Ninth Annual R.U.D.Y.S. awarded to the best of Dayton athletics

April 27, 2021April 27, 2021 Peter Burtnett

Monday night’s R.U.D.Y.S. honored the best in UD athletics. Photo courtesy of Flyer News.

Hosted at UD Arena Monday night, the ninth annual R.U.D.Y.S. highlighted the best of Dayton athletics.

Track & field junior Taylor Robertson and senior men’s golfer Hayden Zimmerer were the hosts of the R.U.D.Y.S., which stands for Recognition and celebration of University of Dayton Student-Athletes Year-end Showcase.

The first award of the night, the Social Justice Award, was given to women’s basketball redshirt senior guard Araion Bradshaw for her work starting Athletes Driving Change at UD.

Rookie of the Year was next, and was given to men’s basketball forward Mustapha Amzil and women’s soccer forward Itala Gemelli. Amzil started in 15 of 19 games after joining the team in late December, and averaged 9.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 30 minutes per game. Gemelli was named A-10 Rookie of the Year in 2021 after leading the conference with 9 goals and 19 points.

The most prestigious of the awards, the RUDY, was co-awarded to women’s cross country senior Kelly Wilker and volleyball senior setter Bridget Doherty. Wilker was the Flyers’ top finisher in a winning effort at Wright State, and Doherty won A-10 Setter of the Year while leading her team to an A-10 Championship and NCAA Tournament Second Round Appearance.

The men’s RUDY award was split between golf senior Connor Quigley and soccer senior midfielder Jonas Fjeldberg. Quigley has lead the men’s golf team, and tied with sophomore Kyle Schmidt at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate, which the Flyers won. Fjeldberg has also exhibited exceptional leadership and tallied 5 goals and 4 assists in 2021 as the Flyers won the A-10 regular season championship. He now takes his talents to the MLS after being drafted 54th overall by FC Cincinnati.

Staying with leadership, the Most Outstanding Leader awards were given to baseball graduate senior pitcher and SAAC President Tyler Jones and women’s golf senior Abby Bitto. At the awards, men’s tennis rising senior Will Harper was named as Jones’ replacement as President of SAAC.

The rest of the awards are as follows:

Rising stars: Male = Georgi Mavrodiev (men’s tennis), Female = Quinn Pallardy (softball)
Flyer Challenge: Women’s Cross Country team
Unsung Heroes: Male = Joe Bubonics (football), Female = Angie Loriso (rowing)
Staff Unsung Hero: Joe Owens, Senior Associate Athletic Director
Breakthrough Performance: Female = Casey Bogues (track and field), Male = Hunter Wolfe (baseball)
All-Academic team (one player from each team): Tyler Jones (baseball), Jordy Tshimanga (men’s basketball), Kevin Lawson (men’s cross country), Derek Willits (football), Blake Solomon (men’s golf), Dominic Ruffolo (men’s soccer), Oliver Dunne (men’s tennis), Erin Whalen (women’s basketball), Emily Sreenan (women’s cross country), Sarah Frazier (women’s golf), Maggie Cahill (rowing), Kate Reeg and Ali WeeklEy (softball – tie), Jessica Sheldon and Audrey Steiert (women’s soccer – tie), Kelly Pleiman (women’s tennis), Aileen Hull (track & field), and Elizabeth House (volleyball)

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