(UW Athletics release)
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The University of Wyoming Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted the third annual WESPYS Saturday evening at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center honoring great team and individual accomplishments by Cowboys and Cowgirls from the past year.
Jackie McBride, of volleyball, and Nico Evans, of football, served as emcees for the event. McBride served as one of the emcees for the second-straight year. An estimated crowd of 275 student-athletes, administrators and coaches were in attendance, the largest in the event’s history.
Allegra Carson, the 2017-18 President of UW’s SAAC and a junior on the Cowgirl track and field team this season, spoke about how the event has continued to be a hit amongst the student-athletes.
“It was very exciting this year thanks to the help of our donors and the hard work from the members of SAAC. It was an established event and we took every single thing we have done over the past few years and stepped the production value. I was happy with how the show turned out this year and with amazing people helping out it created a very memorable night.
Just seeing all the other student-athletes get excited for the evening got us all thrilled for what we were doing. Also listening to the reactions from the crowd throughout the night for our winners and the humor we put into the event was really pleasing to all of us that worked so hard to put on a great show.”
Peter Prigge, Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance for UW Athletics, serves as the SAAC advisor. “I can’t say enough good things about the students that were involved in this whole process. Our executive board started prepping for this night all the way in January and did a tremendous job. It was another huge success and their work was really on display.”
“It truly was a great night and shout out to Jackie and Nico,” Prigge Said. “Those two and the writers are really the ones that kept the show moving and kept the crowd engage. They all took pride in their roles from the start and they did a phenomenal job. Overall, I think it was a great night for our students-athletes. It was fun, entertaining, and enjoyable for them to celebrate the great success we have had this season.”
Awards were presented in 22 categories from: female and male student-athletes of the year (based on academic performance); to male and female athletes of the year; to the team excellence awards; to the leadership award.
2018 WESPYS Award Winners
Female Athlete of the Year
Liv Roberts (Women’s Basketball)
Male Athlete of the Year
Bryce Meredith (Wrestling)
Female Student-Athlete of the Year (Based on Student-Athlete Who Has Excelled in the classroom while balancing athletics.)
Clara Tapia (Women’s Basketball)
Male Student-Athlete of the Year (Based on Student-Athlete Who Has Excelled in the classroom while balancing athletics.)
Nick Smith (Football)
Senior Excellence Award
Bryce Meredith (Wrestling)
Female Rookie of the Year
Jackie McBride (Volleyball)
Male Rookie of the Year
Montorie Bridges (Wrestling)
WESPY – Worthy Moment of the Year
Bryce Meredith – Defeating No. 1 Dean Heil at Storey Gymnasium in Cheyenne
Team Academic Excellence Award (Highest Team Grade-Point Average)
Women’s Basketball
Best Moment
Men’s swimming and diving winning the Western Athletic Conference Championship
Best Dressed
Jackie McBride (Women’s Volleyball)
Mike Cotterman (Director of Sports Performance for Olympic Sports)
Cowgirl Tough Award (Presented by the UW Sports Performance Department)
Liv Roberts (Women’s Basketball), Emily Lewis (Women’s Volleyball), Alyssa Murray (Women’s Soccer) and Karla Contreras (Women’s Swimming and Diving)
Cowboy Tough Award (Presented by the UW Sports Performance Department)
Kyle White (Men’s Swimming and Diving), Archie Colgan (Wrestling), Adam Pilapil (Football), James Price (Football) and John Murdock (Men’s Golf)
Brother and Sister Team Awards
Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving
Comeback Athlete of the Year
Liv Roberts (Women’s Basketball)
Ethical Leadership Award: Presented by UW Athletics Department
Janet Constantinides former Faculty Athletic Representative and Interim Athletics Director
Team Community Service, Leadership and Excellence Award
Wrestling
Best Action Shot of the Year
Men’s Swimming
Most Likely to Go Pro
Josh Allen (Football)
Record-Breaking Performance
Ja’La Henderson (Women’s Track and Field)
Head Coach of the Year
Mark Branch, Wrestling
Assistant Coach of the Year
Scottie Hazelton, Football
