University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Celebrate At Rammys
April 21, 2015 | Field Hockey, General, Women's Rowing, Fencing
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina Department of Athletics celebrated the successes of the past year Monday evening at the third-annual Rammy Awards. Thunderstorms outside did nothing to dampen the mood inside Carmichael Arena, where a full slate of awards recognized outstanding academics, athletics and service. The evening also included student-athlete musical performances, videos and the introduction of UNC's refreshed logo and other marks.
"This event just keeps getting better and better,” UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham said. “It's a great opportunity to honor our student-athletes for their success over the past year and also gather them all for a really fun evening of supporting and recognizing each other. They work really hard all year – academically, in the community and in their respective sports – and we celebrate that in a variety of ways, but the Rammys is really the one time that we all get together as a group to applaud and acknowledge their accomplishments. It's certainly one of my favorite nights of the year.”
Jones Angell, the voice of the Tar Heels, served as the evening's master of ceremonies with assists from student-athletes Patrick Riess (men's swimming and diving) and Kendra Douglas (women's track and field). Joining student-athletes in the crowd were members of the band and spirit squads, coaches, staff, administrators and other supporters.
In addition to the awards, several student-athletes performed. Basketball's Erika Johnson and Jackson Simmons sang a duet, baseball's Benton Moss sang and played the guitar, and men's soccer's Nico Melo sang, accompanied by teammate David October on the keyboard.
The first Rammys of the night, presented by Emily Leidolf (rowing) and Ezra Baeli-Wang (men's fencing), went to this year's Breakthrough Athletes, Ece Taner from volleyball and Mack Hollins from football.
Annie Harrison (women's swimming and diving) and Matt Williams (wrestling) presented the Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards, recognizing the top male and female scholar-athletes in the senior class, to Benton Moss from baseball and Loren Shealy from field hockey.
The Rammy for Recordbreaking Performance was presented by Houston Summers (track and field) and Paige Neuenfeldt (volleyball) to softball's Kristen Brown. Before presenting it, Neuenfeldt made it a point to congratulate Summers on his recent inauguration as UNC's student body president, drawing applause from the crowd.
Kelly Corish (women's swimming and diving) and Jarrod James (football) presented Newcomer of the Year Rammys to Morgan Lane from gymnastics and Justin Jackson from men's basketball.
Marcus Paige (men's basketball) received the Rammy for Best Play, but could not be in attendance to accept the award. Presenters Casey Di Nardo (field hockey) and Shakeel Rashad (football) accepted on his behalf.
Seniors Benton Moss (baseball) and Danielle Siverling (women's swimming and diving) were named the winners of the McCaskill Award, which honors excellence in athletics, academics and community involvement. As the McCaskill winners, they are recognized as captains of the Ultimate Team, made up of outstanding seniors. Joining them on the team were Chaniel Nelson (volleyball), Courtney Waite (women's lacrosse), Rob Lovejoy (men's soccer) and Allen Champagne (football).
The Best Upset Rammy, presented by Moss and gymnast Kristin Aloi, went to men's lacrosse for its win over No. 1 Denver earlier this season.
The ACC Top Six for Service awards, presented to honor outstanding community service at each conference school, went to:
• Joe Costigan, Men's Lacrosse
• Jillian Ferraro, Softball
• Nick Weiler, Football
• Erika Clary, Rowing
• The Women's Soccer Team
• The Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy's Leadership Lab for its first Carolina Sports Leadership Summit
The John Lotz Award is given to student-athletes who best exemplify the spirit of the late John Lotz, who served as UNC's Assistant Athletic Director of Campus and Community Relations and also was an assistant basketball coach for the Tar Heels. The award recognizes those who succeed under adverse circumstances, overcoming difficulties while maintaining a positive attitude. This year's winners were Megan Buckland (women's basketball) and Andy Craven (men's soccer), both of whom fought through injuries to compete for the Tar Heels.
Buckland then joined Jackson Simmons (men's basketball) to present the Rammy for Best Championship Performance to Xenia Rahn from women's track and field.
Tennis swept the night's final three awards, with Jamie Loeb (women's tennis) and Brayden Schnur (men's tennis) winning Outstanding Athlete Rammys and the women's tennis team being honored with the Best Team Rammy. Victoria McPherson (volleyball) and Paul Haley (track and field) presented the Outstanding Athlete awards while Darcy McFarlane and Lindsey Harris, both from women's soccer, presented the Rammy for Best Team.
Senior Associate Athletic Director Beth Miller, who will retire from UNC on July 1, was presented with an honorary Rammy, recognizing her 40 years of outstanding service to Carolina. Currently the Senior Woman Administrator, she also served as the head coach of the volleyball and softball teams.
The fencing, football, gymnastics, women's golf, women's soccer and women's tennis teams submitted 60-second “Minute to Win It” videos, with the winner determined by text voting. Fencing was a runaway winner for its “Fencing is Life” video.
It wasn't the only outstanding video of the evening, however. Two of the night's highlights were a lip sync of Taylor Swift's “Shake It Off” by the UNC coaches and the all-sports video to “Uptown Funk.”
The program concluded, as has become tradition, with the entire crowd singing “Hark the Sound.”
2015 Rammy Awards winners:
Senior Scholar-Athlete Award
Male: Benton Moss (baseball)
Women: Loren Shealy (field hockey)
Breakthrough Athletes of the Year
Male: Mack Hollins (football)
Female: Ece Taner (volleyball)
Record-Breaking Performance
Kristen Brown (softball)
Newcomers of the Year
Male: Justin Jackson (men's basketball)
Female: Morgan Lane (gymnastics)
Best Play
Marcus Paige vs. Louisville (men's basketball)
Mildred McCaskill Award
Male: Benton Moss (baseball)
Female: Danielle Siverling (women's swimming)
Ultimate Team
Chaniel Nelson (volleyball)
Courtney Waite (women's lacrosse)
Rob Lovejoy (men's soccer)
Allen Champagne (football)
Best Upset
Men's Lacrosse vs. No. 1 Denver
Top Six for Service
• Joe Costigan, Men's Lacrosse
• Jillian Ferraro, Softball
• Nick Weiler, Football
• Erika Clary, Rowing
• The Women's Soccer Team
• bCLA Leadership Lab
John Lotz Award
Megan Buckland (women's basketball)
Andy Craven (men's soccer)
Most Outstanding Championship Performance
Xenia Rahn (women's track & field)
Most Outstanding Play
Marcus Paige (men's basketball)
Athlete of the Year
Male: Brayden Schnur (men's tennis)
Female: Jamie Loeb (women's tennis)
Team of the Year
Women's Tennis
Players Mentioned
