Lisner Auditorium hosted the star-studded Georgey Awards Tuesday, where athletes were honored for academic achievements, community service and memorable performances over the last year.
Senior gymnast Libby Garfoot, junior runner Kevin Conlon, senior runner Miles Grant, senior guard Nya Lok and sophomore swimmer Dara Reyblat hosted the ceremony that recognized both team excellence and individual accomplishments. In the show’s 11th year, the annual Georgey Awards Show includes athletes from all Colonial sports dressing up to celebrate their achievements during the past season.
Men’s and women’s swim and dive were the biggest winners, sweeping both Athlete of the Year awards and the Team of the Year Awards after the men’s swim and dive won the Atlantic-10 Championship for their third-straight year and the women’s swim and dive team won their second year in a row.
“On behalf of the women’s swim and dive team, we just want to say thank you to all the coaches for their constant support,” junior swimmer Marlee Rickert said. “And also for the men’s team because we wouldn’t be a complete team without you guys. We are truly a combined program.”
Sophomore swimmer Julia Knox, who was the first female GW swimmer to qualify for the NCAA regional championship since 1995, was named female Athlete of the Year and graduate student swimmer Marek Osina was awarded the male Athlete of the Year award.
Osina brought home gold medals in both the 200-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke events on his way to scoring the most individual points in the team’s A-10 title run. Freshman Phoebe Wright grabbed another award for the swimming team, winning the Rookie of the Year. Wright’s 53-point performance at the conference championships tied Knox for the highest on the team, and she now holds the program record for the 200-yard backstroke.
Redshirt freshman guard Maximus Edwards also notched the Georgey for Rookie of the Year after becoming the first GW men’s basketball player to be named A-10 Rookie of the Year since 2000, when SirValiant Brown took home the honor.
The award ceremony was interspersed with ‘Sport Swap’ segments played on Lisner’s big screen that featured GW athletes trying their hand at sports outside their own. Senior women’s basketball center Mayowa Taiwo showed off her volleyball skills and sophomore volleyball setter Grace Allread and junior men’s soccer defender Lucas Matuszewski had a juggling competition – and it was pretty close.
Taiwo was awarded for her basketball skills, taking home the Red Auerbach Award for well-rounded excellence. The senior is returning for a graduate season after leading the A-10 in offensive rebounds and earning a spot on the Conference All-Defensive Team.
“I want to thank everyone who voted for me for this award,” Taiwo said in her acceptance speech. “This would not be possible without my teammates, my coaches, staff and everyone who had helped me through this process.”
Graduate student and guard Brendan Adams accepted the Red Auerbach Award on the men’s side coming off his final year of collegiate basketball where he was named A-10 Most Improved player. Adams, who spent his senior and graduate seasons with the Colonials, ranked second in both points and assists for the squad this past season, helping propel them to their best regular season finish since 2017.
The Georgey for Academic Team of the Year went to women’s tennis, who topped all programs in cumulative GPA over the last two semesters with a 3.66 average.
Ethan Tulenko won the Raise High our Community Student-Athlete award for his community service work with the Morningside, Maryland, volunteer fire department. Rower and former Hatchet reporter Celeste Noraian, who works educating local middle school students about health curricula, also won the Raise High community service award.
The event included a tribute to outgoing interim University President Mark Wrighton, where junior men’s basketball center Keegan Harvey and senior swimmer Oscar Madsen took the stage to thank Wrighton for his “incredible support” of GW athletics.
“President Wrighton, I’ll never forget looking into the stands and seeing you wearing a George’s Army t-shirt and wearing a wig,” Harvey said. “Truly an only at GW moment.”
Senior Ryan Puelo, this year’s president of George’s Army, was given the Georgey for Fan of the Year.
One athlete from each team was named MVP of their respective squad. The Women’s team MVPs went to graduate student runner Yukino Parle, graduate student gymnast Deja Chambliss, freshman lacrosse midfielder Stella Ray, graduate student rower Alexa Nealy, graduate student striker Rachel Sorkenn, freshman pitcher Rose Cano, freshman swimmer Julia Knox, junior tennis players Stella Wiesemann and Gabriela Giraldo and senior middle blocker Addie Feek.
The men’s team MVPs included senior guard James Bishop, senior runner Ryan Fowkes, senior soccer player Tom Cooklin, redshirt junior swimmer Djurdje Matic, graduate student and water polo player Theodoros Pateros and senior golfer Jakub Hrinda.