NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University athletics hosted the annual Golden Monarch Awards (GMA's) on Wednesday night. The event was streamed live on ODUSports.com and content was featured live on Instagram.
Men's swimmer Peter Durisin and women's tennis player Yulia Starodubtseva were named the male and female athletes of the year, while Carter Trice of baseball and Marlon de Bruijne of field hockey were named newcomers of the year.
Durisin capped his senior season at Old Dominion by winning the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the CCSA Championships, and helping ODU to a second place finish in the 200 medley relay.
A year after finishing second in the 100 breaststroke, Durisin won the event with a time of 54.15. And after placing fifth in the 200 breaststroke in 2019-20, he won the event with a time of 1:59.13, shaving two seconds off his time from the previous year.
Yulia Starodubtseva, ranked No. 54 in the country, helped lead the Monarchs to the 2021 Conference USA Championship and is the highest ranked player in the conference.
Starodubtseva is also nationally ranked No. 79 in doubles with teammate Aleysa Yakubovich, which is the highest ranked tandem in the conference. She is 11-1 in singles play, with a win over No. 23 Alana Smith of NC State. Starodubtseva/Yakubovich are 5-5 as ODU's top doubles tandem with nationally ranked wins over No. 7 Hule/Allen (FSU), No. 24 Machalova/Allen (Ole Miss) and No. 58 Kozar/Danailova (VT). Starodubtseva helped ODU defeat No. 26 Wake Forest 4-1 in Winston-Salem and No. 45 Notre Dame 4-2 earlier this season.
Trice, a second baseman from Mechanicsville, Virginia has had a standout rookie campaign thus far. Tabbed to the Bobby Bragen Slugger Award watch list and Baseball America's Freshman of the Year watch list, Trice leads the No. 25 nationally ranked baseball Monarchs with a .361 batting average, a .688 slugging percentage and 52 hits. Trice has helped lead ODU to a 28-10 overall mark and a 14-6 record in C-USA play. The freshman has made 36 starts for ODU, compiling 37 RBIs, 10 home runs and six stolen bases.
A First Team All-BIG EAST honoree, De Bruijne leads all DI freshman with 15 goals and 32 points. The native of Den Bosch, Netherlands is tied for fifth in the nation in goals and is eighth in points per game (2.29). She was recognized by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association as the Division I Offensive Player of the Week on March 2, following a seven-goal weekend against Villanova. In the first game against the Wildcats, de Bruijne became the first ODU freshman with three goals in a game since at least the 2010 season. She then followed up with four more goals in game two against Villanova, the most in a single game in DI this season. De Bruijne scored both of ODU's goals in a 2-1 victory over No. 6 Liberty in the BIG EAST Semifinals, sending the Monarchs to their second straight BIG EAST title game.
The fourth annual John R. Broderick Award winner went to Jaylin Hunter of men's basketball, while the Kate Broderick Award was given to Bridget Groble of sailing. The Broderick award is named in honor of ODU President, John R. Broderick. Broderick is the eighth president of Old Dominion, who has been at the university for 28 years, and has spent the last 13 years in his current role. He has served on several NCAA committees and chaired the C-USA board for two years and is a longtime supporter of student-athletes.
Hunter boasts a 3.75 GPA while working on his Bachelor of Science degree in sport management. He is a three-time recipient of the C-USA Academic Medal (GPA of and above 3.75) and a three-time C-USA Honor Roll (GPA of and above 3.0) honoree. The Manchester, Connecticut native is also a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and serves on the Executive Team for SAAC.
He appeared in all 23 games for the Monarchs this season, making three starts, while averaging 21.7 minutes per outing. Hunter finished third on the team for steals (26) and assists (45). In league play, he shot 95.2% (20-21) from the charity stripe, which led the squad. Against Middle, he scored a career high 17 points, while dishing out a career best six assists. Hunter finished the season averaging 6.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest.
Hunter participated in the Get Out the Vote Campaign, providing info to help people get registered to vote. He also was instrumental in the Pen Pal Program, writing to ODU Kids Club members.
