Women's Golf 5/14/2026 2:00:00 PM

Cheney, Farley and Johnson Earn Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Big South Conference announced Thursday afternoon that Mady Cheney (women's lacrosse), Mia Farley (women's track & field/cross country ) and Macy Johnson (women's golf) have all earned the prestigious Christenberry award for their perfect 4.0 GPAs during their academic career as Radford student-athletes.

The Christenberry award is given to a graduating male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. 2026 marks the 14th consecutive season that at least six Big South student-athletes have been honored with the 14 total recipients setting a conference record.

Just as dedicated to her classwork as she was on the lacrosse field, Cheney graduated this spring with a 4.0 GPA as a double major in Marketing and Economics. She was named to the Big South All-Academic Team her senior year while collecting multiple Dean's List, Commissioner Award, and Presidential Honor Roll honors. On the field, Cheney never missed a game in four seasons. She broke the program's ground ball record during her senior season while also becoming just the second Highlander to have over 200 draw controls and 100 goals scored in a career.

Farley has been a staple as a distance runner in both cross country and track. Graduating in just three years, the Blacksburg native earned a 4.0 GPA as an Allied Health Science major. Some of her athletic highlights include earning a silver medal in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the 2025 Big South Outdoor Championships, helping the Highlanders place third in the 2025 Big South Indoor Championships in the distance medley relay, and running the sixth-best time in cross country program history (4K) at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Sept. 5, 2025.

Johnson, who graduated early this May, most recently went back-to-back with her second straight season being named the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and her second straight season on the all-academic list. She has achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA studying Economics with a Minor in Accounting and will continue to work towards her MBA next year. In every semester at Radford Johnson has been selected to the Dean's List and is the president of Beta Gamma Sigma, a highly respect business fraternity.

2026 marks the eighth straight year a Radford student-athlete has earned the award and moves Radford's total to 26 in department history, the second most by any program in Big South history. Radford is the only institution with three award winners in 2026.

Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the annual Christenberry Award, or multiple student-athletes that tie for the highest GPA on their respective campus. The honor is named for George A. Christenberry, the former President of Augusta College (now Augusta University) and one of the founders of the Big South Conference. A member of the Big South Hall of Fame, Christenberry served as the league's first President from 1983-86.

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