14 Student-Athletes Earn Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – The Big South Conference today announced that a league-record 14 student-athletes have been awarded the Conference’s prestigious
George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence. The award is given to a graduating male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. It is the 14th consecutive year at least
SIX student-athletes have been honored, and the total surpasses the record number of 12 recipients achieved in 2019-20 and 2024-25. Below are this year’s recipients in alphabetical order:
- Radford women’s lacrosse player Mady Cheney (4.00 in Marketing & Economics)
- Radford women’s cross country/track & field runner Mia Farley (4.00 in Allied Health Sciences)
- UNC Asheville men’s soccer player Miller Hayden (4.00 in IDC - Healthcare and Society)
- Gardner-Webb women’s swimmer Sara-Michael Jann (4.00 in Biology)
- Gardner-Webb men’s swimmer Jacob Jensen (4.00 in Accounting)
- Radford women’s golfer Macy Johnson (4.00 in Economics)
- Winthrop volleyball player Avery Jolley (4.00 in Business Administration/Healthcare Management)
- USC Upstate women’s basketball player Aubrie Kierscht (4.00 in Political Science)
- Presbyterian women’s soccer player Izzy Manders-Lamcken (4.00 in Biochemistry)
- Winthrop volleyball player Rachel McCollum (4.00 in Biology)
- High Point baseball player Dalton Olsovsky (4.00 in Finance)
- UNC Asheville women’s swimmer Tess Peny (4.00 in Health Sciences)
- Charleston Southern volleyball player Emily Struckmeyer (4.00 in Pre-Law/Legal Studies/Student Ministry)
- Presbyterian women’s soccer player Ella Williams (4.00 in Biology)
Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the annual Christenberry Award, or multiple student-athletes that tie for the highest GPA on their respective campus. The honor is named for
George A. Christenberry, the former President of Augusta College (now Augusta University) and one of the founders of the Big South Conference. A member of the Big South Hall of Fame, Christenberry served as the league’s first President from 1983-86.
Cheney (Georgetown, Texas) graduated this spring with a 4.0 GPA as a double major in Marketing and Economics. She was named to the Big South All-Academic Team her senior year while collecting multiple Dean’s List, Commissioner Award, and Presidential Honor Roll honors. On the field, Cheney never missed a game in four seasons. She broke the program’s ground ball record during her senior season while also becoming just the second Highlander to have more than 200 draw controls and 100 goals scored in a career.
Farley (Blacksburg, Va.) has been a staple as a distance runner in both cross country and track. Graduating in just three years, the Blacksburg native earned a 4.0 GPA as an Allied Health Science major. Some of her athletic highlights include earning a silver medal in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the 2025 Big South Outdoor Championships; helping the Highlanders place third in the 2025 Big South Indoor Championships in the distance medley relay; and running the sixth-best 4K time in cross country program history at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Sept. 5, 2025.
Hayden (Hattiesburg, Miss.) appeared in 11 matches with one start this past season, and tallied one assist for the Bulldogs (Sept. 9 at Wofford). Hayden totaled 204 minutes on the pitch, including a season-high 37 minutes against California on Sept. 23. For his career, Hayden appeared in 15 matches and totaled 308 minutes of action, with one goal and one assist for three points. He graduated in December with his degree in interdisciplinary studies and pre-health. Hayden was named to the Chancellor’s list all four semesters and earned Big South Presidential Honor Roll distinction along with being a Commissioner’s Award Honoree. He was a member of the X-A-E College Athlete honor society.
Jann (Greenville, S.C.) had a memorable senior day meet for GWU this past season, placing third in the women's 400-yard IM against Davidson with a time of 4:38.31 in her final meet at Bost Pool. Jann was also fourth in the women's 100-yard freestyle against UNC Wilmington in the fall, finishing in 54.40 seconds. Jann’s accomplishments also extend back to her debut season for GWU, where she finished with ten top-10 finishes and three event championships as a freshman. Her achievements in the pool went along with a perfect 4.0 GPA, and she earned conference All-Academic Team honors following her final season.
Jansen (Lawndale, N.C.) set a personal best in the men's 100 yard free at the 2026 ASUN Championships, recording a time of 44.78 seconds, a meet where he posted fourth place runs as part of the 200 yard and 400 yard relay teams. Jensen also won the men's 50-yard freestyle against Davidson in January with a time of 20.72 seconds. He was named both ASUN All-Academic and College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District after the season.
Johnson (Salem, Va.) graduated early this month and was the Big South’s 2026 Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year -- becoming the first back-to-back winner of the award since 2020 and 2021. She has achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA studying Economics with a Minor in Accounting and will continue to work towards her MBA next year. In every semester at Radford, Johnson has been selected to the Dean's List, and she is the president of Beta Gamma Sigma, a highly-respected business fraternity. She was voted to the Women’s Golf All-Freshman Team in 2024, and was a First-Team All-Conference honoree in 2025 where she helped the Highlanders win the program’s first-ever Big South Women’s Golf Championship and berth in the NCAA Regionals.
Jolley (Knoxville, Tenn.) wrapped up a historic 2025 season by earning AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honors, making her just the second Eagle in program history to receive the distinction. She also picked up AVCA All-Region recognition and became the first Winthrop student-athlete since 2020 to earn CSC Academic All-America Third-Team honors. On the court, Jolley was the 2025 Big South Player of the Year as she helped the Eagles win a share of the Big South regular-season championship. She tied the program's single-match kills record with 30, and surpassed 1,000 career kills. The 4.0 Business Administration student earned back-to-back Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors as a member of Winthrop's Honors College and Phi Kappa Phi.
