OREM, Utah—The 2017 Wolverine Club Athletic Awards were held Wednesday night at the UCCU Center on the campus of Utah Valley University. Around 600 student-athletes, athletic staff, Wolverine Club members and fans were in attendance to honor the achievements of UVU student-athletes during the 2016-17 season.
Highlighting the night was the Michael V. Jacobsen Bronze Wolverine Award given to Keith and Melisa Nelleson who provided the lead funding for construction of two new facilities at UVU. The Nelleson's generosity made possible the building of the NUVI Basketball Center and the Cole Nelleson Building, which will house the Melisa Nellesen Center for Autism. The Michael V. Jacobsen Bronze Wolverine Award is the highest honor presented by the Wolverine Club and recognizes supreme stewardship and loyalty to UVU and its student-athletes.
In the final awards of the night, men's soccer junior Paul Hoffmeister was named the Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year, while softball senior Brittney Vansway took home Outstanding Female Athlete honors.
Hoffmeister quickly became the men's soccer program's most decorated athlete after leading the team to its first WAC regular season championship. The junior midfielder led the Wolverines with nine goals and 21 points, including both goals in a season-opening 2-1 win over No. 20 Washington, en route to becoming the program's first NSCAA All-American. Hoffmeister was also named first-team All-WAC and first-team All-West Region for his on-field efforts, while earning UVU's third CoSIDA Academic All-American and NSCAA Scholar All-America first team honors for posting a 3.95 GPA.
Meanwhile, Vansway has been a leader on and off the field for the softball team throughout her standout four-year career. She is one of the top hitters in the WAC this season, ranking second with eight home runs and a .402 batting average, while she is also one of the top run-producers in the nation with 43 runs batted in. Vansway recently became the program's all-time RBI leader with 150 for her career, and is closing in on becoming Utah Valley's all-time leader in hits, doubles, and home runs.
Other award winners were as follows:
Outstanding Female Athletes by Sport: Kalli Suesue (women's soccer), Savannah Berry (cross country), Nakisha Willden (volleyball), Ashley Snyder (track and field), Taylor Gordon (women's basketball), Ana Raga (women's golf), Brittney Vansway (softball)
Outstanding Male Athletes by Sport: Paul Hoffmeister (men's soccer), Jason Lynch (cross country), Kyle Valgardson (baseball), Dustin Dennison (wrestling), Nick Taylor (track and field), Blair Bursey (men's golf)
Newcomer of the Year: Breanna DeWaal (women's soccer) and Mitch Jensen (men's soccer)
Most Inspirational Athlete: Monica Yeates (women's golf) and Brian Amann (track and field)
Women's Play of the Year: Mariah Seals (women's basketball)
Men's Play of the Year: Dustin Dennison (wrestling)
Women's Game of the Year: Women's soccer's 1-0 victory at Oklahoma
Men's Game of the Year: Men's basketball's 114-101 win at BYU
Individual Performance of the Year: Brittney Vansway (softball) and Tyson Lambert (track and field)
Crowd Pleaser: Kiahna Vernon (volleyball) and Ivory Young (men's basketball)
Athletic Service Award: Kimberly Nyhus (women's golf) and Abel Gomez (wrestling)
Walk-On of the Year: Carly Dehlin (women's golf) and Tanner Orndorff (wrestling)
Wilson Sorensen Spirit of Sport Award: Bailey Moore (softball) and Andrew Bastien (men's basketball)
Scholar Athlete of the Year: Sam Lubcke (women's basketball) and Alex Neff (men's soccer)
Assistant Coach of the Year: Paul Smith (track and field)
Coach of the Year: Sam Atoa (volleyball)
Team GPA Award: Women's golf
Team Green Award: Volleyball
Fan of the Year: Chris and Tena Medina
Advisor of the Year: Scott Childs, Woodbury School of Business
Educator of the Year: Dr. Nancy Tobler, UVU Department of Communications
Women's Team of the Year: Women's cross country
Men's Team of the Year: Men's soccer
WAC Champions: Women's cross country (2016), men's soccer (2016), baseball (2016)
