NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University athletics hosted the annual Golden Monarch Awards on Monday night at Chartway Arena. Awards were given out for Athlete of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Championship Effort Award, Scholar-Athlete, Student-Athlete of the Year, Juice Man Spark Plug, Community Service, Mr. and Ms. Monarch and the Monarch Cup.
Golden Monarch Award Winners
Male Athlete of the Year
Cosme Rolland De Ravel – Men’s Tennis
Rolland De Ravel is 8-4 this spring in singles, playing at No. 2 and No. 1 singles, and is 12-3 at No. 2 doubles. He has helped the Monarchs to wins over Virginia Tech and Texas Tech, and an undefeated Sun Belt regular season. He helped lead ODU to its third Sun Belt Championship in a row.
Female Athlete of the Year
Sofia Johnson – Women’s Tennis
Johnson advanced to the second round of the NCAA Singles Tournament in the fall and is currently 14-2 at No. 1 singles this spring. A three-time Sun Belt Player of the Week honoree, is 9-0 in Sun Belt Conference singles action. Johnson is currently ranked No. 16 in the country and has received a wild card bid to play in this year’s Wimbledon Tournament.
Male Freshman of the Year
Colton Joseph – Football
A Sun Belt Honorable Mention honoree, Joseph started eight games at quarterback. He completed 133-of-222 passes for 1,627 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He rushed for 647 yards on 114 carries and 11 touchdowns, tying for fourth in the Sun Belt with 11 rushing touchdowns and finished sixth in the league with 71.89 rushing yards per game. He placed seventh in the Sun Belt in passing efficiency at 133.32 and ninth in the league in passing yards per game with 180.78 yards per game. He recorded a pair of 300-yard passing games and two 100-yard rushing games.
Female Freshman of the Year
Sarah Murrell – Women’s Lacrosse
Through 14 games played Murrell has scored 42 goals and dished five assists to signify a turnaround season for ODU Lacrosse. Murrell has been named AAC Freshman of the Week six times so far this season. Murrell only has one game this season where she has not found the back of the net and has 11 multi goal games.
Newcomer of the Year
Zach Leite – Baseball
Leite leads the Monarchs and is eighth in the Sun Belt Conference with a .346 batting average. He leads ODU in doubles with nine and is second on the squad with 22 RBIs. He has delivered 10 multi-hit games and five three-hit games. He went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two runs driven in to help ODU defeat App State 7-6 earlier this season.
Breakthrough
Koa Naotala – Football
A third-team all-conference honoree, Naotala led ODU and finished 10th in the Sun Belt with 88 tackles. He recorded 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. He totaled a career high 18 tackles and half a sack against East Carolina.
Best Sports Moment
Robert Davis Jr. hits a three-pointer with one second left to lift the men’s basketball team to a 64-61 win over Texas State in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Best Individual Performance
Bryce Mortimer won the CCSA 200 breaststroke with a record-breaking time of 1:55.54.
Mr. Monarch
Kyle Edwards – Baseball
Ms. Monarch
Myah Conway – Volleyball
Championship Effort
Women’s Tennis
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Male
Gustaf Hansson and Owen Rolph – Swimming
Female
Gry Boe Thrysoe and Kiersten Donnelly
Student-Athlete of the Year
Dylan Brown - Baseball
Juice Man Spark Plug Award
Simone Cunningham – Women’s Basketball
Community Service
Imo Essien – Men’s Basketball
Ellie Goodrich – Women’s Soccer
Monarch Cup
Swimming