GREENSBORO – Student-athletes and the entire North Carolina A&T athletic department gathered on Monday evening at the Alumni Foundation Center for the annual Aggie Espy's award ceremony.
Amongst the athletes were several esteemed guests including university chancellor Harold L. Martin, several members of the Aggie Athletic Foundation (AAF), the A&T Sports Hall of Fame and a host of family and friends.
The ceremony opened with the comedic sounds of former Aggie football player, Timothy Shropshire who was the emcee for the evening. Wallace Miles, another former football player was invited to give a student-athlete reflection about his time at A&T and how it prepared him for life's challenges. Miles came to A&T as a walk-on kicking before becoming the school's single-season 1,000-yard receiver. He is still playing in the Canadian Football League.
Samara Dobbins-Johnson, a former women's basketball player, reflected on the hard work and dedication it took just to be able to put on an A&T jersey when she played in the mid 90's. She talked of having to go out to the Hagan Stone Park trail in Greensboro, and there was a certain time you had to run the mile in order to stay on the team.
Each program gave out their team awards, and the athletics department unveiled their players of the year.
The Male Athlete of the Year Award went to sophomore running back Tarik Cohen of the football team. In 2014, he followed up his Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Year season in 2013 with being named MEAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2014. He helped the Aggies capture a share of the MEAC title in 2014, the school's first in 11 years. For the second straight season, Cohen led the MEAC in rushing (1,340 yards). He also posted a league-leading 15 rushing touchdowns on 197 carries. It was the second-highest single-season rushing performance in Aggies history. He was third in the nation in yards per carry (6.8). He was also 11th in the nation in rushing yards per game (121.8). He had two 200-yard plus rushing games (at Elon, 9/13/14 and at NCCU, 11/22/14).
Junior bowler Emily Strombeck was named the Female Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year. She helped the Aggies to their first national title at the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championships. She is a two-time All-American selection after the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) deemed her an All-American in 2015. She is also a two-time MEAC Bowler of the Year. She qualified for the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championship which featured the top 16 bowlers in the nation. She led the Aggies with a 207.3 average in 2015, pinned a career-high 269 in each of the final two MEAC meets and was an all-tournament selection in three different meets during the season.
Desmond Lawrence, a two-sport athlete was recognized as the Senior Male Athlete of the Year in track and field. Lawrence will leave A&T as the most decorated runner in program history. Lawrence is a four-time first-team All-MEAC performer (100/2014 MEAC Outdoor, 400 meter relay/20B14 MEAC Outdoor and 60/2014 and 15 MEAC Indoor). He has earned three trips to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round (one as a member of the ECU Pirates). He owns the school record in the 60 (6.60) and ran a 10.12 at the NCAA outdoor semifinals in 2014. He is the only Aggie to earn All-American honors in outdoor and indoor track and field. He also played football for two seasons.
The Senior Female Athlete of the Year was awarded to Debbie Smith of the women's basketball team. The sharpshooting Smith closed out her career with another stellar season. Smith was named third-team All-MEAC in 2014-15. She led the Aggies in scoring (10.7 ppg) and 3-pointers made (39). She scored in double figures 15 times and led the Aggies in scoring on 10 occasions. She scored a career-high 24 points in a win at Florida A&M on Feb. 28, 2015. She was a 2012 transfer to A&T out of James Madison. In two years with the Aggies she scored 604 points, grabbed 253 rebounds, dished out 106 assists and made 70 3-pointers. She led A&T to two straight semifinal appearances in the MEAC tournament and she helped the team reach the postseason WNIT in 2014.
The baseball and softball teams had two standout freshmen emerge in 2015 as Adan Ordonez and Raven Gray were named Male and Female Rookies of the Year.
Ordonez is putting together a wonderful season for the Aggies. He is second on the team in batting (.328) and leads the team in doubles with eight. He has started all 34 games he has played in. He has the longest hitting streak of the season on the team when he put together a nine-game hitting streak from Feb. 14-March 10. Ordonez has 10 multi-hit games on the season. He had four hits, three runs scored and four RBI against Savannah State on March 22 in an Aggies win. He is ninth in the league in batting, fourth in the league in hits (41), fifth in doubles and 10th in total bases (51).
Gray leads the team in batting (.336). She also has team highs in hits (36) and runs scored (23). She leads the MEAC in triples (5). She has played in and started 35 games with 15 RBI and is 15-for-15 in stolen bases which ranks her fourth in the MEAC.