Groble has been a four-year starter for the ODU Sailing Team and was named team MVP during the 2020 campaign. She is a member of the Conference USA Academic Honor Roll and recipient of the C-USA Academic Medal for having a 3.75 GPA or higher.
A double major in biology and political science, Groble is the ODU student representative on the Board of Visitors and is a member of the ODU SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee).
She has volunteered for the Special Olympics, the American Red Cross and the Norfolk Department of Health.
The Championship Effort Award, also in its fourth year, went to Joe Joe Headen of football, and Holly Hutchinson of the women's tennis team.
Headen has embodied the true definition of a Monarch. He exemplifies the football core values care, character and compete on and off the field. Headen has proven to be a true leader in the program, university and in the community. This year he participated in the Blair Middle school Mentoring program, he created appreciation videos for ODU's women in sports day campaign, he read for the virtual reading campaign for Norfolk Public Schools and he made no sew blankets for the Children of King's Daughter Hospital patients. Headen graduated in the fall of 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration majoring in Finance. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in Public Administration.
Hutchinson encompasses the very name of this award, "Championship effort". The 2020 C-USA Tennis Player of the Year, Hutchinson has played No. 1 singles for ODU for the last five seasons. She is a stellar student graduating with a 3.73 undergrad GPA and currently has a 3.95 Masters GPA. Hutchinson's Championship Effort attitude is her admiration/appreciation for ODU and the Norfolk Community she has come to see as her home. She is authentically invested in giving back to her school. In her time at ODU she has participated in tons of service projects, represented SAAC on executive team and university student government.
The Jack Wilkins/James Howard Scholar Award was given to Amanda Nhek of women's soccer and Noah Wilkins of men's swimming.
Nhek boasts a perfect 4.00 GPA as a teacher preparation major with a health education minor. She currently leads the team in assists and is second on the squad for in goals and points. Nhek is a Conference USA Honor Roll and C-USA Commissioner's Medal honoree. She has been on the Dean's List every semester while at Old Dominion. Last season, Nhek led the team in goals and was named to the VaSID All-State Women's Soccer Second Team.
Nhek has appeared in 46 matches in three seasons for Old Dominion, scoring 15 goals, dishing out nine assists for 39 total points, while scoring three game-winners for the Monarchs. At one point during her career, she scored a goal in nine consecutive matches.
Wilkins is a nuclear medicine technology major and posts a 3.99 GPA.
He was ODU's top point scorer at this year's Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) meet. He won the 100 freestyle with a time of 44.72, placed second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.33 (.02 behind 1st), and finished fourth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.55. A valuable team swimmer, Wilkins swam in four relays at the CCSA Championships, the most you can swim, helping ODU to a second place in the 200-medley relay and a trio of third place finishes.
Out of the pool, Wilkins is a Conference USA Honor Roll and C-USA Commissioner's Medal honoree. He has been a positive light in the community. A member of the ODU SAAC, during the pandemic, he volunteered at his church giving food and supplies to those in need.
JACK WILKINS/JAMES HOWARD SCHOLAR AWARD
Female: Amanda Nhek – Women's Soccer
Male: Noah Wilkins – Men's Swimming
ODU ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
Female: Yulia Starodubtseva – Women's Tennis
Male: Peter Durisin – Men's Swimming
CHAMPIONSHIP EFFORT (great teammate, character, representative of ODU)
Female: Holly Hutschinson – Women's Tennis
Male: Joe Joe Headen - Football
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Female: Marlon de Bruijne – Field Hockey
Male: Carter Trice - Baseball
JOHN R. BRODERICK AWARD
Female: Bridget Groble – Women's Sailing
Male: Jaylin Hunter – Men's Basketball
MONARCH CUP
Volleyball-Madeline Rudd accepting
OUTSTANDING STAFF MEMBER
Athletic Training Staff
Scott Johnson accepting award
Jason Mitchell
Justin Walker
Bobby Broddus
Rachelle Bowman
Danielle Jackson
Angela Moening
Andilynn Beadles
Alexandra Trimble
Sydney Lester
Alexis George
End of the Year Honors Announced at Annual Golden Monarch Awards
