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OMAHA, Neb. – Creighton Athletics celebrated its top individual and team accomplishments from the past year on Monday night with the second annual edition of The Billy's.Â
The award ceremony was hosted by Megan Ballenger and Mitch Ballock as emcees, with Emma Braasch conducting interviews on the "blue" carpet leading up to the event. All three are current student-athletes at Creighton.
The event featured 31 awards, including 14 True Blue Awards that helped recognize one student-athlete from each squad who embodied the values of resiliency, high character, selflessness, humility, discipline, dedication, determination, reliability, culture and a team-first attitude.
Taryn Kloth (Volleyball) and Mitch LaGro (Men's Soccer) were named the Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Female and Male Student-Athletes of the Year, respectively, while Jaali Winters (Volleyball) and Ryan Tapani (Baseball) earned Female and Male Athlete of the Year accolades.
CU honored Female and Male recipients for Rookie of the Year (Softball's Kiele Miller and Men's Basketball's Marcus Zegarowski), Female and Male Muscle & Hustle Athlete of the Year (Women's Soccer's Taryn Jakubowski and Men's Soccer's Joel Rydstrand), as well as the Bluejay MAGIS Award (Women's Soccer's Haylee Blach). In addition, Martin Krampelj (Men's Basketball) and Jade Owens (Women's Basketball) landed men's and women's Comeback Kid awards and Keeley Davis (Volleyball) took home the Training Room Resident award.
The Billy's also saw four team awards get handed out. The top team GPA's on both the men's (Golf) and women's (Cross Country) side earned the Team Academic Awards. The five-time BIG EAST champion Volleyball program was recognized as Team of the Year, while the Rowing team was singled out as the For and With Others Team of the Year.
The Performance of the Year, as voted on by the student-athletes themselves, went to the softball team for its April 17, 2018 game with a school-record six home runs vs. UMKC.
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2018-19 The Billy's – Award Recipients
Female Rookie of the Year: Kiele Miller, Softball
Male Rookie of the Year: Marcus Zegarowski, Men's Basketball
For and With Others Team of the Year: Rowing
Female Muscle & Hustle Award: Taryn Jakubowski, Women's Soccer
Male Muscle & Hustle Award: Joel Rydstrand, Men's Soccer
Bluejay MAGIS Award: Haylee Blach, Women's Soccer
Female Comeback Kid: Jade Owens, Women's Basketball
Male Comeback Kid: Martin Krampelj, Men's Basketball
Female Team Academic Award: Cross Country (3.78 GPA)
Male Team Academic Award: Golf (3.66 GPA)
Training Room Resident: Keeley Davis, Volleyball
Female Athlete of the Year Award: Jaali Winters, Volleyball
Male Athlete of the Year Award: Ryan Tapani, Baseball
True Blue Awards: Ali Greene (Women's Basketball), Erin Smith (Women's Cross Country), Caroline Lake (Women's Golf), McKinley Wilson (Rowing), Emma Braasch (Women's Soccer), Sam Crowley (for 2018 Softball), Ashley Ishimura (Women's Tennis), Kelsey O'Connell (Volleyball), Clark Brinkman (for 2018 Baseball), Kaleb Joseph (Men's Basketball), Bryce Shirley (Men's Cross Country), Brad Keyer (Men's Golf), Collin Valdivia (Men's Soccer), Armando Gandini (Men's Tennis).
Team of the Year Award: Volleyball
Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Mitch LaGro, Men's Soccer
Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year:Â Taryn Kloth, Volleyball
Performance of the Year: Softball's six home run game vs. UMKC on April 17, 2018
Female Rookie of the Year: Kiele Miller, Softball
Male Rookie of the Year: Marcus Zegarowski, Men's Basketball
For and With Others Team of the Year: Rowing
Female Muscle & Hustle Award: Taryn Jakubowski, Women's Soccer
Male Muscle & Hustle Award: Joel Rydstrand, Men's Soccer
Bluejay MAGIS Award: Haylee Blach, Women's Soccer
Female Comeback Kid: Jade Owens, Women's Basketball
Male Comeback Kid: Martin Krampelj, Men's Basketball
Female Team Academic Award: Cross Country (3.78 GPA)
Male Team Academic Award: Golf (3.66 GPA)
Training Room Resident: Keeley Davis, Volleyball
Female Athlete of the Year Award: Jaali Winters, Volleyball
Male Athlete of the Year Award: Ryan Tapani, Baseball
True Blue Awards: Ali Greene (Women's Basketball), Erin Smith (Women's Cross Country), Caroline Lake (Women's Golf), McKinley Wilson (Rowing), Emma Braasch (Women's Soccer), Sam Crowley (for 2018 Softball), Ashley Ishimura (Women's Tennis), Kelsey O'Connell (Volleyball), Clark Brinkman (for 2018 Baseball), Kaleb Joseph (Men's Basketball), Bryce Shirley (Men's Cross Country), Brad Keyer (Men's Golf), Collin Valdivia (Men's Soccer), Armando Gandini (Men's Tennis).
Team of the Year Award: Volleyball
Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Mitch LaGro, Men's Soccer
Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year:Â Taryn Kloth, Volleyball
Performance of the Year: Softball's six home run game vs. UMKC on April 17, 2018
