DAYTON – The University of Dayton Athletics Department held its eighth annual R.U.D.Y.S. awards tonight on its social media platforms.

Typically this is a formal event hosted by the UD Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Dayton Athletics administration for the student-athletes to recognize individuals and teams for their accomplishments of the past year.

R.U.D.Y.S. stands for Recognition and celebration of University of Dayton Student-Athletes Year-end Showcase.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Flyers announced all the winners on its Twitter and Instagram accounts, rather than at an in-person banquet.

The 2020 award winners were as follows:
Unsung Hero 
Male – Will Majercak (cross country)
Nominees – Laurel Aug (soccer), Benjamin Blackwell (baseball), Joe Bubonics (football), Oliver Dunne (tennis) Camron Greer (basketball), Will Majercak (cross country)

Female – Kaci Bornhorst (cross country/track) and Christine Szabo (basketball)
Nominees – Isabelle Blanchard (rowing), Kaci Bornhorst (cross country/track), Alissa Danielson (golf), Lillie Knesel (softball), Alex Powell (soccer), Christine Szabo (basketball)


Breakthrough Performance –Men's Basketball 2019-20 season
Nominees:
- Baseball advancing to 2019 A-10 Championship final
- Football's win vs. No. 14 Indiana State
- Men's basketball historic 2019-20 season, including winning the A-10 regular season title
- Volleyball's win vs. Michigan and breaking attendance record and going on to win A-10 Championship
- Women's basketball winning the 2019-20 A-10 regular season and tournament titles

Flyer Challenge Award winners - Baseball

Rookie of the Year
Male – Connor Bruce (tennis) and Toluwalase Oladeinbo (soccer)
Nominees –  Connor Bruce (tennis), Calan Gizelbach (cross country), Anthony Hattrup (baseball), Toluwalase Oladeinbo (soccer), Kyle Schmidt (golf), Sam Webster (football)

Female – Alexis Goins (soccer) and Amelia Moore (volleyball)
Nominees – Sarah Bailitz (softball), Carolyn Bakx (track & field), Alexis Goins (soccer), Paige Kompa (tennis), Amelia Moore (volleyball), Elizabeth Myers (rowing), Mariah Perez (basketball), Melissa Weidner (cross country/track)

Rising Star
Male – Jonas Fjeldberg (soccer) and Mariano Ricciardi (baseball)
Nominees – Jake Chisholm (football), Brandon Christopher (cross country), Dwayne Cohill (basketball), Brandon Easterling (football), Jonas Fjeldberg (soccer), Will Harper (tennis), Connor Quigley (golf), Mariano Ricciardi (baseball)

Female –Colleen McDonnell (rowing) and Taylor Robertson (track & field)
Nominees – Alexandra Bozich (golf), Alyssa Cacini (softball), Maura Collins (volleyball), Colleen McDonnell (rowing), Kelly Pleiman (tennis), Taylor Robertson (track & field), Kyla Whitehead (basketball), Kelly Wilker (cross country/track & field)

Most Outstanding Leaders
Male – Ryan Culhane (football) and Domenic Maricocchi (golf)
Nominees – Ryan Culhane (football), Garrett Grissim (cross country), Tyler Jones (baseball), Trey Landers (basketball), Domenic Maricocchi (golf), Ryan Mikesell (basketball)

Female – Shakeela Fowler (basketball)
Nominees – Julia Blarr (softball), Jules Curry (softball), Anna Delaney (tennis), Shakeela Fowler (basketball), Emily Jones (soccer), Jamie Peterson (volleyball)

RUDY, the most prestigious award of the night which goes to the people who most epitomize what it means to be a Flyer
Male – Obi Toppin (basketball) and Adam Trautman (football)
Nominees – Kevin Lawson (cross country), Obi Toppin (basketball), Adam Trautman (football), Hunter Wolfe (baseball)

Female – Mallory Kimmell (softball) and Jayla Scaife (basketball)
Nominees – Ellie Cronin (golf), Bridget Doherty (volleyball), Mallory Kimmell (softball) and Jayla Scaife (basketball)
In addition, the 2020-21 executive board of SAAC was announced:
President: Tyler Jones (baseball)               
VP: Kelly Wilker (cross country/track)
Admin: Osa Wheeler (rowing)    
Chairs   
Social Media: Alyssa Cacini (softball)       
RUDYS/Social: Alexandra Bozich (women's golf) and Sarah Frazier (women's golf)         
Flyer Challenge: Jonathan Brus (baseball) and Cameron Specht (football)        
Wellness: Carly Becker (women's soccer)             
Community Service: Megan Gist (softball) and Hannah Osland (women's soccer)
Administrative   
ADCOM: Kelly Wilker (cross country/track) and Cameron Specht (football)      

And here are the SAAC reps for the 2020-21 year:

Men's Basketball	Moulaye Sissoko	Camron Greer
Women's Basketball	Amari Davidson	Destiny Bohanon
Women's Soccer	Hannah Osland	Lexy Kidd	Emma Thomas	Carly Becker
Men's Soccer	Jake Feiner	Manning Day	Josh Darius
Volleyball	Bridget Doherty	Grace Dynda
Men's Tennis	Joe DeMarco	Peter Schulteis	Will Harper
Women's Tennis	Claire Ghidotti	Erica Wojcikiewicz
Softball	Megan Gist	Alyssa Cacini	Catherine Jensen
Baseball	Jonathan Brus	Tyler Jones
Track& Field/Cross Country	Kelly Wilker	Jahmia Bridges-Butler	Reilly Madsen	Taylor Robertson	Emily Sreenan
Men's Cross Country	Will Majercak	Griffin Barger	Jonas Chimbanda
Football	Cameron Specht	Kevin Bickett	Brandon Easterling	Logan Tate	Natron Webster
Rowing	Osa Wheeler	Grace Yingling	Colleen McDonnell
Men's Golf	Ryan Clements	Domenic Maricocchi
Women's Golf	Alexandra Bozich	Sarah Frazier

 
A special thank you to all of our Flyer seniors. Thanks to Varsity D (a club made up of former University of Dayton varsity athletes that support the student-athletes with first-year backpacks as well), every senior will receive a printed canvas. Details on when these can be picked up will be announced at a later date.