THE GOLDEN BRUISER AWARDS
5/6/2023 9:12:00 AM | General, Preparing Champions for Life
Baylor honors its best and brightest on and off the field
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
On a night when all four pillars of Preparing Champions for Life were spotlighted, Baylor Athletics recognized its best and brightest for accomplishments on and off the field at Thursday's Golden Bruiser Awards Show at the Ferrell Center.
ESPN analyst and former Baylor men's basketball standout King McClure served as the emcee for the sixth annual awards show, which is patterned after other shows like the Oscars, Emmys and ESPYs.
Softball pitcher Dariana Orme, who shared the Female Student-Athlete of the Year award with Kavia Francis from women's track & field, said that "none of the talents that we have are possible without the God we serve."
"I'm just blessed, one, to be at Baylor, and to be a Bear," said Orme, who was named the Big 12 and NFCA National Pitcher of the Week after throwing the program's first seven-inning perfect game. "I'm also thankful for my coaches for bringing me in as a transfer and being able to make an impact on the team and hopefully on this school, because I know that's something we all want to do."
Francis has set program records for the 400, 4x200 and 4x400-meter relay and earned All-American honors at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400 meters and 4x400 relay.
"I want to say a big thank you to my 4x400 squad from last year. Y'all are my family, and I love you," Francis said. "Thank you to my head coach, Coach (Michael) Ford. Thank you for believing in me even when I didn't believe in myself."
Edging out track and field All-American Nathaniel Ezekiel and Adrian Boitan from the 2022 men's tennis team that advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, Adam Flagler from men's basketball won the Golden Bruiser for Male Student-Athlete of the Year.
A unanimous first-team All-Big 12 pick and finalist for the Jerry West Award, Flagler tied for first in the Big 12 in 3-pointers per game, ranked second in assist-turnover ratio and seventh in scoring.
Men's Basketball also shared Team of the Year honors with the men's tennis team, while acrobatics and tumbling won the Golden Bruiser for the Female Team of the Year after winning its eighth-consecutive NCATA national championship.
"Thank you to our amazing coaching staff, all of Baylor Athletics and Baylor University as a whole," said sophomore top/tumbler Rakel Jeffries. "As an emerging sport, your support and recognition mean the world to us."
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua from men's basketball and Isabella Harvison from women's tennis were recognized as the winners of the John Westbrook Award for courage and overcoming obstacles.
Harvison, who helped the Bears defeat SMU, 4-3, in Friday's NCAA first-round matchup in College Station, was diagnosed with epilepsy as a child. Despite overcoming a serious back injury last season, she sat out a year as a Division I transfer before earning a spot in the top half of the singles lineup this year.
Suffering a devastating knee injury in February 2022, Tchamwa Tchatchoua was expected to need two years of rehabilitation to get back on the court. Instead, he miraculously returned to the court 51 weeks after the injury and helped the Bears down the stretch this year. He was accepted into Baylor's master's program for public health and environment health sciences program with a full academic scholarship.
"I feel truly honored to be standing here tonight to receive this award," Jonathan said. "I want to thank the Lord, thank my support system for helping me go through the hard times in life and thank my teammates and my coaches."
Softball and men's basketball led the way with three Golden Bruisers each, with the softball team sweeping the Play of the Year and Team Performance of the Year for the Bears' 4-3 win over top-ranked and two-time Women's College World Series champion Oklahoma on Feb. 19.
Shaylon Govan hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning, while Orme and Aaliyah Binford combined to hold the Sooners to two earned runs on eight hits.
"I just want to say I'm blessed to be a Baylor Bear and happy that my team put me in that position to help us beat the No. 1 team in the country," said Govan, who hit her team-leading 11th of the season in Friday's 9-1 run-rule victory over fifth-ranked Texas.
Earning Rookie of the Year honors were football running back Richard Reese and volleyball setter Averi Carlson, who was named the Big 12 and AVCA Region Freshman of the Year. Reese broke the football program's freshman-record rushing record, finishing with 972 yards and 14 touchdowns on 198 carries.
"Thank you to my incredible coaches and teammates for just everything that you've done for me," Carlson said. "I thank the Lord every day for the opportunity to be a Baylor Bear."
Women's basketball was presented the Comeback of the Year award, rallying from an 18-point first-quarter deficit to beat Alabama, 78-74, in an NCAA first-round game in Storrs, Conn.
In the classroom, women's cross country and men's tennis were named the Academic Team Champions, while Maddie Vorhies from equestrian, Lily Williams from track & field and Ryan Day from men's cross country were selected as the Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Soccer's Kayley Ables, volleyball's Cassie Davis, Keri Collins from acrobatics & tumbling and Ben Conacher from men's track and field were named Academic Champions.
Being selected as the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Day thanked his coaches, the training staff, the performance coaches "and especially my teammates for just being great friends and competitors."
Conacher thanked his coaches, teammates and professors "for pushing me to be my best on and off the track."
Individually, Elijah Morris from men's track & field won the Spark Award for the way he continued to support his teammates "even when things were not going his way." Cate Urbani from women's cross country won the Missions Award; mascot Natalie Williams was named the Outstanding Spirit Squad Member; and football's Alfonzo Allen Jr. won the Acts 20:24 Award for contributing over 30 hours of community service and serving on mission trips each of the last two years.
The equestrian team won the Community Champions Award after racking up 905 hours of community engagement and supporting 21 organizations for a projected economic impact of more than $25,000.
