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Thursday, May 29, 2025

Student-Athlete Awards Banquet Honors the Best in Blue & White Steven Sommer

On Monday, members of the

Longwood athletics community

gathered in Blackwell Hall to

honor the accomplishments

of this year’s student athletes.

All athletic teams were in

attendance, in addition to the

coaching staffs, select groups of

faculty, the Lancer Lunatics and

members of the media. The night

kicked off with a video of Big

South Conference Commissioner

Kyle Kallander recapping

Longwood’s inaugural season

of conference play. When the

video finished, Scott Bacon,

assistant athletics director for

Development and “Voice of the

Lancers,” took the floor as the

night’s Master of Ceremonies.

After some brief opening

remarks, the microphone was

passed on to Director of Athletics

Troy Austin for his initial

comments.

 “This is always a fun night for

me,” Austin said to the crowd.

“It’s something I look forward to

each year, getting an opportunity

to thank some of the groups

of people … that have been so

good in supporting our athletics

endeavors.”

 Austin, at the end of his

welcome, invited Longwood

alumna Mary Milne to the

stage for the program’s formal

welcome. Milne, a former field

hockey and lacrosse player for

the Lancers during the Division

II era, serves as the Vice President

of Operations for the Tampa Bay

Lightning. Milne spoke to her

experiences as a student-athlete

as the driving force behind her

success and motivating her

to “always say yes” when an

opportunity presents itself.

 Milne was followed by the

first awards of the night. Field

hockey’s Kaye Goulding,

SAAC President, and women’s

lacrosse’s Jenna Weyant, SAAC

Vice President, took the stage to

present the A.C.E.S. and SAAC

Coach of the Year Awards.

The A.C.E.S. award, given to a

Longwood faculty/staff member

who has gone above and beyond

to support student athletes, was

awarded to Dr. Jason Milne.

SAAC also unanimously voted

to present Bill Reinson, the

women’s basketball head coach,

with Coach of the Year honors.

 The awards continued as

student-athletes were recognized

for their hard work and

commitment to their on – court

merits, school work and service

to the community. Bethany Law

and Edward Becker, members

of the women’s and men’s

tennis teams respectively, were

awarded the Academic PRIDE

award. Next, Amelia McConnell

of the women’s soccer team and

Bharani Sankar of the men’s

tennis team were honored

as recipients of the Lancer

Outstanding Service Award.

 The Cormier Award for

Academic Excellence was

distributed next. The award,

given each semester to the men’s

and women’s team with the

highest GPA, was awarded to the

men’s golf team and women’s

tennis team for both semesters.

Men’s golf boasted a 3.26 GPA,

while the women’s tennis team

was just shy of a 3.5.

 A special presentation

followed the Cormier Award’s

presentation that was not listed

in the program, as Austin

paid homage to Baseball Head

Coach Buddy Bolding. Bolding,

who will retire after this year

following 35 years of coaching,

received a standing ovation from

all of those in attendance.

 Following the short intermission

for Bolding’s ceremony, members

of Longwood’s basketball teams

swept the race for Freshman

Athlete of the Year. Daeisha

Brown and Michael Kessens took

home the awards for the women’s

and men’s teams respectively.

 When Brown and Kessens took

their seats, Tim Pierson, vice

president for Student Affairs,

took the stage to announce

the winner of the Jimmy M.

Yarbrough Inspiration Award,

given to the athlete who

“exemplifies the qualities that

Jimmy Yarbrough possessed and

left as a legacy for Longwood.”

Edward Becker of the men’s

tennis team was named the

recipient, while Jeylani Dublin

of men’s basketball and Ryan

Schubert of baseball were among

the nominees.

 The second-to-last honor given

out of the evening was Athlete

of the Year. Kelsey Pardue of

women’s soccer and Tristan

Carey of men’s basketball were

the year’s recipients. Both were

taken aback when hearing they

received the award.

 “It feels amazing,” Pardue

said. “When I heard my name, I

was shocked. I credit it all to my

team. I could have never gotten

here if it wasn’t for all of them.

It’s almost a team award at this

point.”

 “It was surprising,” said Carey.

“I wasn’t expecting to get it. It’s

the first major award I’ve gotten

here. It’s very exciting; I’m

very honored, and I’m looking

forward to try and do the same

thing next year.”

 The final award of the night

given was the Henry I. Willett

Scholar-Athlete award. This

year’s recipients were Stephen

Shockley of men’s basketball

and Lindsey Ottavio of women’s

soccer. Both seniors earned the

honors for “their outstanding

sport contribution and

exceptional achievement in the

classroom.”

 The night wrapped up with

an emotional send off for the

seniors delivered by Women’s

Soccer Head Coach Todd Dyer.

Dyer praised the seniors, saying

they had set the bar for following

classes of student- athletes in the

future.