WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford Department of Athletics honored its student-athletes virtually with the 2020 Hawks Choice Awards. Held over the course of four days last week, each day featured a set of awards that honored the department's student-athletes and teams via several social media platforms for their performances in the classroom and on the field.
DAY ONE: ACADEMIC AWARDS
VIDEO: Day One Award Presentations
The first night of the week-long award show focused on the performances of Hartford's student-athletes inside the classroom, with the first set of awards recognizing the two teams that shows the most improved team grade point averages. Softball was recognized as the women's Most Improved Team GPA after showing an improvement from a 3.51 GPA in the spring to a 3.73 GPA in the fall. On the men's side, cross country earned the award after going from a 3.12 GPA to a 3.57 GPA.
The highest men's and women's team GPAs were also recognized, honoring women's soccer with a 3.85 GPA and men's cross country with a 3.57 GPA.
Honoring senior student-athletes for their excellence in the classroom throughout their entire careers, the prestigious Dr. Edward Weinswig Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards were the next set of awares to be announced.The awards were presented to
Karoline Petersen from the women's soccer team and
Petr Stepanyants from the men's basketball team. Petersen's cumulative GPA of 3.98 is the highest among all senior female senior-athletes, while Stepanyants' 3.99 cumulative GPA ranks first among Hartford's male senior student-athletes.
Rounding out the first night of festivities was the presentation of the Hawk Spirit awards, awarded this year to Emily Quinn and
Nikola Colovic from the men's basketball team.
DAY TWO: ATHLETIC AWARDS
VIDEO: Day Two Award Presentations
Day two was kicked off by the presentation of the Iron Hawk Awards, which recognizes student-athletes for their performance and leadership in the weight room. The Iron Hawk Award recipients were
Alexis Doran from women's soccer and
Ryan Lovell from men's lacrosse.
The next award presented were the Newcomer of the Year Awards. Maddie Lindsay was named the Female Newcomer of the Year after being named the America East's Rookie of the Year this past season. The Male Newcomer of the Year Award was presented to
Moses Flowers of men's basketball, who was named to the America East All-Rookie Team after setting a new program record with four America East Rookie of the Week honors this past season.
Concluding the second night of the Hawks Choice Awards was the presentation of the Men's and Women's All-Hawk Teams. The student-athletes that comprise the All-Hawk teams were viewed as the top student-athletes among all of Hartford's 17 Division I athletic programs by head coaches and administrators.
The Women's All Hawk Team included: Megan Anderson (volleyball), Jenna Bridges (volleyball),
Anna Cronin (women's soccer),
Elizabeth Lodge (women's track and field),
Maria Loza (women's golf),
Danielle Rocheleau (softball) and
Sierra Stone (women's soccer. The Men's All Hawk Team members were:
Terrel Davis (men's track and field),
Aitor Elena (men's soccer),
Malik Ellison (men's basketball),
Gael Kisombe (men's soccer),
Ryan Lovell (men's lacrosse),
Will Nowak (baseball) and
Jimmy Slayton (men's soccer).
DAY THREE: SAAC AWARDS
VIDEO: Day Three Award Presentations
Day three of the Hawks Choice Awards featured the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Awards, which after awards handed out at the ESPY's and voted on by Hartford's student-athletes.
A total of eight SAAC Awards were handed out on Wednesday night, including awards for the Best Record-Breaking Team Performance, Best Male and Female Record-Breaking Performance, Best Upset and Best Moment.
DAY FOUR: MAJOR AWARDS
VIDEO: Day Four Award Presentations
The fourth and final day of the 2020 Hawks Choice Awards featured the presentations of the Coach of the Year, and the Male and Female Athletes of the Year Awards.
Kicking off the final day of the award show was the presentation of the
Ted Stavropoulos Coach of the Year Award, which was awarded to head men's soccer coach
Tom Poitras. Poitras earned the award after leading the Hawks to a title game appearance in the America East Tournament after posting the best single-season turnaround in all of Division I.
Jenna Bridges of the volleyball team was named the Female Athlete of the Year. This past season, she became the program's first two-time America East Player of the Year in addition to becoming the first player in program history to be named an All-American. Bridges continued her record-breaking campaign by setting a new single-season record in hitting percentage in addition to becoming program's all-time leader in career blocks and block assists.
Wrapping up the 2020 Hawks Choice Awards was the presentation of the Male Athlete of the Year to
Terrel Davis of men's track and field. This past season, he broke three program records, including the America East Indoor Championship meet record in the long jump, en route to becoming the first-ever track and field athlete to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
