The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today a list of 54 student-athletes who have been selected as 2017 Weaver-James-Corrigan Award recipients. This year’s list includes three student-athletes who will receive the Thacker Award and nine student-athletes who plan to pursue professional careers in their chosen sports and were named honorary recipients. Duke’s Robin Blazing and Jordan Tucker were named Weaver-James-Corrigan Award recipients while Christina Gibbons was an honorary selection and Michael Miller was selected for a Thacker Award.
The Weaver-James-Corrigan and Jim and Pat Thacker postgraduate scholarships are awarded to selected student-athletes who intend to pursue a graduate degree following completion of their undergraduate requirements. Each recipient will receive $5,000 toward his or her graduate education. Those honored have performed with distinction in both the classroom and their respective sport, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.
The Weaver-James-Corrigan Award is named in honor of the late Jim Weaver and Bob James, as well as Gene Corrigan, the first three ACC commissioners.
The Thacker Award, which originated in 2005, is awarded in honor of the late Jim and Pat Thacker of Charlotte, North Carolina. Jim Thacker was the primary play-by-play announcer for the ACC’s first television network. Recipients of the award must demonstrate outstanding performance both in athletic competition and in the classroom and intend to further their education through postgraduate studies at an ACC institution.
Blazing guided the Duke field hockey team to two NCAA semifinals appearances during her career and the program’s first ACC regular season title in 2016. The Durham, N.C., native totaled nine goals and seven assists in her four seasons. Also a standout in the classroom, Blazing entered her final semester at Duke as a three-time member of the NFHCA National Academic Squad and the ACC Academic Honor Roll. Also an All-ACC Academic Team selection and NFHCA Scholar of Distinction, Blazing has served as a First Year ACTION Mentor at Duke in addition to volunteering in the Durham community.
Tucker ended her collegiate career as one of the top middle blockers in Duke volleyball history, becoming the 24th Blue Devil to reach 1,000 career kills, the ninth to surpass 400 career blocks and the sixth to accomplish both achievements. She also ranked fifth in program history with a .319 career hitting percentage. Tucker’s distinguished career culminated with 2016 AVCA Honorable Mention All-America , AVCA All-East Coast Region and First Team All-ACC honors after she posted career bests in kills and hitting percentage as a senior. In addition to pursuing her undergraduate degree in evolutionary anthropology with a concentration in anatomy and paleoanthropology, Tucker was also involved in numerous community service projects including Reading is Fundamental, Duke’s A.C.T.I.O.N. program, Brian K. Betts Foundation for Educational Enrichment, Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers (TROSA), Duke’s CHANCE tutoring program, Athletes in Action and One Love Foundation.
A two-time All-America with the Blue Devil women’s soccer team, Gibbons totaled 10 goals, 19 assists and 39 points over four years. As a senior, she earned NSCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year, NSCAA Scholar All-America first team, Senior CLASS Award winner and was the ACC Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gibbons earned 2016 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and helped the Blue Devils to 38 shutouts over her four years. She finished her career with a Duke record seven penalty kick goals, while also logging 7,794 minutes, which was the second-most by a field player in Blue Devil history. She registered a 3.909 grade-point average and went on to be selected No. 5 overall in the NWSL College draft to FC Kansas City.
Miller of Houston, Texas was the first Duke men’s swimmer to garner All-ACC accolades as a freshman, placing third in the 400-yard individual medley at the 2014 ACC Championships. He competed at NCAAs as a junior and as a senior holds program records in the 200 butterfly and the 200 and 400 individual medley. A 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, Miller reached the semifinals of the 100-meter butterfly in Omaha. He has earned All-ACC Academic and CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention recognition, and participated in the inaugural year of the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement Program (ACE), traveling to India to teach and coach youth.
The student-athletes will be honored at the annual Cone Health ACC Postgraduate Luncheon hosted by the Nat Greene Kiwanis Club and presented by ESPN on April 12 at the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel Imperial Ballroom in Greensboro.
News courtesy of Duke Athletics.