Alongside athletic achievements, academic accomplishments were recognized as well. Dean's list student-athletes were honored with Academic All-Stars Nathan Blake (Baseball), Justin Sparby (Baseball), Keiston France (Men's Tennis), Jessica Brown (Cheerleading), and Liz Martino (Volleyball) who all recorded 4.0 grade point averages.
The supportive organizations for A&T Athletics also gave out awards. The AAF, the official fundraising arm of Aggie Athletics, gave their award to Lawrence. The A&T Sports Hall of Fame gave its annual award to football's Ronald Canty, the Aggies starting center.
Male Rookie of the Year 2014-2015 Adan Ordonez, Baseball
Female Rookie of the Year 2014-2015 Raven Gray, Softball
Female Athlete of the Year 2014-2015 Emily Strombeck, Bowling
Male Athlete of Year 2014-2015 Tarik Cohen, Football
Senior Female Athlete of the Year 2014-2015 Debbie Smith, WBB
Senior Male Athlete of the Year 2014-2015 Desmond Lawrence, MTK
Volleyball Most Valuable Player 2014 Brooke Stamnes
Volleyball Most Improved 2014 Samara Brown
Volleyball Aggie Pride Award 2014 T'keyah Davis
Men's Basketball Hustle Award 2014-2015 Ahamad Abdullah
Men's Basketball Defensive MVP 2014-2015 Denzel Keyes
Men's Basketball MVP 2014-2015 Bruce Beckford
Men's Basketball- Top Free Throw Shooter 2014-2015 Arturs Bremers
Men's Basketball Top Rebounder 2014-2015 Bruce Beckford
Women's Tennis- Aggie Pride 2014-2015 Khalia Powell
Men's Tennis Top Performer 2014-2015 John Wilson IV
Football MVP 2014 Tarik Cohen
Football Defensive Player of the Year 2014 D'Vonte Grant
Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year 2014 Marquis Ragland
Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year 2014 Tarik Cohen
Football Aggie Award 2014 Donald Mattocks
Lineman of the Year 2014 Michael Neal
Offensive Lineman of the Year 2014 William Robinson
Football Leadership Award 2015 Tony McRae
Cheer Program Rookie of the Year 2014-2015 Le'Tya McAlister
Cheer Program MVP 2014-2015 Qadera Malveaux
Cheer Program Most Improved 2014-2015 Brianna Taylor
Lady Aggie Most Improved Player 2014-2015 Whitney Martin
Lady Aggie Defensive Player of the Year 2014-2015 Dana Brown
Lady Aggie Offensive Player of the Year 2014-2015 Debbie Smith
Lady Aggie Coaches Award 2014-2015 Aprill McRae
Lady Aggie Rookie of the Year 2014-2015 Michelle Fitzgerald
Academic All-Star 4.0 2014 Nathan Blake
Academic All-Star 4.0 2014 Justin Sparby
Academic All-Star 4.0 2014 Jessica Brown
Academic All-Star 4.0 2014 Keiston France
Academic All-Star 4.0 2014 Elizabeth Marino
Women's Bowling "The Be Clutch" Award 2014-2015 MacKenzie Robinson
Women's Bowling "Fill the Frame" Award 2014-2015 Kristin Shinn
Women's Bowling Coach's Award 2014-2015 Brianna Jackson
Swimming Rookie of the Year 2014-2015 Lauren Martin
Wright Swimmer Award 2014-2015 Niya Ross
Swimming MVP 2014-2015 Miranda Jacobs
Women's Track & Field Most Valuable Performer 2014-2015 Reneazia Collins
Men's Track & Field Most Valuable Performer 2014-2015 Desmond Lawrence
Men's Cross Country Most Valuable Performer 2014 Darren White
Softball 2015 Most Improved Player Kalynn Stroman
Softball 2015 Aggie Glove Award Alejandra Baracenas
Softball 2015 Golden Bat Award Raven Gray
Softball 2015 Aggie Academic Award Daisa Moore
Michael and Catherine Simmons Leadership Award Jim and Elaine McLeod
Joyce Spruill Leadership Scholarship 2015 Kenya Colbert
Hall of Fame 2015 Ronald Canty
Aggie Athletic Foundation 2015 Desmond Lawrence
