By: Dakayla Hawkins
The 19th annual Iggy Awards took place at the Hotel June on April 22, 2024. The beautiful setting made for an extravagant experience, where the athletes and members of the coaching staff were able to enjoy a beautiful night as they reflected on all that they accomplished this past year.
As the 4:30 arrival time commenced for the red carpet portion of the event to take place, athletes from all different sports fled in to show off their stylish looks, and made their way around to greet the many coaches and teammates present.
The celebration started with hors d'oeuvres as soon as folks arrived, and the delectable bites kept coming throughout the entirety of the event.
Around 5:00 pm, as everyone was mingling and catching up, Senior Associate Athletic Director Thad Satre, made an announcement that the award ceremony would be beginning momentarily.
Attendees then flooded down stairs and found a seat where they would soon be anticipating the winners of each award.
The two hosts of the Iggy Awards were Madison Davis, graduate student women's water polo goalie, and Georgia Guinan, graduate student women's rower. They opened up the ceremony with an introduction speech that provided great energy and humor, which was held throughout the event.
The first award presented was the Newcomer of the Year award. As the nominees were announced, athletes were on the edge of their sets anticipating their own teammates' names to be called, as the competition was quite stiff. On the women's side, the winner was women's volleyball outside hitter Amethyst Harper, and the men's winner was men's soccer forward Tyger Smalls.
Then, the next award presented was the Breakthrough Athlete of the Year. This past year in LMU Athletics there have been multiple athletes that have contributed to historic seasons for their teams. The women's winner was women's beach volleyball player Michelle Shaffer, and the winner on the men's side was men's soccer goalie Massimo Oedekoven Pomponi. Two athletes who truly did have outstanding seasons.
Then there were many athletes recognized during the Academic Awards. These athletes excel not only in their sports, but also in the classroom. With all that they have going on, these awards mean something. Many athletes made it clear that they were able to accomplish what they could in the classroom due to the help that they received from the athletic department's academic advisors and sports psychologist, who all made many contributions to the well-being of these athletes.
Following the academic awards, there were then a few Sports Performance Awards presented. Three of the sports performance coaches Jordan Alcantar, Kevin Stark, and Monet Bernard, made their way up to the podium to recognize the athletes they have spent so much time training. Their speeches were heartfelt and humorous, as they clearly have love for these athletes.
Under the Sports Performance category, junior baseball outfielder Sam Biller won Male Sports Performance Athlete of the Year. The Teams of the Year went to volleyball and men's soccer, then Most Passion Teams of the Year went to men's and women's rowing.
The next award presented was the Leader of the Pride award. The women's winner was graduate student women's rower Georgia Guinan, and the men's winner was senior men's soccer midfielder Aiden Spagnoli. These winners exhibited great dedication to the betterment of the student-athlete experience.
The second to last award presented was Moment of the Year. It was no easy task to be awarded the winner of this category, as this past year in LMU athletics was filled with monumental moments. This was the only award that was voted on by the athletes themselves. With that said, men's soccer walked away with this victory after their historic season of making it to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
Then, to conclude the 19th annual Iggy Awards, the most looked forward to award of the night was Athlete of the Year. With all of the tough competition considered, the athletes that were awarded were men's golfer Riley Lewis, and women's volleyball middle blocker Jacquelyn Moore.
The complete list of finalists and winners are listed below:
Female Athlete of the Year
Jackie Moore, Women's Volleyball
Ruth Arino Ruiz, Women's Water Polo
Jenna Perez, Softball
Male Athlete of the Year
Riley Lewis, Men's Golf
Tyger Smalls, Men's Soccer
Stelios Dalmaras, Men's Water Polo
Female Newcomer of the Year
Amethyst Harper, Volleyball
Lauryn Carter, Softball
Skye Nankervis, Women's Water Polo
Male Newcomer of the Year
Tyger Smalls, Men's Soccer
Mason Snyder, Men's Golf
Tommaso Baldineti, Men's Water Polo
Female Breakthrough of the year
Michelle Shaffer, Volleyball
Avery Francis, Softball
Anna Tarantino, Women's Water Polo
Male Breakthrough Athlete of the Year
Massimo Oedekoven Pomponi, Men's Soccer
Arthur "Iggy" Pantino, Men's Tennis
Trevor Algya, Men's Tennis
Female Leader of the Pride of the year
Georgia Guinan, Women's Rowing
Sophie Kadifa, Women's Water Polo
Avery Doan, Women's Cross Country and Track
Male Leader of the Pride of the year
Aiden Spagnoli, Men's Soccer
Robert Ruelas, Men's Cross Country and Track
Arthur "Iggy" Pantino, Men's Tennis
Sports Performance Women's Team of the Year
Women's Volleyball
Softball
Womens Beach Volleyball
Sports Performance Men's Team of the Year
Men's soccer
Baseball
Men's Basketball
Sports Performance Female Athlete of the Year
Mia Schafer, Women's volleyball
Avery Francis, Softball
Nicole Rodriguez , Women's Basketball
Maeve Conaty, Women's Rowing
Sports Performance Male Athlete of the Year
Sam Biller, Baseball
Alex Merkviladze, Men's Basketball
Tyler Trusner, Men's Soccer
Richie Rimlinger, Men's Water Polo
Sports Performance Passion Award of the year
Men's and Women's Rowing
