Longwood University Athletics

FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood athletics department came together en masse to celebrate a monumental 2018-19 season Monday evening at the annual Student Athlete Awards Banquet in the Lee Grand Room in Dorrill Dining Hall.
 
Guided by masters of ceremonies Professor Jeff Halliday and Kiersten Freedman '19, Longwood's more than 200 student-athletes, coaches, faculty, staff, university administrators and friends enjoyed an evening of awards, recognitions and celebrations of a year's worth of across-the-board success from numerous teams.
 
The banquet commemorated successes both individual and team-wide, including Longwood softball's Big South Regular Season Championship, field hockey's third-place Mid-American Conference finish and women's soccer's third-place Big South finish, a breakout season from Longwood men's basketball and most recently a second-place finish by a Longwood lacrosse team and head coach Elaine Jones' first career Big South Coach of the Year award.
 
"The Student Athlete Awards Banquet is always a special time of year and one of the only occasions where we are able to bring together the entire department and all of our teams in one venue," said interim athletics director Michelle Meadows. "But this year there was a different level of energy at the banquet, and I have to credit that to the across-the-board success we've had from many of our programs and support units, as well as the outstanding job done by our MCs at the banquet, our event organizer Kylie Dyer, and her team that put it all together."
 
Longwood distributed more than 30 individual awards at the banquet to the department's top athletic and academic performers, as well as recognitions of several faculty and staff who have gone above and beyond to advance Lancer athletics.
 
Highlighting those honors were the winners of Longwood's top individual awards, the Longwood Athlete of the Year and Henry B. Willett Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The five recipients of those honors represented four different teams: Male Athlete of the Year Amadeo Blasco (men's tennis) and Co-Female Athletes of the Year Kaylynn "Bug" Batten (softball) and Sydney Wallace (women's soccer); and male Willett Award winner Carlos Garrido (baseball) and female Willett Award winner Kate Spradlin (women's basketball).
 
Both Blasco and Wallace repeated as Longwood Athletes of the Year after taking home those awards in 2018 as well.
 
Blasco took the honor of Longwood's top male athlete for the second year in a row following another dominant campaign on the court. Longwood's No. 1 singles player, Blasco surpassed 20 wins for the second straight season to lead the Lancers to a third straight double-digit win campaign and continue his climb up the school's all-time wins leaderboard. His 24-4 singles record and 20-5 doubles mark earned him All-Big South first team honors in both singles and doubles, making him the school's first three-time All-Big South selection and only the ninth player in conference history to earn three straight all-conference singles and doubles awards. A native of Valencia, Spain, he also cracked the ITA's national top-120 rankings for a second straight year and strengthened his hold on several Longwood records, including singles winning percentage (.811), doubles wins (61), doubles winning percentage (.735) and Big South singles (15) and doubles (12) victories.
 
Batten aided the Longwood softball team to its third outright Big South regular season championship in the past five seasons. The 2019 Big South Preseason Player of the Year and two-time All-Big South first-team selection, Batten has once again emerged as one of the best backstops in the Big South this season with an all-around resume that includes 31 RBI, five home runs, eight doubles, a .258 batting average and a strong performance behind the plate where she has thrown out 13 batters attempting to steal this season. She has delivered walk-off hits twice this season, including a game-winning home run in the top of the 15th inning in a nationally televised game against USC Upstate on ESPNU. That blast also earned her a spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 the same night.
 
Wallace shared the Longwood Female Athlete of the Year award with Batten, joining Blasco in repeating as a back-to-back winner of the award. Her most recent award is the latest in a decorated career in which the Spotsylvania, Va., native was named Big South Defensive Player of the Year twice, including this past season when she anchored a Longwood defense that registered four shutouts and helped the team to a 6-2-2 mark in Big South play that was good enough for a second straight third-place finish. Wallace was the catalyst to four shutouts in 2018, starting every game en route to All-Big South first team, United Soccer Coaches All-Region team and VaSID All-State Team recognition.
 
Garrido took the honor as the male recipient of Longwood's Henry B. Willett Scholar-Athlete Award after an outstanding season both on the diamond and in the classroom. After posting a perfect 4.00 GPA in the fall, Garrido holds a 3.984 cumulative GPA while working towards a degree in Business Administration. On top of that, the native of Trumbull, Conn., returned from missing all of 2018 with an injury to post career-best numbers as a hitter with a team-leading .315 batting average and 22 RBI. This season he has driven in the game-tying or game-winning runs on five separate occasions while also being a reliable, sturdy backstop with 31 of his 35 starts at catcher through the end of April.
 
Spradlin received the prestigious Henry I. Willett Scholar-Athlete Award as the top female scholar among Longwood's student-athlete population. Throughout her four-year career, Spradlin has maintained a perfect 4.00 grade point average and earned President's List recognition from Longwood every semester. She has also been recognized by the Big South, earning Presidential Honor Roll citations every year as well as Big South All-Academic Team honors. On the court, she emerged as one of Longwood's top three-point threats this season under first-year head coach Rebecca Tillett and finished third on the team with 26 made three-pointers.
 
Longwood's two Freshman Athletes of the Year awards went to baseball's Hunter Gilliam and field hockey's Luna Lopez, two Lancers honored for their on-field contributions in their freshman campaigns.
 
A local product from Fuqua School in Farmville, Gilliam has been one of the baseball team's top hitters and tied for the team lead with 40 hits through the end of April. He hit the team's first home run of the season back in February and is second on the team with four while adding four doubles, a team-best two triples and 20 RBI from the middle of the order. On top of that, he's served as a Swiss Army knife after playing in the infield, outfield and as a designated hitter and has even made six appearances on the mound, striking out 11 in eight innings.
 
