Alabama Celebrates Athletics Success with Crimson Choice Awards
4/22/2024 8:36:00 PM | General
The Monday night celebration honored a year of accomplishments for the Crimson Tide Athletics Department
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama Athletics Department's annual Crimson Choice Awards, presented by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), was held Monday night at Coleman Coliseum. Arielle Schafer and Gray Robertson served as the celebration's hosts while Director of Athletics Greg Byrne opened the proceedings with some remarks.
SAAC President Jace Jones (track and field/cross country) along with SAAC Executive Committee member Barry Evans (track and field/cross country) also welcomed guests to Coleman Coliseum for the annual celebration and closed the night with comments on Alabama's overall and ongoing success this season.
The awards culminated with the announcement of the Paul W. Bryant Award winners in Scholar All-American Mati Waligora from gymnastics along with team captain and starting defender Malachi Moore from football.
The Paul W. Bryant Student-Athlete Award, created by the Tuscaloosa County Chapter of The University of Alabama Alumni Association in 1985, is presented annually to UA's top male and female student-athlete. This year, winners were presented by Tuscaloosa Alumni Association chapter president Anna Claire Toxey.
The finalists for this year's Bryant Award were, for the men - William Hamiter, baseball; Max Scharnowski, men's basketball; Malachi Moore, football; Thomas Ponder, men's golf; Jake Marcum, swimming and diving; Filip Planinsek, men's tennis and Victor Kiprop, track and field, and for the women - Sarah Ashlee Barker, women's basketball; Sarah Edwards, women's golf; Mati Waligora, gymnastics; Sydney Wenstrom, rowing; Gessica Skorka, soccer; Jenna Johnson, softball; Kailyn Winter, swimming and diving; Anne Marie Hiser, women's tennis; Macy Schelp, track and field and Alyiah Wells, volleyball.
For the third year in a row, women's golf (3.90) was honored as the team with the top grade point average on the women's side while men's golf (3.56) boasted the top GPA on the men's side.
The Athletics Department's outreach efforts were also recognized during the event with the Commitment to Service and the Heart of Service awards. Baseball and gymnastics were the men's and women's squads, respectively, with the most community outreach hours while Ella Burgess (gymnastics) and Alton Davis II (baseball) tallied the most hours as individuals.
The Unsung Hero Award lauded Alabama student-athletes for making a substantive yet often under-recognized contribution to their team's success in ways that can be difficult to measure. The 2024 men's class was comprised of Jacob McNairy (baseball), Aaron Estrada (basketball), Jaeden Roberts (football), Austin Coggin (golf), Brendan Conners (swimming and diving), Yair Sarouk (tennis) and Arthur Graham (track and field/cross country). The women's class included Karly Weathers (basketball), Sarah Edwards (golf), Isabella Martin (gymnastics), Lizzie Hall (rowing), Sasha Pickard (soccer), KJ Haney (softball), Liberty Williams (swimming and diving), Ansley Cheshire (tennis), Kaylie Crews (track and field/cross country) and Malia Moore (volleyball).
Other Crimson Choice Awards announced Monday night included:
Team of the Year – Men's Basketball & Gymnastics
Coach of the Year – Patrick Murphy (softball) & Jason Jackson (baseball)
A-Club Athlete of the Year – Luisa Blanco (gymnastics) & Nick Dunlap (men's golf)
Rookie of the Year – Doris Lemngole (track and field/cross country) & Alton Davis II (baseball)
Competitive Excellence – Nick Dunlap (men's golf)
Comeback Athlete of the Year – Bella Scaturro Bright (soccer) & Zack Foster (men's tennis)
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