"We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve the community, God and be a part of Baylor Athletics and represent such an amazing university and just the community as a whole," said senior Brooke Giacin.
Baylor Bear Insider
On a night when all four pillars of Preparing Champions for Life were spotlighted, Baylor Athletics recognized its best and brightest for accomplishments on and off the field at Thursday's Golden Bruiser Awards Show at the Ferrell Center.
ESPN analyst and former Baylor men's basketball standout King McClure served as the emcee for the sixth annual awards show, which is patterned after other shows like the Oscars, Emmys and ESPYs.Softball pitcher Dariana Orme, who shared the Female Student-Athlete of the Year award with Kavia Francis from women's track & field, said that "none of the talents that we have are possible without the God we serve."
"I'm just blessed, one, to be at Baylor, and to be a Bear," said Orme, who was named the Big 12 and NFCA National Pitcher of the Week after throwing the program's first seven-inning perfect game. "I'm also thankful for my coaches for bringing me in as a transfer and being able to make an impact on the team and hopefully on this school, because I know that's something we all want to do."
Francis has set program records for the 400, 4x200 and 4x400-meter relay and earned All-American honors at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400 meters and 4x400 relay.
"I want to say a big thank you to my 4x400 squad from last year. Y'all are my family, and I love you," Francis said. "Thank you to my head coach, Coach (Michael) Ford. Thank you for believing in me even when I didn't believe in myself."
Edging out track and field All-American Nathaniel Ezekiel and Adrian Boitan from the 2022 men's tennis team that advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, Adam Flagler from men's basketball won the Golden Bruiser for Male Student-Athlete of the Year.
A unanimous first-team All-Big 12 pick and finalist for the Jerry West Award, Flagler tied for first in the Big 12 in 3-pointers per game, ranked second in assist-turnover ratio and seventh in scoring.
Men's Basketball also shared Team of the Year honors with the men's tennis team, while acrobatics and tumbling won the Golden Bruiser for the Female Team of the Year after winning its eighth-consecutive NCATA national championship.
"Thank you to our amazing coaching staff, all of Baylor Athletics and Baylor University as a whole," said sophomore top/tumbler Rakel Jeffries. "As an emerging sport, your support and recognition mean the world to us."
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua from men's basketball and Isabella Harvison from women's tennis were recognized as the winners of the John Westbrook Award for courage and overcoming obstacles.
Harvison, who helped the Bears defeat SMU, 4-3, in Friday's NCAA first-round matchup in College Station, was diagnosed with epilepsy as a child. Despite overcoming a serious back injury last season, she sat out a year as a Division I transfer before earning a spot in the top half of the singles lineup this year.
Suffering a devastating knee injury in February 2022, Tchamwa Tchatchoua was expected to need two years of rehabilitation to get back on the court. Instead, he miraculously returned to the court 51 weeks after the injury and helped the Bears down the stretch this year. He was accepted into Baylor's master's program for public health and environment health sciences program with a full academic scholarship.
"I feel truly honored to be standing here tonight to receive this award," Jonathan said. "I want to thank the Lord, thank my support system for helping me go through the hard times in life and thank my teammates and my coaches."
Softball and men's basketball led the way with three Golden Bruisers each, with the softball team sweeping the Play of the Year and Team Performance of the Year for the Bears' 4-3 win over top-ranked and two-time Women's College World Series champion Oklahoma on Feb. 19.
Shaylon Govan hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning, while Orme and Aaliyah Binford combined to hold the Sooners to two earned runs on eight hits.
"I just want to say I'm blessed to be a Baylor Bear and happy that my team put me in that position to help us beat the No. 1 team in the country," said Govan, who hit her team-leading 11th of the season in Friday's 9-1 run-rule victory over fifth-ranked Texas.
Earning Rookie of the Year honors were football running back Richard Reese and volleyball setter Averi Carlson, who was named the Big 12 and AVCA Region Freshman of the Year. Reese broke the football program's freshman-record rushing record, finishing with 972 yards and 14 touchdowns on 198 carries.
"Thank you to my incredible coaches and teammates for just everything that you've done for me," Carlson said. "I thank the Lord every day for the opportunity to be a Baylor Bear."
Women's basketball was presented the Comeback of the Year award, rallying from an 18-point first-quarter deficit to beat Alabama, 78-74, in an NCAA first-round game in Storrs, Conn.
In the classroom, women's cross country and men's tennis were named the Academic Team Champions, while Maddie Vorhies from equestrian, Lily Williams from track & field and Ryan Day from men's cross country were selected as the Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Soccer's Kayley Ables, volleyball's Cassie Davis, Keri Collins from acrobatics & tumbling and Ben Conacher from men's track and field were named Academic Champions.
Being selected as the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Day thanked his coaches, the training staff, the performance coaches "and especially my teammates for just being great friends and competitors."
Conacher thanked his coaches, teammates and professors "for pushing me to be my best on and off the track."
Individually, Elijah Morris from men's track & field won the Spark Award for the way he continued to support his teammates "even when things were not going his way." Cate Urbani from women's cross country won the Missions Award; mascot Natalie Williams was named the Outstanding Spirit Squad Member; and football's Alfonzo Allen Jr. won the Acts 20:24 Award for contributing over 30 hours of community service and serving on mission trips each of the last two years.
The equestrian team won the Community Champions Award after racking up 905 hours of community engagement and supporting 21 organizations for a projected economic impact of more than $25,000.
"We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve the community, God and be a part of Baylor Athletics and represent such an amazing university and just the community as a whole," said senior Brooke Giacin.
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