Press Release courtesy of Alabama Athletics
The Alabama Athletics Department’s annual Crimson Choice Awards, presented by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), was held Monday evening at the Bryant Conference Center.
Senior soccer player Maddie Anzelc, the SAAC president, opened the celebration of Crimson Tide excellence by welcoming the gathered student-athletes, coaches, staff and administration, while ESPN’s Laura Rutledge served as the event’s master of ceremonies.
Senior NCAA Champion, All-American and Academic All-American Luke Kaliszak and senior All-American and Scholastic All-American gymnast Kiana Winston were named the winners of the Paul W. Bryant Award given annually to the top male and female student-athlete. The Paul W. Bryant Student-Athlete Award was created by the Tuscaloosa County Chapter of the University of Alabama Alumni Association in 1985.
Other finalists for the Bryant Award included: Lakareber Abe (women’s golf); Hunter Alexander (baseball), Maddy Anzelc (soccer), Rachel Bobo (softball), Joshua Casher (football), Andie Daniell (women’s tennis), Jonathan Hardee (men’s golf), Vincent Kiprop (men’s track & field), Nicole Lane (rowing), Leah Lawrence (volleyball), Riley Norris (men’s basketball), Edson Ortiz (men’s tennis), Bailey Scott (women’s swimming & diving), Britainy Smith (women’s track & field) and Ashley Williams (women’s basketball).
Gymnastics and the men’s tennis were honored as the teams with the highest grade point averages. Gymnastics earned the honor with a 3.79 team GPA while the tennis team earned the distinction with a 3.65.
The Athletics Department’s community outreach efforts were also recognized during the event. Crimson Tide student-athletes gave almost 3,000 hours toward community service this year. Tennis was the women’s squad with the most community outreach hours while football earned the honor for the men.
Other Crimson Choice Awards handed out Monday night included:
Team of the Year – Football and Gymnastics
Coach of the Year Award – Nick Saban, Football and Dana Duckworth, Gymnastics
Comeback Athlete of the Year – Bailey Scott, Women’s Swimming and Diving
Competitive Excellence Award – Tua Tagovailoa, Football
A-Club Athlete of the Year – Minkah Fitzpatrick, Football and Lakan Taylor, Women’s Track and Field
Rookie of the Year – Jereem Richards, Men’s Track and Field and Kristen Gillman, Women’s Golf
Faculty Member of the Year – Kathy Morris, Instructor of Computer Science
Supporting Role Award – Sports Medicine
Heart of Service Award – Mac Hereford, Football and Virginia Dodenhoff, Rowing
For all the latest on Alabama’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, follow @UA_SAAC on Twitter and Instagram. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
