Tulane Athletics Honors 2016-17 Green Wave at Green Globe Awards
Apr 30, 2017 | General
Male and Female Athlete of the Year Announced
Photo Gallery
NEW ORLEANS – Tulane Athletics held its annual banquet, newly named the Green Globe Awards, on Sunday evening inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, where 2016-17 Green Wave student-athletes were honored for all of their accomplishments over the past academic school year.
Tulane Athletics announced its male and female athletes of the year, its Wilson Award winners and Scholar Athletes of the Year. In addition, each sports program presented their own team specific awards, with a complete list of winners located below.
The cross country and track & field programs reigned supreme on Sunday as they claimed both the male and female athlete of the year. For the third straight year, Lilla McMillan took home the top award of the night. In her outdoor senior campaign in 2016, McMillan won the gold medal in the 200m and 400m dashes at the American Athletic Conference Championships, broke the school record for the 400m, anchored the 4x400m relay team who won gold at conference, and also qualified for the NCAA National Championships.
Emmanuel Rotich's strong season in cross country led him to taking home the top award on the men's side. Rotich finished in the top-three in all but one of his meets, qualifying for both the NCAA South Central Regional and NCAA National Championships. Rotich broke the school records in both the 8K and 10K, in which the latter led to a regional title. Rotich also guided the Tulane men's team to their highest finish ever at the American Athletic Conference Championships, finishing in second.
Next, Tulane announced its Wilson Award winners, given to the student-athletes who demonstrate a strong overall impact on Green Wave athletics through leadership and achievements in Tulane's three pillars: excellence in education, competition and service. This year's Wilson Awards belonged to women's basketball's Leslie Vorpahl and baseball's Hunter Williams.
Vorpahl was a third-team American Athletic All-Conference selection who also secured The American's Sportsmanship Award and its Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. Vorpahl ranked 19th in the nation with her 6.1 assists per game and became the second player in program history to score over 1,000 career points and produce over 500 career assists. Meanwhile, Williams led the 2016 baseball squad to the NCAA Tournament, where he was selected for the Oxford All-Regional Team. He appeared in 39 games, batted .294 with nine home-runs and 30 RBI's, while his .997 fielding percentage ranked sixth all-time at Tulane. In the classroom, Vorpahl has garnered 3.756 GPA while Williams has achieved a perfect 4.0.
Last but certainly not least, Tulane named its recipients of the male and female Scholar-Athlete Award in first-time winners Erika Chelales from track & field, and football's Marshall Wadleigh, both of whom maintained stellar 4.0 cumulative GPA's. Chelales is a biomedical engineering major with minors in both spanish and math, while Wadleigh is a double major in finance and energy.
Athletes of the Year
Male: Emmanuel Rotich, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
Female: Lilla McMillan, Women's Track & Field
Wilson Award
Male: Hunter Williams, Baseball
Female: Leslie Vorpahl, Women's Basketball
Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Male: Marshall Wadleigh, Football
Female: Erika Chelales, Women's Track & Field
Volleyball
Team MVP: Sarah Ray
Most Consistent: Kaylie McHugh
Football
Offensive MVP: John Leglue
Defensive MVPs: Tanzel Smart & Nico Marley
Special Teams MVP: Devin Glenn
Bowling
MVP: Michelle Ng
Most Improved: Jessica Quebedeaux
Baseball
Best All Around: Hunter Williams
MVP: Ross Massey
Women's Swimming & Diving
Team Heart Award: Joy Jason
Resilience & Grit Award: Ellie Sills
Women's Golf
MVP: Laura Munoz
Bower Award: Sofia Goicoechea
Men's Tennis
MVP: Chi-Shan Jao
Women's Tennis
Passion Award: Ivone Alvaro
Most Improved: Sade Atkinson
Beach Volleyball
Career Achievement Award: Tea Juric
Love of the Game Award: Lindsey Huber
Men's Basketball
Most Improved: Ryan Smith
Best All Around: Malik Morgan
Women's Basketball
Most Outstanding Player: Kolby Morgan
Coaches Award: Leslie Vorpahl
Men's Cross Country
Most Outstanding Runner: Emmanuel Rotich
Women's Cross Country
Most Outstanding Runner: Emma Newton
Women's Indoor Track & Field
Most Valuable Athlete: Jessica Duckett
Most Valuable Athlete: Alyssa Applebee
Women's Outdoor Track & Field
Most Valuable Athlete: Lilla McMillan
Most Valuable Athlete: Jasmine Blocker
Men's Track & Field
Most Valuable Athlete: Emmanuel Rotich
