Eleven Student-Athletes Earn Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – The Big South Conference today announced that 11 student-athletes have been awarded the Conference’s prestigious George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence. The award is given to the male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. It is the second-most honorees in league history and sixth consecutive year at least EIGHT student-athletes have been honored. Below are this year’s recipients.
· UNC Asheville women’s track/cross country runner India Appleton (4.00 in environmental science)
· Radford volleyball player Hailey Flowers (4.00 in criminal justice)
· Gardner-Webb men’s swimmer Jonathan Frye (4.00 in biology/biomedical sciences)
· UNC Asheville women’s soccer player Gillian Oyos (4.00 in health & wellness/psychology)
· Gardner-Webb women’s track/cross country runner Faith Parandhamaia (4.00 in business management)
· Hampton women’s soccer player Camille Pereira (4.00 in kinesiology)
· Charleston Southern baseball player Krishna Raj (4.00 in financial management)
· Gardner-Webb women’s track & field athlete Louise Schmidtgen (4.00 in international business/computer science)
· UNC Asheville volleyball player Grace Volk (4.00 in chemistry)
· UNC Asheville women’s soccer player Alice Walker (4.00 in business management)
· USC Upstate volleyball player Kelly Wiedemann (4.00 in exercise & sport science)
Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female undergraduate 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.
Appleton (Vinton, La.) was a three-time Big South Women's Cross Country All-Academic Team selection. She owns the third-fastest 5K time in program history (17:48) and the 18th-fastest 6K time at 23:03.
Flowers (Eureka, Ill.) collected 140 kills this past season, which was tied for second-most by a Highlander. She also tallied eight service aces and 119 digs in her final campaign. Flowers graduated this month with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. Post-graduation, she plans to attend the University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL), where she will be pursuing a Master’s in Criminal Justice. UMSL is in the top 10 schools in the nation for this field of study.
Frye (Columbia, S.C.) helped Gardner-Webb to first-place finishes in the men’s 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay at the 2022 CCSA Championships (breastroke leg). He also placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke (55.77) and fourth in 200-yard breaststroke (2:01.86) at the meet.
Oyos (Abingdon, Va.) started 59 of 61 games in her career, including her last 27 games as a junior/senior. She finished her time at Asheville with seven goals, four assists, 93 shots and 47 shots on goal, netting four game-winners. This past season, Oyos scored a goal in a 3-2 win over Presbyterian and dished out an assist in a 2-1 win over Longwood. Off the field, she was involved with the YMCA, Faith in Action Food Pantry, in addition to a being a member of the Bulldog Ambassadors, International Honor Society in Psychology (Psi Chi), and National Art Honors Society. Oyos is trained and certified in Motivational Interviewing.
Parandhamaia (Accident, Md.) set personal bests this season in the 1,500m run (UNCC Invite - 4:59.48, 19th), 800m run (Winthrop Invite - 2:24.32, 9th), and the mile run (VMI Classic - 5:39.95, 22nd).
Pereira (Mangilao, Guam) played all 15 matches for the Lady Pirates this past season and started 13 contests. She was among seven players on the squad to log more than 1,000 minutes on the pitch (1,091). The midfielder led the team with 24 shots and 16 shots on goal in 2021.
Raj (Wellington, Fla.) began his CSU career as a starting pitcher, but has spent most of this season in the bullpen as the Bucs’ ninth inning pitcher. His 3.08 earned run average is among the best on the CSU staff as well as his 1.44 WHIP. In 17 appearances, Raj has collected two wins and three saves, while holding opponents to a .213 batting average.
Schmidtgen (Ettlingen, Germany) earned points in the pole vault for GWU at the 2022 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a season-best height of 3.14m. She cleared at least 3.50 meters in the pole vault six times in her career, including a personal-record of 3.70m for fourth-place at the 2019 Conference Outdoor Championship. Schmidtgen won the pole vault twice in her career -- the 2021 Winthrop Spring Invitational (3.49m) and the 2019 Terrier Relays (3.50m).
Volk (Arlington, Neb.) was two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree in addition to being voted the Big South Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year twice. By virtue of a 4.0 grade-point average in chemistry, Volk earned the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship in 2021 and was the 2022 Manly E. Wright Award winner, which is a valedictory award presented to the graduate who ranks first in scholarship at the May commencement ceremony. On the court, Volk finished her career among the leaders in program history with 1,579 assists, and also tallied 92 kills, 45 aces, 508 digs and 63 total blocks for the Bulldogs.
Walker (Gaithersburg, Md.) appeared in 55 games in her four years at Asheville, starting 36 -- including 10 of 16 this past season. She set career-highs in goals (2), shots (21) and shots on goal (9) in 2021, as her two goals came in a 4-0 victory at Hampton. Walker finished with three goals, three assists, 44 shots and 20 shots on goal in her four seasons. She was also a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma Honors Society.
Wiedemann (West Plains, Mo.) was honored as the Upstate volleyball program’s first CoSIDA Academic All-District selection at the Division I level (since 2007) after obtaining a 4.0 GPA in Exercise & Sport Science with a minor in Psychology. She also earned Upstate’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor, graduating Summa Cum Laude earlier this month. On the court, she led the Spartans with 271 kills and 41 service aces while adding 298 digs to rank second on the team -- and was the lone Big South player to record 250-plus kills and 250-plus digs during the 2021 season.
Below are the 2021-22 Big South Conference Christenberry Award candidates, as nominated by their institutions. Each individual receives a personalized medallion for this achievement.
Campbell
Megan Matthews (lacrosse); Dylan Earney (football)
Charleston Southern
Tiffany Pyrtiz (tennis); Krishna Raj (baseball)
Gardner-Webb
Faith Parandhamaia (track & field); Louise Schmidtgen (track & field); Jonathan Frye (swimming)
Hampton
Camille Pereira (soccer); Cliff Dwyer (tennis)
High Point
Brantley Rhodes (volleyball); Ricardo Ceballos (soccer)
Longwood
Nicole Fordyce (lacrosse); Jonas Kilchner (soccer)
North Carolina A&T
Christyn Carr (golf); Justin O’Neal (baseball)
Presbyterian College
Jessica Leeman (tennis); Grayson Horton (soccer)
Radford
Hailey Flowers (volleyball); Andres Silva (tennis)
UNC Asheville
India Appleton (cross country/track); Gillian Oyos (soccer); Grace Volk (volleyball); Alice Walker (soccer); Taylor Durall (soccer)
USC Upstate
Kelly Wiedemann (volleyball); Justin Hynes (soccer)
Winthrop
Sarah Funderburg (golf); Jonathan Strauss (baseball)