Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
Monday night served as a night where North Carolina A&T Athletics got an opportunity to celebrate their very best on the playing surfaces, in the classroom, and the community at the annual Aggie ESPYs Awards Banquet at The Alumni-Foundation Event Center on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.
In what is becoming a standard, more and more student-athletes served as presenters, including volleyball player Ceci Carter’s extraordinary dedication to her teammate and SAAC Leadership award winner Laurel Rogers. In addition, women’s basketball player Reiven Douglas opened the show with a strong welcome that acknowledged the hard work of her fellow student athletes.
Senior and two-time first-team All-CAA performer Jordyn Dorsey spoke warmly about what it meant to be on the women’s basketball team for four years and what it meant to win the CAA regular-season championship. Two-time MEAC Bowler of the Year and senior Melanie Katen delivered a heartwarming goodbye to the Aggies championship bowling program that reached the NCAA tournament in each of the five years she bowled in Aggieland.
Men’s track and field, women’s track and field and bowling were among the big winners when it came to performance on the various playing surfaces, with bowler Maya Avilez claiming the Kayla White Female Athlete of the Year Award and men’s track and field athlete Jason Holmes winning the Tarik Cohen Male Athlete of the Year Award.
Cohen, an NFL All-Pro during his professional football career and a four-time winner of A&T’s Male Athlete of the Year Award was present to present the honor.
Sixteen A&T student-athletes were named Academic Athletes of the Year by posting 4.0 grade-point averages. A&T’s two tennis programs were the best academically, with men’s tennis winning the Athletics Director’s Academic Team Award on the male side and women’s tennis winning on the female side. The men’s and women’s track and field teams received the Community Service Teams of the Year Award for their focus on working with local elementary schools.
They volunteered to mentor young students, promote physical fitness and support educational initiatives.
Below is a list of Monday’s winners:
Co-Female Rookie Athletes of the Year: Victorya White, Bowling; Tyne Ross, Volleyball
Male Rookie of the Year: JT Taylor, Baseball
Senior Female Athlete of the Year: Jordyn Dorsey, Women’s Basketball
Senior Male Athlete of the Year: Brayden Hodgest, Men’s Track and Field
Kayla White Female Athlete of the Year: Maya Avilez, Bowling
Tarik Cohen Male Athlete of the Year: Jason Holmes, Men’s Track and Field
AAF Award: Julieth Nwosu, Women’s Track and Field
North Carolina A&T Sports Hall of Fame Award: Ian Pedersen, Men’s Tennis
SAAC Leadership Award: Laurel Rogers, Volleyball
Catherine Bonner Award: Thomas Brown, Football
Catherine and Micheal Simmons Leadership Award: Jermaine Foye, A&T Housing & Residence Life
Community Service Teams of the Year: Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
Women’s Athletics Director’s Academic Team Award: Women’s Tennis
Men’s Athletics Director’s Academic Team Award: Men’s Tennis
Women’s Academic Athletes of the Year
Men’s Academic Athletes of the Year
Coach’s Award: Javier Morgado
Men’s Golfer of The Year:
Camilo Marin Raga
Rookie of the Year: Ignacio Zapata
Coach’s Award: Polina Marina
Women’s Golfer of The Year: Ekaterina Prokhorova
Brandon Parker Aggie Academic Award: Anthony Rucker
Scholar Athlete Award: Darius
Robinson
Rookie of the Year: Aliyah Drew
Most Valuable Performer: Kennedi Stevens
Most Improved Performer: Bryanna Hutchinson
Coach’s Award: Kaitlyn Cantey
Sportsmanship Award: Madison Manley
Most Spirited: Carter Powell
Most Valuable Player: Leonor Polezzi
Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Tyne Ross
Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Hannah Howell
Defensive Player of the Year: Valeria Estrada
Aggie Pride Award: Charlie Meadoweal
Rookie of The Year: Victorya White
Bowler of The Year: Maya Avilez
Stallings Bowler of The Year: Chloe Newberry
Award of Excellence: Laura Garcia
Player of the Year: Katriel Williams
Aggie Pride Award: Joey Barkhimer
Most Improved Player: Destiny Sims
Freshman Impact Player: Tyra Robinson
Academic Impact Player: Katriel Williams
Men’s Track & Field
Coach’s Award: Carlos Alexander
Field MVP: Brayden Hodgest
Men’s Track MVP: Jason Holmes
Coach’s Award: Makenna Urbanek
Field MVP: Julieth Nwosu
Women’s Track MVP: Lucheyona Weaver
Most Improved: Efstratios Kalliontzis
Coach’s Award: Jordan Martin
Aggie Award: Will Felton
Most Improved: Paris Locke
Newcomer of the Year: Darrionna Howard
Impact Player of the Year: Jordyn Dorsey
Commit to Grit: Jordan Dorsey
Defensive Player of the Year: Jordyn Dorsey
Most Valuable Player AGGIES 2.0: Said Akbarov
Leadership Award AGGIES 2.0: Mathieu Dussaubat
Impact Player of the Year AGGIES 2.0: Jindrich Brill
Most Valuable Player AGGIES 2.0: Randy Rakotoarilala
Women’s Tennis Leadership Award AGGIES 2.0: Hana El Sherif
Rookie of the Year AGGIES 2.0: Flavia Villegas.
