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RICHMOND, Va .– The University of Richmond’s Athletics Department hosted their annual SPIDYs Award Show Monday night. The winners were announced during a live broadcast on the @SpiderAthletics Instagram account. Richmond Achievers during the 2020-21 school year were honored by Richmond following a vote by a group of Spider head coaches, the SPIDYs committee, and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Senior Track Middle Distance Runner Brooke Fazio (Basking Ridge, NJ) was a repeat winner of the Athlete of the Year award and shared the honor with Ryan Lanchbury, the older men’s lacrosse attack (Burlington, Ontario). Fazio won the 800 meter race at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship earlier this month, setting up a school with a time of 2: 03.09 and setting a record in the final. She also anchored Richmond’s champion 4 × 400 meter relay at the event.
Lanchbury reached a team high of 67 points (28 goals, 39 assists) during the Spider Lacrosse season and was named Attacking Player of the Year in the Southern Conference and Honorable Mention in Lacrosse All-American. He set a conference record by scoring 7.33 points per game against SoCon opponents this season – which obliterated the most points per game in the conference game – and led the Spiders to the SoCon title game.
The Team of the Year award was shared by two conference champions: the Men’s Cross Country and the Spiders Swimming & Diving Team. The Richmond Country Cross Country Team won their second Atlantic 10 championship and the first since 2010 in March and had the best A-10 score of any team since 2013 when coach Steve Taylor received his fourth A-10 Coach of the Year award . Taylor was also named SAAC Trainer of the Year on Monday night.
Richmond Swimming & Diving won its 16th Atlantic 10 record title in April behind Coach Matt Barany, who received his ninth A-10 Coach of the Year award. The spiders won 15 individual medals at the meeting for a total of 687.5 points, most for any team in the A-10 championship since 2013.
A couple of newcomers to spinning won the Newcomer of the Year Award: the men’s cross-country runner Stuart Terrill (Crozet, Va.) and women’s golfer Rory Weinfurther (Fayeteville, Ga.). Terrill’s runner-up in the A-10 championship in March helped the Spiders to the conference title, earning him All-Conference honors and the Most Outstanding Rookie Performer Award.
Weinfurther became the second conference champion in the history of the Richmond women’s golf program. He won the Patriot League championship in one fell swoop in April and was promoted to the NCAA Regionals in Columbus, Ohio. She also had a Team Best Stroke Average of 76.19, the seventh best single-season mark of all time for a spider.
Field hockey senior striker Abra Granger (Winston-Salem, NC) and Soccer Senior Defensive Tackle Kobie Turner (Clifton, Va.) shared the Spider Pride Award, given to the sports student who best illustrates what it means to be a spider on and off the field of competition.
The Spider Determination Award was given to Darius Reynolds (Yorktown, Va.)Claire O’Shaughnessy, a senior defender for the Spiders football team (Laurel, Md.), a second member of the Spiders swim and dive program. Reynolds received the Second-Team All-CAA award this spring after undergoing knee surgery in late 2019. O’Shaughnessy set a program record for the 100-yard butterfly in the A-10 championship in March and won gold in the 400-yard Richmond Freestyle Relay championship. Assistant Sports Director, Communications, Matt McCollester, also received the Spider Determination Award.
Grace Townsend received the First Year Donnie Earl Lindsey Jr. Spirit Award, presented to a newcomer who demonstrates outstanding teamwork and dedication to Richmond Athletics (Midlothian, Va.) from women’s basketball and Drew Beno (Loxahatchee, Fla.) from baseball.
Junior middle distance runner Kendra Smither (Richmond, Va.) received the Outstanding Civic Engagement Award for her work at Woodlawn Cemetery and her educational efforts on diversity, justice and inclusion, while three spiders shared the Outstanding Leadership Award: Drew Blakely of baseball (Galesburg, Mich.), and Brittney Wright of Lacrosse for Women (Moorestown, NJ) Rachel Ziemba (Cazenovia, NY). Ziemba was also one of two student-athletes to win the Presidential Citation Award, given to the Senior Spiders with the best academic performance. Ziemba shared the award with Michael Baker (Concord, NC) of men’s golf.
The Iron Spidy Award for superior results in strength and conditioning training was won by Junior Michael Childress (Salisbury, NC) from the men’s golf program and in the second year Sopia DiCenso (Foxboro, Mass.) of women lacrosse.
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) in Richmond also announced its annual Superlative Awards during the broadcast, honoring peers in categories ranging from the best dressed to likely getting hand sanitizer.
A full list of Monday’s winners can be found below.
SPIDY’s AWARD WINNER
Team of the year: Men’s cross-country skiing & swimming & diving
Spider Pride Award: Abra Granger and Kobie Turner
Spider Determination Award: Claire O’Shaughnessy & Darius Reynolds & Matt McCollester
Donnie Earl Lindsey Jr. First Year Spirit Award: Grace Townsend & Drew Beno
Outstanding civic engagement: Kendra Smither
Outstanding Guide: Brittney Wright & Rachel Ziemba & Drew Blakely
SAAC Trainer of the Year: Steve Taylor
SAAC Assistant Trainer of the Year: Justin Wood
SAAC employee of the year: Jasmine Pinder
Distinguished Staff Award: Spider Sports Medicine Staff
Iron Spidy: Sophia Dicenso and Michael Childress
Presidential Citation Award: Rachel Ziemba and Michael Baker
Academic Graduate Award: Megan Gianforte & Drew Blakely
Third year academic award: Taylor Coleman and Josh Keitelman
Second year academic award: Claire O’Shaughnessy & Lou Baker
First Year Academic Award: Lucy Yeomans & Garrett Clark
SAAC AWARDS
Most likely to intimidate the opponent before the game starts: Marina Miller & Maggie Purcell & Philip O’Connor
Best dressed: Abra Granger & Riley Haas & Gio Seigler
Most likely food dollars left: Hannah Yates & Gabe Arizin & Sean Doolan
Best roster photo: Tamar Accius & Caroline Lydecker & Joe Mancuso
Least Likely to COVID-19: Taylor Coleman & Caleb Brooks & Tate Gallagher
Best Matchday Hair: Madison Trippett & Grant Golden
Most likely to brighten your day: Celia Satter, Braxton Hughes and Adrienne Haynes
Most energy in morning workouts: Katie Tritt & Sutton Orndorff & Tazle Sumpter
Most likely always hand sanitizer with you: Mekenzie Montgomery & Jake Larson
Best teammate at AUX: Maddie Loughead & Nick Sherod