ODU Gives Out End of Year Honors at Golden Monarch Awards

NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University athletics hosted the annual Golden Monarch Awards on Wednesday night at Chartway Arena. Awards were given out for Athlete of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Championship Effort Award, Scholar-Athlete, Spark Plug, Community Service, Comeback, Mr. and Ms. Monarch and the Monarch Cup.
 
Women's soccer player Ece Turkoglu and football player Jason Henderson took home the awards for male and female Athletes of the Year.
 
Henderson led the country with 14.2 tackles per game and was ODU's first FBS First-Team All-American.
 
Turkoglu became the first United Soccer Coaches All-American as she was named to the Third Team this season
 
Male Athlete of the Year
Jason Henderson - Football
Jason Henderson led the country in tackles per game, with 14.2, for the second-straight year and became the first Monarch football player to earn FBS first-team All-America honors. He earned first-team All-America honors from Walter Camp, The Sporting News, Action Network and College Football News. He tied for fourth in the country with 19.5 tackles for loss, which was an ODU single-season record. He finished the year with 170 tackles and had 11 double-digit tackle games for the second-straight season. He tied his own single-game ODU record with 22 tackles against Coastal Carolina.
 
Female Athlete of the Year
Ece Turkoglu – Women's Soccer
Ece Turkoglu became the first United Soccer Coaches All-American as she was named to the Third Team this season. She earned Sun Belt Conference Tournament MVP and her second All-Conference honor this season. She was a First Team All-Southeast Region selection in 2023 and is a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree. She appeared in 19 matches with 18 starts for the Monarchs logging 1,563 minutes for the season. She totaled 13 points for the season with six goals and one assist. She had two goals in a home win over Southern Miss on Senior Day and had goals against Marshall, Campbell and the Sun Belt Championship game over James Madison.
 
Male Freshman of the Year
Connor van Schalkwyk – Men's Tennis
van Schalkwyk is 17-4 in singles and 15-4 in doubles this spring. He moved to the top spot in the lineup and recorded his best win of the season defeating 71st ranked Mario Martinez of Troy to clinch an ODU 4-2 win in mid-March. In doubles, teaming with his older brother Codie, they made a run in the fall to the ITA Fall National Championship match and started the spring season ranked sixth nationally.
 
Female Freshman of the Year
Ashlynn Kulha – Women's Soccer
Kulha appeared in 21 matches with 20 starts for the Monarchs logging 1,868 minutes for the season. She totaled 10 points for the season, with four goals and two assists. She scored the game-winning goal against Richmond and Georgia State in the Sun Belt Tournament, also tallying goals against Texas State and in the NCAA Tournament against Georgetown.
 
Best Moment
Field Hockey and Women's Soccer win conference championships on the same day. Field Hockey got it done first with a 3-1 win over Liberty in the Big East Tournament Finals, while women's soccer secured its third-straight conference championship with a 2-1 overtime victory over James Madison.
 
Best Individual Performance
Jason Henderson – Football
Henderson tied his own school record with 22 tackles against Coastal Carolina, and added three tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
 
Spark Plug Award
Yanis Moundir – Men's Tennis

Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Zander Johnson – Men's Swimming
 
Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Elizabeth Gildea – Women's Sailing
 
Championship Effort
Julia De Camargo Gusso and Laila Webb – Women's Swimming
 
Community Service
Peyton Turner – Women's Swimming

Mr. Monarch
Vincent Bashara - Baseball
 
Ms. Monarch
Evelyn Murray – Field Hockey
 
Monarch Cup
Lacrosse