Morgan Brian, Joe Harris named UVa’s top athletes

Morgan Brian (women’s soccer) and Joe Harris (men’s basketball) were honored as Virginia’s top female and male athletes for the 2013-14 academic year at UVa’s annual awards dinneron Monday (April 28) at John Paul Jones Arena. Brian received the IMP Award as the top female athlete and Harris garnered the WINA Award as the top male athlete.

Brian was the consensus national player of the year in collegiate women’s soccer in 2013, winning the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, and was recognized as the Soccer America National Player of the Year and the TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year. She became the first national player of the year in Virginia women’s soccer history.

Brian tied for the ACC scoring lead in 2013 with 46 points on 16 goals and a league-high 14 assists. A first-team NSCAA All-American, the junior midfielder tied the Virginia single-season assist record. Brian scored in all four of the Cavaliers’ NCAA Tournament victories as she led the team to its first College Cup appearance in 22 years. She was a first-team All-ACC selection for the third consecutive season, in addition to being named to the ACC All-Tournament Team and the All-NCAA Tournament Team.

Last summer, the St. Simons Island, Ga., native made her debut for the United States Women’s National Team and has scored two goals in 10 appearances over the past year.

Harris led Virginia to the ACC regular-season title, ACC Tournament title and its first NCAA Sweet 16 berth since 1995. The Cavaliers tied a school record with 30 wins and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history.

Harris, who averaged 12 points per game, earned All-ACC Second Team (Coaches) and All-ACC Third Team (ACSMA) honors. In addition, Harris was named the ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player after averaging 15.7 points in wins against Florida State, Pittsburgh and Duke.

The Chelan, Wash., native finished his Virginia career ranked 11th on Virginia’s all-time scoring list with 1,698 points and second all-time in 3-point percentage (40.7%) and 3-pointers (263).

Harris and football player Blake Blaze (Barnstable, Mass.) earned the Ernest H. Ern, Jr., Awards for outstanding contributions to student life at Virginia, while men’s basketball player Malcolm Brogdon (Atlanta, Ga.) was the recipient of the Ralph Sampson Scholarship Award. Nick Sulzer (Cleveland, Ohio) of the wrestling team received the Virginia Athletics Department’s Distinguished Student-Athlete Scholarship Award.

Matt Riley, assistant athletics media relations director for publications, earned the Bus Male Memorial Service Award for his years of service to the athletics department. Sarah Devita (Ridgewood, N.J.) of the women’s track and field team received the Craig Fielder Memorial Award for overcoming adversity and Katherine Robinson (Mount Joy, Pa.) of the field hockey team earned the Life Skills Scholarship Award.

Jessica Hendrick (Glen Allen, Va.) of the women’s basketball team was the recipient of the Bob Goodman Memorial Award for her service to Virginia athletics as a team manager and Ryland Richardson (Newport News, Va.) of the baseball program received the Tim Abbott Memorial Award presented to the student assistant trainer most dedicated to and possessing empathy for the student-athletes.

Whit Mayberry (Alexandria, Va.) of the baseball team and Barbara Strehler (Richmond, Va.) of the women’s cross country and track teams received Virginia’s ACC Scholar-Athlete Awards. Diver Carlin Tettelbach (Fairfax Station, Va.) and swimmer Rachel Naurath (Manakin-Sabot, Va.) earned the Susan J. Grossman Memorial Awards in recognition of outstanding service to student-athletes and contributions to the Student-Athlete Mentor Program.

Danielle DeLisle (Baltimore, Md.) 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 Jonathan Buerger (Wexford, Pa.) 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 Elizabeth Brightwell (Nellysford, Va.), Bryan Lima (Boca Raton, Fla., men’s soccer), Naurath (women’s swimming), Tettelbach (women’s diving), Harris (men’s basketball) and Blaze (football).

Team Awards  

• Baseball – Billy Word Memorial Award – TBA
• Men’s Basketball – Sidney Young Memorial Award – Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell
• Women’s Basketball – Coaches Award for Excellence – Ataira Franklin
• Men’s Cross Country – Coaches Award for Excellence – Kyle King
• Women’s Cross Country – Coaches Award for Excellence – Barbara Strehler
• Field Hockey – Coaches Award for Excellence – Elly Buckley
• Football – John Acree Memorial Award – Billy Skrobacz
• Men’s Golf – F. Dixon Brooke Memorial Award – Denny McCarthy
• Women’s Golf – William C. Eacho Memorial Award – Portland Rosen and Elizabeth Brightwell
• Men’s Lacrosse – Henry Gaver Memorial Award – TBA
• Women’s Lacrosse – Coaches Award for Excellence – Liza Blue
• Rowing – Coaches Award for Excellence – TBA
• Men’s Soccer – Stanley Lerner Memorial Award – Eric Bird
• Women’s Soccer – Coaches Award for Excellence – Morgan Brian
• Softball – Coaches Award for Excellence – TBA
• Men’s Swimming & Diving – Brooke Maury Memorial Award – Jonathan Buerger
• Women’s Swimming & Diving – Diane Montgomery Greene Memorial Award – Emily Lloyd
• Men’s Tennis – Norton Pritchett Memorial Award – TBA
• Women’s Tennis – Coaches Award for Excellence – TBA
• 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 – Emily Rottman
• Wrestling – David Senft Memorial Award – Nick Sulzer