FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – On Sunday evening, the Nova Southeastern University athletic department held its 3rd Annual Sharky’s Awards Show, celebrating the 2020-21 season and commending its student-athletes for their accomplishments in an entirely virtual awards show broadcast live on Facebook, YouTube and the Sunshine State Conference Digital Network.
Volleyball player Alex Boone and men’s track and field athlete Justin Jackson emceed the event for the second year in a row. To view the full online show, click on the video below.
https://nsusharks.com/showcase/embed.aspx?title=NSU%20Athletics%20Celebrates%20Year%20with%20Virtual%20Sharky%E2%80%99s%20Awards%20Show%20-%20Nova%20Southeastern%20University%20Athletics&youtube=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FMogt28Ya2zU&autoplay=false
Presented by Assistant Athletic Director Steve Orris and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Jake Suvak, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards were given to Spencer Ochko (Men’s Track & Field) and Rachael Nelson (Volleyball).
Next came the Female and Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, which were presented to Alex Boone (Volleyball) and Quynlan Duffy (Men’s Track & Field). Boone will be earning her degree in Communications this semester and will graduate with an outstanding 3.97 cumulative GPA. Duffy, meanwhile, currently owns a 3.96 cumulative GPA and will graduate this semester with a degree in Biology.
Continuing on the academics side, the athletics department recognized the 43 student-athletes that have now been inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society. Chi Alpha Sigma is the first and only nonprofit organization that was established to honor collegiate student-athletes who have excelled in both the classroom and in athletic competition – recognizing college student-athletes who receive a varsity letter in their sport, achieve junior academic standing or higher after their fifth full-time semester and earn a 3.4 or higher cumulative grade point average.
Finally, the Ultimate Shark award winners were honored. Each team’s Ultimate Shark is recognized as the student-athlete who either excelled on the playing field, was considered the team MVP, was the glue that held everyone together, or was an overall great team leader throughout the year. Below is a full list of both the female and male Ultimate Sharks:
Women’s Basketball – Sh’Naya Anderson
Women’s Cross Country – Ivanova Yanes
Women’s Golf – Sofia Garcia Austt
Women’s Soccer – Kaitlyn Chomko
Softball – Emily Hess
Women’s Swimming – Cassandra Wright
Tennis – Karolina Snita
Women’s Track & Field – Jaylynne Thomas
Volleyball – Madison Cook
Baseball – Bryan Diaz
Men’s Basketball – Nick Smith
Men’s Cross Country – Aaron Weimer
Men’s Golf – Javier Calles
Men’s Soccer – Jake Geyer
Men’s Swimming – Alec Dawson
Men’s Track & Field – Spencer Ochko
Thank you to this year’s sponsors for all of their support during the 2020-21 season: Academy Bus, Blaze Pizza, BSN Sports, Courtyard Marriott, Herff Jones and McInerney Grad Products, Kovac Automotive, Mr. M’s, OAI Visual Branding, and Stephen’s Distributing.
To stay up-to-date with all things NSU, visit our website NSUSharks.com, or follow the Sharks on Instagram and Twitter at @nsusharks.
