Athletics Celebrates 2019-20 Year with Virtual Banquet

COVID-19 couldn’t stop Carnegie Mellon from celebrating an historic season, as the athletics department hosted a virtual awards banquet on Wednesday, April 29. During the banquet, the department honored the athletic and academic achievements that transpired throughout the 2019-20 season with more than 300 viewers in attendance.

“These are unprecedented times, but we felt it was more important than ever to come together in real time and celebrate,” said Director of Athletics Josh Centor. “Our student-athletes have achieved so much, and the banquet was a toast to their accomplishments.”

The program began with Centor congratulating the student-athletes and teams for their performances throughout the year. He then led a celebration of the seniors and the excellence that has defined one of the great classes in Tartans athletic history.

“When you reflect on the year and consider that our women’s soccer team went to the Final Four, we had 24 students headed to the NCAA Swimming and Diving and Championships and three spring teams ranked among the top five nationally, there’s no doubt it was special,” Centor said. “On top of the academic and athletic achievements, we established an Athletics Hall of Fame and received a lead gift from Highmark Inc. to construct a health, wellness and athletics center. It was a memorable year in so many regards.”

The head coaches each took a few moments to recognize their programs and name their respective Tartan Award winners. Following the Tartan Award ceremony, the department celebrated 28 seniors who completed the Student-Athlete Leadership Development Program. The program is in its third year and includes initiatives and education in many areas such as volunteering, community engagement, self-awareness, decision-making, networking, and career development.

The Michael C. Murphy Citizenship Award was presented by Michael Murphy, the former Vice President for Campus Affairs. The award is given to a senior student-athlete that has demonstrated character, sportsmanship, service and impact on the university during his or her time at Carnegie Mellon. This year's recipient was women’s swimmer Anna Riegger.

During her time at Carnegie Mellon, Riegger was involved in a variety of initiatives driven by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, including a tutoring program at Lincoln Elementary. Riegger, who also serves as the student representative on the Hall of Fame Selection Committee, was elected by her peers as president of SAAC and was critical in leading many initiatives that positively impacted the community.

Carnegie Mellon Faculty Athletics Representative Susan Polansky presented the Dr. William Brown Academic Athletic Achievement Awards to the male and female student-athletes who are four-year participants and earned the highest grade-point average while participating in intercollegiate athletics.

The recognition was named in honor of the Tartans' first-ever NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative, William Brown, following his passing in 2007.

This year, there were two male and two female recipients of the 11th annual Dr. William Brown Academic Athletic Achievement Award. The award winners, who all have perfect 4.0 GPA’s, were Michelle Karabin (women’s track and field), Emmalyn Lindsey (women’s cross country and track and field), Michael Lohmeier (football) and Parker Mellott (football).

Karabin will graduate with a degree in mechanical and biomedical engineering, as she plans pursue her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh starting this fall. Lindsey will graduate with a degree in materials science and engineering and biomedical engineering and will be working for Nike in the procurement division in Portland, Oregon, beginning in July. Lohmeier will graduate with a degree in business administration and will be working for Lazard in New York City as an Investment Banking Analyst. Mellott will graduate with a degree in business administration and will also locate to New York City where he will be working for Guggenheim Partners as an Investment Banking Analyst.

The evening closed with a highlight video narrating the moments that defined the year in Tartan athletics.

Watch the 2019-20 Virtual Banquet in its entirety

Below is a list of the Tartan Award winners in each sport. Tartan Awards are presented based on program-specific criteria developed by each head coach.

Trent Suddeth of Men’s Basketball (Thomas B. Craig (E’53) Tartan Award)
Linden Runels of Women’s Basketball (John N. Wiernicki Tartan Award)
Eddie Goebel of Men’s Cross Country
Abigail Levine of Women’s Cross Country (Kelly Chin de Csepel (TPR’02) Tartan Award)
Thomas Polutchko of Football; Defense (Walter H. and Antoinette V. Haupt Tartan Award)
Willie Richter of Football; Offense (Thomas B. Craig (E’53) Tartan Award)
Jason Li of Men’s Golf (Thomas B. Craig (E’53) Tartan Award)
Alexis Sudjianto of Women’s Golf (Thomas B. Craig (E’53) and LaVerne Craig Tartan Award)
Jacob Moskowitz of Men’s Soccer (W. Young Kang (E’92) Tartan Award)
Andrea Sipos of Women’s Soccer (Jared L. (H’14) and Maureen B. Cohon Tartan Award)
Emily Finger of Softball
Sam Hawke of Men’s Swimming & Diving (Scott (TPR’88) and Lara Morrison Tartan Award)
Anna Riegger of Women’s Swimming & Diving (Joseph (E’48) and Myrna Stein Tartan Award)
Sam Gibson of Men’s Tennis (Michael H. Ference (DC’91, TPR’92) Tartan Award)
Courtney Ollis of Women’s Tennis (Ellie (Wiseman) Ference (E’64) and Thomas P. Ference (E’64, TPR’66, ‘67) Tartan Award)
Fred Dauphin of Men’s Track & Field; Field Events
Michelle Karabin of Women’s Track & Field; Field Events
Evan Yukevich of Men’s Track & Field; Running Events (Gary L. Meckley Tartan Award)
Kate Reilly of Women’s Track & Field; Running Events (Dario Donatelli (TPR’81) Tartan Award)
Erika Foose of Volleyball (Robert S. (DC’93) & Ann Feng Simon (TPR’93) Tartan Award)