Rowing Selects Award Winners for 2018-19
May 06, 2019 03:33 PM | Rowing
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Eight members of the West Virginia University rowing team earned awards at the team's annual banquet on Sunday, May 5, at the Erickson Alumni Center.
"I appreciate that we can take this time at the end of the semester to applaud our award winners and recognize our seniors while surrounded by our families and friends," said coach Jimmy King. "We have nine seniors moving on soon and a tenth whom we're happy to have returning as a graduate student in the fall. Their journeys through WVU have varied greatly, many with personal challenges along the way. Yet, they are all now stronger than ever and prepared for greater things."
This year's recipients of the Flame Award were junior Lize Morris of the varsity squad and freshman Kelsey Goetze of the novice squad. The Flame Award is given to the novice and varsity athletes whose teammates have recognized their personality and contributions to the team. The award symbolizes the Mountaineer spirit and mentality. This year's recipients lift up and support their teammates during tough practices, work behind the scenes to make sure that races run smoothly and go out of their way to show what it means to be a Mountaineer.
This year's Hammer Award was given to sophomore Allyson George of the varsity squad and redshirt freshman Rylee Haught of the novice squad. The Hammer Award is given to the novice and varsity athletes with the fastest 2k erg scores for the year. This award recognizes the importance of power for speed in the sport of rowing.
Two freshmen were the recipients of this year's Most Improved Rower award. Megan Casner took home the award for the varsity squad, while Melanie Rence was the novice squad recipient. This award is given to the novice and varsity athletes whose teammates have recognized them as having made the biggest improvements in their rowing performance through the year. These improvements are accomplished through hard work on the erg, water and in the weight room.
The final award of the night was the Most Valuable Player award. This year's recipients were junior Hannah Simmerly of the varsity squad and freshman Grace Russell of the novice squad. The MVP award is given to the novice and varsity student-athletes whose teammates have recognized their contributions as being essential to the success of the team. It considers off- and on-water performances, as well as leadership and focusing on how those contribute to racing on the water.
WVU rowing alumni and 2017 All-Big 12 First Team honoree Louisa Morgan was this year's guest speaker. Morgan graduate in 2017 with a bachelor's in industrial engineering. A native of New Zealand, she currently resides in Sydney, Australia, and works as an analyst at the international analytics firm Quantium, where she interned the summer following her junior year. During her career at WVU, Morgan was a two-year captain and a three-time national scholar-athlete. Following her senior year, she was named the 2017 Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for rowing and a WVU Foundation Outstanding Senior, representing the top one percent of the senior class for contributions and achievements in scholarship, leadership, and service.
"Special thanks to alum Louisa Morgan, who was our guest speaker. Her life lessons learned since graduation were appropriate not only for our seniors but for our returning members as well," King said.
The banquet concluded on Sunday afternoon by recognizing the squad's nine seniors – Dana Bishop (criminology & communication studies), Alexis Brown (multidisciplinary studies), Grace Dever (environmental protection), Micah Gibbons (general business), Amy Hoaglund (multidisciplinary studies), Madison Hrynda (agribusiness management), Carly Ledbetter (graphic design), Abigail Patrick (management) and Kaitlin Sullivan (nursing).
Following a week off, West Virginia is set to travel to the 2019 Big 12 Championship on Sunday, May 19. This year's championship will take place on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Keep up with West Virginia rowing on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by following @WVUrowing.
"I appreciate that we can take this time at the end of the semester to applaud our award winners and recognize our seniors while surrounded by our families and friends," said coach Jimmy King. "We have nine seniors moving on soon and a tenth whom we're happy to have returning as a graduate student in the fall. Their journeys through WVU have varied greatly, many with personal challenges along the way. Yet, they are all now stronger than ever and prepared for greater things."
This year's recipients of the Flame Award were junior Lize Morris of the varsity squad and freshman Kelsey Goetze of the novice squad. The Flame Award is given to the novice and varsity athletes whose teammates have recognized their personality and contributions to the team. The award symbolizes the Mountaineer spirit and mentality. This year's recipients lift up and support their teammates during tough practices, work behind the scenes to make sure that races run smoothly and go out of their way to show what it means to be a Mountaineer.
This year's Hammer Award was given to sophomore Allyson George of the varsity squad and redshirt freshman Rylee Haught of the novice squad. The Hammer Award is given to the novice and varsity athletes with the fastest 2k erg scores for the year. This award recognizes the importance of power for speed in the sport of rowing.
Two freshmen were the recipients of this year's Most Improved Rower award. Megan Casner took home the award for the varsity squad, while Melanie Rence was the novice squad recipient. This award is given to the novice and varsity athletes whose teammates have recognized them as having made the biggest improvements in their rowing performance through the year. These improvements are accomplished through hard work on the erg, water and in the weight room.
The final award of the night was the Most Valuable Player award. This year's recipients were junior Hannah Simmerly of the varsity squad and freshman Grace Russell of the novice squad. The MVP award is given to the novice and varsity student-athletes whose teammates have recognized their contributions as being essential to the success of the team. It considers off- and on-water performances, as well as leadership and focusing on how those contribute to racing on the water.
WVU rowing alumni and 2017 All-Big 12 First Team honoree Louisa Morgan was this year's guest speaker. Morgan graduate in 2017 with a bachelor's in industrial engineering. A native of New Zealand, she currently resides in Sydney, Australia, and works as an analyst at the international analytics firm Quantium, where she interned the summer following her junior year. During her career at WVU, Morgan was a two-year captain and a three-time national scholar-athlete. Following her senior year, she was named the 2017 Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for rowing and a WVU Foundation Outstanding Senior, representing the top one percent of the senior class for contributions and achievements in scholarship, leadership, and service.
"Special thanks to alum Louisa Morgan, who was our guest speaker. Her life lessons learned since graduation were appropriate not only for our seniors but for our returning members as well," King said.
The banquet concluded on Sunday afternoon by recognizing the squad's nine seniors – Dana Bishop (criminology & communication studies), Alexis Brown (multidisciplinary studies), Grace Dever (environmental protection), Micah Gibbons (general business), Amy Hoaglund (multidisciplinary studies), Madison Hrynda (agribusiness management), Carly Ledbetter (graphic design), Abigail Patrick (management) and Kaitlin Sullivan (nursing).
Following a week off, West Virginia is set to travel to the 2019 Big 12 Championship on Sunday, May 19. This year's championship will take place on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Keep up with West Virginia rowing on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by following @WVUrowing.
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