Radford Athletics 5/1/2025 10:56:00 AM

Highlanders Dazzle at the 2025 RUBY'S Awards Banquet

RADFORD, Va. - The Radford University athletics department came together to celebrate the accomplishments of its student-athletes at the annual RUBY's awards banquet on Wednesday night.

In the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's 13th year organizing the event, the evening inside Preston Hall was all about honoring programs and individuals who have made contributions to the Highlanders' great success during the 2024-25 campaign in the classroom, in competition and in the community.

To kick off the night, Provost Bethany Usher and Dr. Jerel Benton presented 27 Highlanders with the Provost Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award. Those Highlanders included Kelsey Arnold, Cassi Barbato, Mady Cheney, Raichelle Cornelius, Rachel Ekanem, Evie Gee, Collin Hawes, Natalie Jones, Clay Kelly, Hayat Khan, Marley Krach, Ashley Loundermon, Kaitlyn Lytton, Liam McDonald, Brooke Murphy, Paige Olson, Meredith Page, Sophie Paspal, Emily Pendleton, Natalie Preston, Tyler Pulik, Jaylen Rosser, Julia Slivka, Emily Smith, Shea Smith, Rachel Smith and Max Van De Kuilen.

Radford honored two standout student-athletes for the Men's and Women's Strength & Conditioning Award. Presented by Radford's strength and conditioning team including Jen Norton and RJ Goubeaux, Highlanders Will Rice (Baseball) and Kirby Brown (Women's Basketball) were presented with the awards. Following that, Radford honored three spectacular athletes for the Men's and Women's Freshmen of the Year. Dakota Redmon (Softball) and Jeylah Hamrick (Track and Field) were the co-Women's Freshmen of the Year with Azrael Cabusao (Cross Country) was the Men's Freshman of the Year.

For the Men's and Women's Scholar Athlete of the Year awards, student-athletes must be a junior or senior and have earned a 3.5 GPA for each academic semester or must have earned academic recognition in their sport for but not limited to Big South, All-State and All-American honors. This year's honorees were a pair of Big South Scholar Athletes of the Year in Macy Johnson (Women's Golf) and Liam McDonald (Men's Cross Country).

The Senior Leadership Award recognizes two student-athletes who have excelled in academics and athletics as well as having made significant contributions to the community by demonstrating leadership and a commitment to service. The award recognizes an individual who promotes the university and athletics departments' missions, goals and values through their actions; demonstrates exceptional leadership ability; and fosters a positive and motivating environment for their team. This year's honorees were Meredith Page (Volleyball) and Collin Hawes (Men's Soccer).

The next award presented was the Jennifer Norton Courage Award. The award is given out to a student-athlete who has faced extreme adversity and overcame it become a true leader for their team and department as a whole. This year's honoree was Julia Abrams (Women's Tennis) who was presented the award by Associate Athletics Director for Sports Performance Jennifer Norton.

The Comeback Athletes of the Year was next up. Few can appreciate the mental and physical toll it takes to come back from an injury. The extra hours of physical therapy, doctor's appointments, and maintaining an active role on your team. Changing your role from an active player to a cheerleader and at times an additional coach is commendable. The Comeback Athlete of the Year is an award no one wishes to qualify for, but your journey deserves to be recognized. This season, Ibu Yamazaki (Men's Basketball), Emily Smith (Softball) and Evie Gee (Women's Lacrosse) were all honored.

For the Alliance of Athletes, team support is vital to the success of any athletics program. Radford student-athletes consistently support each other's programs by displaying spirit during competition and the Alliance of Athletes award recognizes a team who has exhibited what being a Highlander is all about by showing up and cheering on each of our programs. This season, the award was presented to the Women's Tennis team for their constant support of multiple programs at Radford.

In its second year of being an official award, Radford honored three support staff members voted on by the body of student-athletes. Chad Hyatt, Abby Federici and Sam Pyles all took home this year's Support Staff of the Year award. The Men's and Women's Newcomers of the Year were also presented to James Ward (Baseball) and Taylor Napper (Women's Basketball).

Next up was the Academic Excellence Award. The Women's Golf program took home 2024-25's honor thanks to their commitment to embodying what it means to be a student-athlete by achieving the highest team GPA in the department. Radford's Co-Coaches of the Year were also honored which included Kevin Fagan (Softball) and Jeff Beeler (Women's Golf).

The final award of the night presented was the Men's and Women's Athletes of the Year. Nominees for the women's award included Joi Williams (Women's Basketball) and Paige Olson (Women's Soccer) with the award given to co-winners Dakota Redmon (Softball) and Jeylah Hamrick (Track and Field). On the men's side, nominees included Channing Blevins with the award given to co-winners Breckin Nace (Baseball) and Jarvis Moss (Men's Basketball).

Print Friendly Version