FAU Athletics Recognizes Student-Athlete Achievements at 2020 Owlspys

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University athletics held the sixth annual Owlspys, an event organized and presented by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), on Wednesday night. Although student-athletes were unable to gather in one spot for this year's awards, while sporting their most dapper and elegant pieces, the show still went on to celebrate the near-conclusion of the 2019-20 academic year.

The show was carried out with hosts Sean Barone from men's cross country and Sydney Riggs from the volleyball team and SAAC president Kelsey Witkay from swimming & diving, gave the opening remarks. All winners gave acceptance speeches via videos.

The night was celebrated with 20 awards, including the most-prized "Student-Athlete of the Year" honors. Anne-Catherine Wasser from the women's track & field team won the Female Student-Athlete of Year. Wasser will graduate in May with a double major in public management and psychology, while holding a cumulative 4.0 GPA. The Willich, Germany native ends her FAU career with two indoor track & field school records in the 600m (1:34.8) and 4x400m relay (3:47.20), 15 top-10 program showings and 13 new personal records. Wasser is coming off the 2019 outdoor season, where she qualified for the NCAA East Regional in the 400m hurdles, while running the event in 59.53. Not to mention, Wasser is a three-time Conference USA Academic Medal recipient, three-time C-USA Honor Roll member, C-USA All-Academic Team representative and C-USA Spirit of Service winner. She was also honored as part of the 2019 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.

Hagay Jalon was acknowledged as the Male Student-Athlete of the Year. Jalon just wrapped up his redshirt senior season on the men's soccer team, while becoming the program's first CoSIDA Academic All-American (Third Team). The goalkeeper had a stellar season at the net, tallying two C-USA Defensive Player of the Week awards, as FAU's first league weekly award winner since the 2013 season. Jalon recorded three shutouts during the season, including in wins against No. 15 Marshall, No. 17 James Madison and UAB. The Haifa, Israel native also played all 97 minutes at net in the Owls' historic 4-3 overtime victory over Old Dominion to beat the Monarchs for the first time in school history and earn a spot in the Owls' first C-USA Tournament. Off the field, Jalon is a three-time C-USA Academic Medal honoree, three-time C-USA Honor Roll member and C-USA Academic Team representative. Jalon has also been recognized on the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team for the past two years and graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology with a 3.803 GPA last May.

Owlspys Award Winners
All-Freshman Team (Female): Lotta Vehka-Aho (basketball), Courtney Moon (beach volleyball), Justine Fournand (golf), Luisa Daikeler (soccer), Sara Berthiaume (softball), Alicia Mora (swimming & diving), Radka Buzkova (tennis), Madlen Kappeler (cross country), Jessica Lambert (indoor track & field), Stephane Young (volleyball), Samantha Acello (cheer), Brooke Dale (dance)

All-Freshman Team (Male): Cade Parker (baseball), Preston Dunn (cross country), Alejandro Ralat (basketball), Matt Hayball (football), Alex Maguire (golf), Tom Abrahamsson (soccer), Carter Januzelli (swimming & diving), Filip Krolo (tennis)

Coach of the Year: Patrick Baker (women's soccer)
Female Sportsmanship Award: Jessica Monteiro (soccer)
Male Sportsmanship Award: Alvaro Fernandez Horta (tennis)
Best Performance of the Year: Men's Soccer vs. Old Dominion
Student-Athlete Choice Award: Eric Coleman (academics)
Funniest Action Shot of the Year: Jill Cangelosi (beach volleyball)
Female Outstanding Academic Achievement Award: Anne-Catherine Wasser (track & field)
Male Outstanding Academic Achievement Award: Lachlan Shiver (cross country)
Female Community Service Award: Sharon Kok (swimming & diving)
Male Community Service Award: Josh Fountain and Reilly Maguire (swimming & diving)
Team Community Service Award: Women's Golf
Female OWLstanding Spirit Award: Bailey Myott (beach volleyball)
Male OWLstanding Spirit Award: Francisco Urbaez (baseball)
Female Athlete of the Year: Natalliah Whyte (track & field)
Male Athlete of the Year: Harrison Bryant (football)
Female Student-Athlete of the Year: Anne-Catherine Wasser (track & field)
Male Student-Athlete of the Year: Hagay Jalon (soccer)
Owl Cup: Men's Soccer

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FAU Athletics Recognizes Student-Athlete Achievements at 2020 Owlspys

Players Mentioned

Tom Abrahamsson

Sean Barone

Radka Buzkova

Preston Dunn

Hagay Jalon

Courtney Moon

Bailey Myott

Sydney Riggs

Lachlan Shiver

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