year Spirit Award – Emma Kennedy, soccer / Garrett Aylor, baseball
Iron SPIDY Award – Emma Nash, field hockey / Philip O'Connor, football
Determination Award – Hannah Gouger, swimming / Nick Sherod, men's basketball
Newcomer of the Year – Lindsey Frank, field hockey & women's lacrosse / Tristan Wheeler, football
First Year Academic Award – Claire O'Shaughnessy, swimming / Lou Baker, men's golf
Second Year Academic Award – Keegan Heher, women's lacrosse / William Rice, men's lacrosse
Third Year Academic Award – Rachel Ziemba, women's lacrosse / Michael Baker, men's golf
Presidential Academic Award – Erika Echternach, women's cross country / Miles Clikeman, men's cross country
Civic Engagement Award – Jaide Hinds-Clarke, women's basketball
Leadership Award – Abby Lyons, field hockey / Grant Golden, men's basketball
Athlete of the Year – Brooke Fazio, women's track / Jacob Gilyard, men's basketball
Spider Pride Award – women's lacrosse
Team of the Year – men's lacrosse

SAAC Awards
Most Likely to Win a Gold Medal in Wii Sports – Caroline Lydecker, soccer / Justin Cook, baseball
Most Likely to be TikTok Famous – Lindsey Frank, field hockey/WLAX / James Hulbert, baseball
Most Likely to Cure COVID-19 – Abra Granger, field hockey / Antonio Balducci, baseball
Best Person to be Quarantined With – Megan Gianforte, women's lacrosse / Sean Menges, men's lacrosse
Best Gameday Hair – Tamar Accius, women's track / Grant Golden, men's basketball
Best Roster Picture – Nora Santelli, soccer / Daniel Little, baseball
Best Celebration Dance – Sam Geiersbach and Nicole Concannon, women's lacrosse / Sullivan Kulju, men's basketball
Most Intimidating Senior – Ragan Wiseman, women's basketball / Devin Callahan, men's lacrosse
SAAC Support Staff Member of the Year – Dr. Rachel Turk
SAAC Assistant Coach of the Year – Jon Molz, track/cross country
SAAC Head Coaches of the Year – Allison Kwolek, women's lacrosse / Chris Mooney, men's basketball

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