ARLINGTON, Va. -- Marymount Athletics announced award winners and major award winner nominees at the annual SAINTSPY's event, hosted by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Celebrating in the Lee Center, the Saints closed out a remarkable year in 2025-26, highlighted by 12 separate conference championships and multitudes of postseason awards.

The SAINTSPY's helps to give a platform for the department's holistic approach to the student-athlete experience, giving awards centered around leadership, community service, and overall impact to the Marymount University community.

See the listing of all awards and nominees from the night below:

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Award Winners

The Individual Community Service Award - Presented to the student-athlete who has reported the most community service throughout the academic year. While we had several student-athletes over 40 hours, there was one student-athlete who stood out amongst their peers.

Tinleigh Rusher (Women's Golf) - Over 80 individual hours of community service

Team Community Service Award - presented to the team that completes the most amount of community service hours in the academic year. 

Women's Lacrosse - Over 1000 hours of community service hours in the academic year. 

Male Leadership Award - presented to the male student-athlete that demonstrated leadership skills throughout the year and served as a positive ambassador for Marymount Athletics.

Quincy Via (Baseball)

Female Leadership Award - presented to the female student-athlete that demonstrated leadership skills throughout the year and served as a positive ambassador for Marymount Athletics.

Leila Lajdel (Women's Soccer)

Male Iron Saint - Honoring the male student-athlete who exemplified elite leadership and an unwavering work ethic, presented by Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Hector Raya.

Jacob Brooks (Men's Lacrosse)

Female Iron Saint - Honoring the female student-athlete who exemplified elite leadership and an unwavering work ethic, presented by Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Hector Raya.

Emerson Aber (Women's Volleyball/Track & Field)

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Representative of the Year - Chosen by the SAAC Executive Board and Advisors. The winner of this award is somebody who's efforts have gone above and beyond the expectations of a SAAC representative and somebody who has an unwavering support for other sport programs.

Samantha Richtol (Softball)

Award for Resilience - Voted on by the athletics staff and is presented to a student-athlete showed resilience in the face of a situation outside of athletics (i.e. loss of a parent, overcoming cancer, career ending injury, etc…). 

Renee Schmidt (Women's Tennis)

Comeback Student-Athlete of the Year - Selected solely by the sports medicine staff and is based on a student-athlete's efforts to return from an injury and make a positive impact on their respective team.

CJ Highsmith Jr. (Men's Basketball)

Athletics Communication Student-Worker of the Year - Presented and selected by the athletics communication staff, highlighting the individual who showcased strong work ethic in game operations.

Maggie Gentry

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Award Nominees Announced - Winners will be voted on by the athletics staff over the summer and announced at the Welcome Back Meeting to kick off the 2026-27 Academic Year.

Breakthrough Student-Athlete of the Year - Identified by their coaches as having had a breakout season statistically compared to a previous season(s) and/ or played a more significant role compared to a previous season(s). 

1. Seth Richards (Men's Volleyball) 

2. Samuel Struggs (Men's Track & Field)

3. AJ McClary (Men's Basketball)

4. Ben Smallwood (Baseball)

5. Alex Rendon-Benitez (Men's Soccer)

6. Luke Claudy (Men's Swimming)

7. Winny Horshaw II (Men's Lacrosse)

8. Abby Hughes (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)

9. Ava Vautour (Women's Lacrosse)

10. Catie Kolwey (Women's Basketball)

11. Eunice Chang (Women's Golf)

12. Ava Humphries (Women's Volleyball)

13. Emerson Aber (Women's Volleyball/Track & Field)

14. Sam Richtol (Softball)

15. Tinleigh Rusher (Women's Golf)

16. Leslie Villegas (Flag Football)

Male and Female Rookie of the Year - To be eligible for this award you must be a first-year student-athlete to their sport and must have won a major award within their sport, be named to an All-Conference Team and/ or place in the top 8 at Regional Championships.  

1. Drew Miller (Men's Golf)

2. Jaythan Dumas (Men's Track & Field)

3. Noah Popp (Men's Swimming)

4. Brady Wiggers (Men's Volleyball)

5. Connor Howard (Men's Lacrosse)

6. Kat Martinez (Women's Wrestling)

7. Punchy Mahathep (Women's Golf)

8. Valeria Gutierrez De Oliviera (Softball)

9. Hailey Labonte (Women's Volleyball)

10. Arianna Blanco (Women's Soccer)

11. Jesenia Velez (Flag Football)

12.  Annabelle Tarrant (Women's Swimming

13. Gabriela Titone (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)

14. Gracie Himmelman (Softball)

Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year - These awards will be presented to the male and female student-athlete that have excelled the most in the classroom, in their sport and within the community. To be eligible, a student-athlete needs to have a 3.0 or better GPA, have at least 12 hours of community service and excelled within their sport. These awards will be decided on at the conclusion of the academic year.

1. Samuel Struggs (Men's Track & Field)

2. Luke Claudy (Men's Swimming)

3. Alex Rendon-Benitez (Men's Soccer)

4. Ben Smallwood (Baseball)

5. Quincy Via (Baseball)

6. Evan Pak (Men's Swimming

7. Ian Fructuoso (Men's Lacrosse)

8. Ava Humphries (Women's Volleyball)

9. Ilana Hawkins (Women's Swimming/Track & Field)

10. Leila Lajdel (Women's Soccer)

11. Tinleigh Rusher (Women's Golf)

12. Brier Amerlinck (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)

13. Payton So (Women's Swimming)

14. Tess Valentino (Women's Lacrosse)

Dr. Lida McMahon Male and Female Scholar Student-Athlete of the Year - These awards will go to the junior or senior male and female student-athletes with the highest GPAs from the 2025-26 academic year and will be announced during the fall student-athlete welcome-back meeting.

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2026-27 SAAC Executive Board Announcement

President - Emerson Aber (Women's Volleyball/Track & Field)
Vice President - Evan Pak (Men's Swimming)
Assistant Vice President - Alexandra Pette (Women's Swimming)
Secretary - Tallion Elliott Jr. (Men's Wrestling)
Social Media Coordinator - Leila Lajdel (Women's Soccer)
Community Service Coordinator - Samantha Richtol (Softball)
Co-Coordinators for Special Olympics - Catie Kolwey (Women's Basketball) and Alex Rendon-Benitez (Men's Soccer)
Mental Healthy Awareness Coordinator - Brooke Thrash (Women's Soccer)

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