Lopez also enjoyed a breakout inaugural season with Longwood field hockey, emerging as an impact defender and earning the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year award. She became the first Lancer to receive that honor and the first Longwood freshman to earn All-MAC honors since 2014. native of Mendoza, Argentina, she has anchored Longwood's backline all season, fronting fellow All-MAC pick Wyman to help Longwood surrender the second-fewest goals in the MAC. That performance helped lead field hockey to a 4-2 MAC record and a 9-7 overall mark.
 
Another Longwood freshman earning a major award was men's soccer player Matt Ward, who took home the prestigious Jimmy M. Yarborough Inspiration Award, which is presented to the student-athlete who embodies the enthusiasm and leadership of the late Longwood basketball great. Ward, a member of Longwood's Cormier Honors College, appeared in 15 games for the Lancers, including six starts while playing a reserve role in Longwood's defensive midfield. Off the field, he earned Dean's List honors in his first semester.
 
Also on the academic front, Longwood field hockey senior Sophia DeFeo and men's soccer senior Willy Miezan received the department's Academic PRIDE Award, which is given to one male and one female Lancer who demonstrate tremendous work ethic toward their academic pursuits without regard to GPA or other numeric qualifications.
  
Miezan returned to the field after suffering an ACL injury in back-to-back seasons. In his return, Miezan led Longwood with six goals to rank tied for fifth in the Big South despite missing three games. He did so while leading the Lancers as a 2018 team captain and scored all six goals in Big South play. A native of Alexandra, Va., Miezan earned All-Big South honors for the second time and ranks among Longwood's top 10 in the Division I era with 19 career goals.
 
DeFeo enjoyed a breakout senior year with Longwood field hockey, starting 11 games and scoring a career-high four goals. One of those was the game-winner in a 3-0 victory over UC Davis, while the others contributed to one-goal MAC victories over Appalachian State and Ohio. Along with her on-field accolades and academic pursuits, she bolstered her resume in the spring by serving as athletics communications assistant in the Longwood athletics communications department.

Four Longwood teams received the Cormier Award for Team Academic Excellence, which goes to the programs who post the highest grade point averages during the spring and fall 2018 semesters. Those four were women's men's golf and field hockey in the spring, and women's cross country and men's tennis in the fall. 
 
Longwood women's golf, led by two-time Lancer Strong Cup individual recipient Macey Mills, took home the team honor for in the year-long Lancer Strong competition to promote attendance of student-athlete peers to events for the second consecutive season.
 
Three Longwood faculty and staff members were also honored at the banquet for their contributions toward the success of Longwood athletics and its student-athletes. Two of those awards came from the Longwood Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), with assistant director of sports medicine Morgan Langton receiving the Acclaimed Commitment to the Excellence of Student-Athletes (A.C.E.S.) Award, and men's basketball head coach Griff Aldrich earning the SAAC Coach of the Year award.
 
Langton, now in her third year with the Longwood athletic training staff, becomes the third consecutive member of Longwood's student-athlete enhancement (SAE) unit to receive the award, following sports performance coaches Tyler Wrenn (2016-17) and C.J. Roth (2017-18). Longwood SAAC, a student-athlete organization, presents the award annually to a faculty or staff member who goes above and beyond for student-athletes in their academic, athletic and personal pursuits, as well as serving as an advocate for student-athlete welfare.
 
Dr. Consuelo Alvarez, Longwood professor of biology and chemistry and faculty athletics representative emerita, was also honored by the department with the Roy Nunnally Award. That honor is given annually to the individual outside the athletics department whose support exudes the Lancer spirit and is a pillar in the success of student-athletes, coaches and staff, both on and off the playing field.
 
2018-19 Longwood Athletics Awards
 
SAAC A.C.E.S. Award
Morgan Langton, Assistant Director of Sports Medicine
 
SAAC Coach of the Year
Griff Aldrich, Men's Basketball
 
Roy Nunnally Special Recognition Award
Dr. Consuelo Alvarez, Professor of Biology & Chemistry, Faculty Athletics Rep Emerita
 
Academic PRIDE Awards
Sophia DeFeo, Field Hockey
Willy Miezan, Men's Soccer
 
Cormier Awards for Team Academic Excellence
Men's Golf, Spring '18
Field Hockey, Spring '18
Men's Tennis, Fall '18
Women's Cross Country, Fall '18
 
Freshman Athletes of the Year
Hunter Gilliam, Baseball
Luna Lopez, Field Hockey
 
Jimmy M. Yarbrough Inspiration Award
Matt Ward, Men's Soccer
 
Athletes of the Year
Amadeo Blasco, Men's Tennis
Bug Batten, Softball (co)
Sydney Wallace, Softball (co)
 
Henry I. Willett Scholar-Athlete Awards
Carlos Garrido, Baseball
Kate Spradlin, Women's Basketball
 
LancerStrong Competition
Women's Golf (Team)
Macey Mills, Women's Golf (Individual)
 
Longwood All-Academic Team
Rebecca Tillett, Women's Basketball (Coach)
Jenna Pierson, Athletic Training
Jon Peterson, Baseball
Jordan Cintron, Men's Basketball
Stephanie Guihon, Women's Basketball
Christina Hutchins, Cheerleading
Connor Perry, Men's Cross Country
Casey Williams, Women's Cross Country
Karly Harwood, Field Hockey
Colin Caporal, Men's Golf
Jacqueline Nickels, Women's Golf
Corri Calandra, Women's Lacrosse
Jacob Reimers, Men's Soccer
Carrie Reaver, Women's Soccer
Sydney Backstrom, Softball
Raisei Saiki, Men's Tennis
Jamie Breunig, Women's Tennis
 
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