Last night, the University of West Georgia had their 3rd annual Westpy Awards. The awards are held to honor student athletes and achievement. Roughly 40 different awards were given out to student-athletes, fans, support groups, and many more involved in University athletics.
A 1998 UWG graduate and now Sports Center anchor, Todd Grisham, hosted the Awards. I had the privilege of meeting him at a previous Mass Communications event back in March. Last night, I met with him again after the awards and got this picture. After watching him on ESPN and sitting in on two events he has hosted, I see what it takes to be a professional in the field. I am very thankful that my University provides opportunities like this for not only myself, but for my classmates as well.
While dinner was being served, the Wolves Club presented a check to UWG Athletics for $70,000. The goal was set for $50,000, so the amount that was unveiled exceeded expectations.
When Mr. Grisham took the podium, he showed us a video that his colleagues at ESPN put together. Famous analyst across all sports took the time to congratulate West Georgia on their phenomenal year in sports.
The Awards were then given out. Here is a complete list of them below.
- Best Finish by Team- Men’s Basketball
- Best Finish by Individual- Dallas Dickey (TD run vs VSU in playoffs)
- Outstanding Team of Service- Baseball
- Academic Team of year- Men: Golf (3.44 GPA), Women: Softball (3.62 GPA)
- Breakthrough Athlete- Men: Cade Marlowe (baseball), Women: Jordan Corbin (softball)
- Athletes for Athletes Team- Women’s Basketball
- Athletes for Athletes Individual- Helen Menchinger (Volleyball)
- Newcomer of the year- Men: Dylan Donahue (Football), Women: Ashley Davis (Track)
- Assistant Coach of the year- Scott Symons (Defensive Coordinator, Football)
- Clutch Performance of the year- Men: Barrett Waters (Golf) & Dallas Dickey (Football), Women: Francessca Ellis (Soccer)
- Best Team Championship Performance- Football
- Best Individual Championship Performance- Men: Iakeem Alston (Basketball), Women: Franziska Bremm (Golf)
- Fan of the year- Bo Bass
- UWG Faculty Member of the year- Kim Holder
- UWG Staff Member of the year- Keven Hemphill
- UWG Support Group of the year- Pi Kappa Alpha
- Freshman of the year- Men: Devontae Jackson (Football), Women: Franziska Bremm (Golf)
- Comeback Athlete of the year- Hunter Heck (Football)
- Career Achievement Award- Men: James Dugan (Football) & Cori Evans (Golf), Women: Cari Powell (Soccer)
- Most Outstanding Team- Football
- Strength of the Wolf Award- Men: Caleb Lopes (Baseball), Women: Angela Egwu (Track)
- Play of the year- Men: Marcus Sayles blocked punt for TD (Football), Women: Katrina Littlepage 3 made free throws with seconds left to beat VSU (Basketball)
- Head Coach of the year- Will Hall (Football)
- Athlete of the year- Dylan Donahue (Football), Katrina Littlepage (Basketball)
- Miss Wolf- Jadechia Hill (Basketball)
- Mr. Wolf- Dallas Dickey (Football)
The Award Ceremony flowed very nicely. In-between awards, various prizes were given out to people in attendance. They ranged from cash to televisions to weekend getaways and much more. Mitch Gray also commentated highlights of each sport in between the awards. This helped us remember exactly what happened during each season.
After the final award was received, the closing remarks were given and the ceremony was over. It was the third ceremony of its kind at West Georgia and it saying it was a big success would be a vast understatement. I am looking forward to the ceremony next year. Congratulations to everyone who received an award last night.
With this year in sports coming to an end for West Georgia, I would like to look back. I created this website in August and just planned on originally covering the football team. I had no idea that it would land me in the press box at University Stadium, the press box at the Georgia Dome, working for ESPN, sideline reporting a College Bowl Game, and meeting numerous celebrities in the broadcasting field. In just 9 months I have posted over 35 articles on several sports and have amassed roughly 3,500 views on the site.
All this would not be possible without the help and support of everyone involved. Thank you for staying true to my website and visiting it every once in a while to find out what’s going on at the University of West Georgia and surrounding high schools. I would like to personally thank Matt Cooke, Jared Boggus, Samuel Crenshaw, Steve Gradick, Jimmy Beck, Andrew Will, and Eddie Duffey for all the opportunities you have provided me and the guidance you have given. To anyone else I may have forgotten, thank you! This is only the beginning.
Go Wolves!
Brandon Wright's Sports Blog 