Kierscht (Salina, Kan.) is a two-time Big South Presidential Honor Roll and Commissioner’s Award honoree (2023-24, 2024-25) -- one of two Big South women’s basketball players to earn the distinctions in the past two years. She earned CSC Academic All-District honors this past season while earning Honorable Mention All-Big South accolades for her on-court play. Kierscht appeared in 29 games with 19 starts in 2025-26, and averaged 11.1 points and 2.4 rebounds, while leading the Big South in three-point shooting at 41.2 percent (73-of-177). She poured in a career-high 26 points behind an 8-of-13 (6-of-10 from three) shooting performance versus South Carolina State on Nov. 17. Kierscht started her career at Presbyterian, and totaled 158 three-pointers and 666 points in 69 games during her time in the Big South.
Manders-Lamcken (Laurel Springs, N.J.) has been featured on the Big South Presidential Honor Roll in all four seasons at PC. She contributed to the program's breakout season in 2024, as PC advanced to the Big South Championship Semifinals for the first time in program history and aided in the team's inaugural postseason win of the Division I era. Manders-Lamcken also helped the Blue Hose obtain the sixth-highest team GPA of any D-I women's soccer program for the 2024-25 school year, one of a select few institutions to receive the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award as a result. In 2023, she played in 13 matches with three starts, and totaled 518 minutes.
McCollum (Lakeland, Tenn.) concluded her Winthrop career with First-Team All-Conference honors in 2025, capping four years in which she put together 689 assists, 408 kills and 382 digs across 209 sets played. McCollum became the first Eagle since 2012 to record a triple-double in a mtch, a feat she pulled off twice this past season -- including a career-high 56 assists against USC Upstate. She earned Big South Setter of the Week honors three times and landed on multiple All-Tournament Teams. Off the court, she has been a Dean's List member since her first semester while completing an internship at Regional One Health and staying active in FCA, SAAC and Gamma Beta Phi.
Olsovsky (Keller, Texas) has appeared in 32 games for the Panthers during his three years with the program. He’s made eight starts over his career and had the most impact his freshman season when the Panthers won their first Big South Conference Tournament in program history. He has a career 5-5 record with 55 strikeouts in 56.1 innings pitched for HPU. Academically, Olsovsky is at the highest level with a 4.0 GPA and graduated in just three years. He passed the SIE (Securities Industrial Essentials) exam en route to earning his degree in Finance.
Peny (Haymarket, Va.) was a member of SAAC and the head coach of Carolina Day School swim team while competing for the Bulldogs. Her best individual performances during her career were a 2:05.45 in the 200-yard butterfly at the 2023 CCSA Championships, a time of 2:07.78 in the 200-yard IM at the 2024 ASUN Championships, and a 4:31.28 time in the 400-yard IM at the 2023 Conference Meet. Peny also worked remotely as a program coordinator and health & wellness media developer. In the Asheville community, Peny spent time volunteering with blood drives, campus green fest, packing produce boxes for Bounty & Soul, passing out shoes with Samaritans' Feet Farm at local elementary schools and assisting with hurricane clean-up. Peny has been accepted and will attend Shenandoah University to join the Master of Science in Nutrition & Dietetics Program.
Struckmeyer (Lowell, Mich.) was a two-time team captain for the Buccaneers, and finished her career ranked sixth in program history in attack percentage (.296) and 19th in total blocks (228). She recorded more than 400 kills across 100-plus matches. Struckmeyer earned Big South Second-Team All-Conference and All-Academic Team honors this past season while ranking third in the league in hitting percentage. Off the court, she served as President of CSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Vice-Chair of the Big South Conference SAAC, was an FCA student leader, and student-athlete representative for the Student Government Association while double-majoring in Student Ministry and Pre Law-Legal Studies.
Williams (Dacula, Ga.) never missed a single match in her entire PC career, as she played 67 out of 67 opportunities as a defender. Voted All-Big South Second-Team as a junior, Williams closed her tenure with more than 5,000 total minutes played. She was penciled in as a starter in her last 39 consecutive matches (dating all the way back to 2024) and averaged 85 minutes per game over the past two years. Williams was never subbed out for a single second during her entire senior campaign, as she closed her career with 22-straight games of never exiting the field. A Biology major, Williams was named to the CSC Academic All-District Team twice, and scored her lone collegiate goal in PC’s 3-0 win over The Citadel on Sept. 5, 2024.
Below are the 2025-26 South Conference Christenberry Award candidates, as nominated by their institutions. Each individual receives a personalized medallion for this achievement.
Charleston Southern
Emily Struckmeyer (volleyball), Malik Mckinzie (football)
Gardner-Webb
Sara-Michael Jann (swimming), Jacob Jensen (swimming)
High Point
Charli Montalvo (cross country/track), Dalton Olsovsky (baseball)
Longwood
Emma Jones (soccer), David Ambaek (soccer)
Presbyterian College
Izzy Manders-Lamcken (soccer), Ella Williams (soccer), Mason McDaniel (baseball),
Radford
Mady Cheney (lacrosse), Mia Farley (cross country/track), Macy Johnson (golf), Liam McDonald (cross country/track)
UNC Asheville
Tess Peny (swimming), Miller Hayden (soccer)
USC Upstate
Aubrie Kierscht (basketball), Herman Holst (golf)
Winthrop
Avery Jolley (volleyball), Rachel McCollum (volleyball), Logan Story (soccer)