Annual Crimson Carpet Awards Celebrate Student-Athlete Achievement

Annual Crimson Carpet Awards Celebrate Student-Athlete Achievement

4/19/2023 9:00 PM | Baseball, Football, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Golf, Men's Tennis, Softball, Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Basketball, Gymnastics, Soccer, Women's Tennis, Volleyball, Cross Country, Track & Field, Skiing, Beach Volleyball, Women's Swimming & Diving, Lacrosse

Winners were presented Wednesday night at annual event held at Ken Garff Red Zone

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Athletics Department held its Crimson Carpet Awards on Wednesday night at the Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium, celebrating the best of student-athlete and team achievement from the 2022-23 school year. Organized by the Crimson Council, Utah's student-athlete advisory group, the evening began with a reception in the Diglisic Family Lounge and the awards program in the Julie M. & David S. Layton Field Club.

The Crimson Carpet Awards gather all student-athletes together for an evening to celebrate academic success, athletic talent, community service and leadership. Teams put forth their nominees for many of the awards while coaches made the nominations for the senior awards. Student-athletes voted on the winners.

Crimson Council representatives Jenna Johnson (women's basketball) and Jordyn Gasper (softball) delivered the event's introduction, and kicked off the evening by introducing Athletics Director Mark Harlan and University of Utah President Taylor Randall for opening remarks, as well gymnastics student-athlete Cristal Isa, the event's senior speaker.

The award winners revealed Wednesday night are:

WELLNESS ADVOCATE AWARD
Hannah Truax (Swimming & Diving)
Demonstrated commitment to personal wellness and showed courage in advocating for mental health awareness among student-athletes.

SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE AWARD
Maya LeBar (Track & Field)
Committed to creating and maintaining actionable change in the athletics department, at the University of Utah and within the Salt Lake City community surrounding social justice issues.

JAMES R. "BUD" JACK TEAM COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Women's Swimming & Diving
Team that has gone the extra mile to give back to Salt Lake City. Not only does it have a powerful reflection of who this team is, but also reflects what it means to be a caring student athlete at Utah.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Women's: Makenna Smith (Gymnastics)
Men's: Nikko DiPonio (Lacrosse)
Excelled in his/her first season of competition at the collegiate level by demonstrating dedication, ability and spirit.

SENIOR AWARDS

JOHN CRAWFORD COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Lizzy DeCecco (Women's Swimming & Diving)
Performed a significant amount of community or university service during her years at Utah. John Crawford devoted much of his life to Utah Athletics and started the formalized Crimson Club

OCCIE EVANS LEADERSHIP AWARD
Ellessa Bonstrom (Softball)
Outstanding senior female athlete in a team sport, based upon qualities of athletic ability, leadership and scholastic achievement (This award is nominated and selected by the Athletics Department Senior Staff). Occie Evans was selected as one of the top 50 Utah athletes of the Century by Sports Illustrated and was elected to the Utah Sports Hall of Fame before he passed away in 1996. He played freshman football and basketball at the University of Utah before leaving to play professional baseball.

DR. BURTIS EVANS SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Samuel Hendry (Men's Skiing)
Male student-athlete who has made significant achievements in the classroom, as well as in his sport. Burtis and Jan Evans showed equal devotion to the University. Dr. Evans served as a team physician for Ute Athletic teams for 37 years

FERN GARDNER SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Bella Williams (Women's Track & Field)
Female student-athlete who has made significant achievements in the classroom, as well as in her sport. Fern Gardner was hired as the Head Women's Basketball Coach & Director of Athletics for all of women's sports in 1975. She became the first Senior Associate Athletics Director at Utah and was instrumental in growing Utah's women's programs as the senior woman administrator

DR. CHRIS HILL LEADERSHIP AWARDS
Women's: Jordyn Gasper (Softball)
Men's: Dominic Mata (Lacrosse)
Senior student-athletes who exemplified leadership for their teams, the athletics department, the campus and the community. Dr. Chris Hill retired as one of the longest tenured Division I Athletic Directors for the same school. Over 31 years, he navigated Utah Athletics into the Pac-12 and left a lasting legacy.

UTE PROUD MOST INSPIRATIONAL AWARDS
Women's: Jillian Hoffman (Gymnastics)
Men's: Devin Kaufusi (Football)
Senior male and female student-athletes who exemplify what it means to be a Ute by displaying a positive attitude, dedication, and pride in representing their school and team, while inspiring others to do the same.

MOST OUTSTANDING ATHLETE AWARDS
Women's: Cristal Isa (Gymnastics)
Men's: Dalton Kincaid (Football)
Senior student-athletes who have been exceptional in the athletic arena during their careers at Utah.

FINAL AWARDS

PLAY OF THE YEAR AWARD
Lacrosse (Josh Rose's leaping behind-the-back goal against Marquette in 18-16 win, which has 103,000 views on Inside Lacrosse's Instagram page)
Presented for the moment that illustrates the most extraordinary athletic accomplishment during the 2022-23 school year.

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Women's: Alissa Pili (Basketball)
Men's: Dalton Kincaid (Football)
Consistently performed at a high level throughout the 2022-2023 season; raising the bar for all other competitors in their sport.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL TEAM AWARD
Women's Basketball
This team is one that inspired all student-athletes at the University of Utah with its performances for the entire 2022-2023 season.