SAN DIEGO – The first Aztecs Celebrating Excellence (A.C.E) Awards were held last week at the Cal Coast Open Air Amphitheater hosted by athletics staff and coaches. The event honored student-athletes for excellence in their sport and holistic development in the classroom.
"The A.C.E. Awards is a new tradition that provides the SDSU Athletics community an opportunity to come together and celebrate the many achievements of student-athletes and staff from the academic year," Bobby Smitheran, Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Academic Support Services said. "This program positively impacts the student-athlete experience, and we look forward to growing this event in years to come."
Throughout the night multiple student-athletes were honored for their various academic achievements, as well as teams were rewarded for their outstanding academic performances as a team this year. Softball's Maggie Balint and football's Cameron Thomas were awarded Student-Athlete of the Year, while men's golf and lacrosse were honored for having the highest team GPAs.
Other awards handed out to student-athletes and support staff include the All-Aztecs Going Pro Award, which is given to seniors who have exemplified personal growth, career development, and civic engagement throughout their time at SDSU. April Ranches of women's golf and Laukoa (kao) Santos of men's soccer earned the award. Additionally, the department handed out the Aztecs Going Pro Resilience Award to CJ Jones of lacrosse and Keshad Johnson of men's basketball. The Aztecs Going Pro Resilience Award is given to student-athletes who have improved academically and personally through continuous effort, resilience, and commitment throughout their time at San Diego State.
43 Aztec student-athletes earned the Malik award during the event. The Malik award is awarded to any student-athlete that earned a perfect 4.0 GPA over a semester at San Diego State. Additionally, 412 student-athletes earned scholar athlete designation. Scholar athlete designation is awarded to a student-athlete who earned either a 3.2 semester GPA or a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Department Award Recipients
Student-Athlete of the Year Award
Maggie Balint, Softball
Cameron Thomas, Football
Highest Team GPA (Average of Spring and Fall 2021 Semesters)
Men's Golf (3.23)
Lacrosse (3.50)
All-Aztecs Going Pro Award
April Ranches, Women's Golf
Laukoa (Koa) Santos, Men's Soccer
Aztecs Going Pro Resilience Award
CJ Jones, Lacrosse
Keshad Johnson, Men's Basketball
2022 SAAC Superlative Awards Winners (voted on by Aztec student-athletes)
Most Team Spirit
Kaitlin Heri, Track and Field
Elliot Pavis, Men's Soccer
Most Comedic
Jessie McMurray, Swim and Dive
Johannes Seeman, Men's Tennis
FAC (Fowler Athletic Center) Rat
CJ Jones, Lacrosse
Zavier Leonard, Football
Best Shoe Game
Asia Avinger, Women's Basketball
Nathan Mensah, Men's Basketball
Most likely to be seen on a Reality TV Show
Anna Toohey, Women's Soccer
Caden McDonald, Football
Dr. James Kitchen Distinguished Service Award
Libby Skiles, Director of Student Health Services
Aztec Distinguished Service Award
Lori Mitchell, Administrative Support Coordinator for Academics and Compliance
Malik Award Recipients
Caden Miller Baseball
Lauren Harper Cross Country/Track & Field
Carlene Masar Cross Country/Track & Field
Natalie Regalado Cross Country/Track & Field
Chandler Patterson Football
Courtney Anderson Lacrosse
Caitlin Jones Lacrosse
Lauren Kilger Lacrosse
Mia Kohn Lacrosse
Courtney Robinson Lacrosse
Alexis Sullivan Lacrosse
Katie Wozencroft Lacrosse
Cailin Young Lacrosse
Puwit Anupansuebsai Men's Golf
Juliana Santiago Rowing
Greta Viss Rowing
Anastasia Vontzou Rowing
Shaylan Whatman Softball
Alice Decoteau Swimming & Diving
Sammy Geyer Swimming & Diving
Lizzie Menzmer Swimming & Diving
Kristina Murphy Swimming & Diving
Mia Ryan Swimming & Diving
Evonne Stehr Swimming & Diving
Riley Tapley Swimming & Diving
Lauren Torchiana Swimming & Diving
Cari Acosta Track & Field
Sara Absten Track & Field
Carina Clark Track & Field
Jenna Fee Feyerabend Track & Field
Elizabeth Funk Track & Field
Kennedy Feuerborn Volleyball
Serena Hodson Volleyball
Lauren Lee Volleyball
Ashley Vanderpan Volleyball
Karli Canale Water Polo
Haley Hagerty Water Polo
Rose Kanemy Water Polo
Phoebe Leitch Women's Soccer
Emily Lowe Women's Soccer
Abbie Rieder Women's Soccer
Agustina Rimoldi Godoy Women's Tennis
Alexandria Von Tersch Pohrer Women's Tennis
-SDSU-