NC State Athletics Celebrates Successes at 2019 Wolfies

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State Athletic Department hosted the 2019 Wolfie Awards Monday evening inside James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum. The gala event showcased the best of Wolfpack Athletics over the last calendar year. ESPN personality Jay Harris served as the emcee for the evening.

Maggie Tamburro (gymnastics) and Brian Brown (baseball) were honored with the H.C. Kennett Award, which is the highest athletic award at NC State that is given annually to a superior athlete who demonstrates the finest attributes of good sportsmanship and team play.

Maggie was honored after being a main contributor to the bar lineup for the Wolfpack. Maggie competed on bars in every meet, collecting seven podium finishes on the season. She earned First Team All-EAGL on bars and was also named the EAGL Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Maggie currently serves as SAAC President and as a SAAC representative for the ACC.

Brian garnered the honors after being named ACC Pitcher of the Year in 2018. He was also a semi-finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, was named First Team All-ACC and was also listed on various All-America teams after his senior year. As a student, he was a four-year Academic All-ACC Team honoree and was the ACC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

NC State also recognized its All-Americans and Academic All-Americans across all sports, as well as the MVPs for each team. The winners for the Wolfpack's yearly awards are as follows:

Rookie of the Year
Awarded to a men's and women's freshman who has had a significant impact on their teams' competitiveness.
Patrick Bailey, Baseball

Patrick had perhaps the best freshman season in the history of NC State baseball. He broke the NC State freshman home run record with 13 and led all ACC freshman in batting average (.321), total bases and slugging percentage. He tied for first in runs, was second in RBIs and third in hits. This helped him to be named a consensus freshman All-American and earn the designation of ACC Freshman of the Year, among other awards.

Elissa Cunane, Women's Basketball

Elissa recorded four double-doubles and scored 20+ points on seven separate occasions this season. She scored 464 total points, the second-highest point total by a freshman in program history, and was the team's most accurate shooter. She averaged 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds. Elissa was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team, First Team All-ACC Tournament Team and was a four-time Rookie of the Week.

Comeback Player of the Year
Awarded to the student-athlete who has overcome injuries or illness to be a productive member of their team.
Sean Fausz, Wrestling

Sean sustained an ankle injury in the 2018 season that required surgery to replace a ligament and restore stability to the joint. He spent six months recovering before returning as a team captain, helping lead the team to an ACC regular season title, ACC Tournament title and another top-20 finish at the NCAA Championships. Individually, Sean placed second at the ACC Championships, was top 12 at the NCAA Championships and won a silver medal at the U-23 World Championships.

Todd Dunston Community Spirit Award
Awarded to the team that serves the community through volunteering and/or charitable fundraising efforts.
Football

The football team recorded 1,057 hours of community service. Some of its largest community service events included its annual "Lift for Life" event, Victory Day, Operation Teammate, Blessings in a Backpack, Take Back the Night and its work with Brown Bag ministries.

Heart of the Pack Award
Awarded to student-athletes throughout the 2018-19 year who exemplified the following criteria:
Teammate: exhibiting selfless sacrifice to benefit the team
Effort: consistently displaying a strong work ethic
Attitude: demonstrating a positive and energizing attitude
Mindfulness: awareness of ability to impact others
Leon Krapf, Men's Soccer
Maggie Tamburro, Gymnastics

Kay Yow Award
Presented to a female student-athlete who exemplifies outstanding academic achievement, athletic achievement, community service and a true spirit of teamwork.
Gabriele Cunningham, Track & Field

Gabbi is a three-time All-American, five-time NCAA East Regional qualifier and a five-time All-ACC honoree. She was a member of the 2016 USATF Junior World track team and earned a pair of medals, including one gold, at the World Championships. She holds six school records. Academically, Gabbi was honored as a member of the 2018 All-ACC Academic Team for both indoor and outdoor track and the 2019 All-ACC Academic Team for indoor track. Gabbi is one of the hardest-working and most talented female sprinters to come through the Wolfpack program. Her work ethic and dedication are by far what the program would want every athlete on the team to strive for. She handles herself with the utmost poise and shows respect for her teammates, other athletes and those in the community.

ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year
Awarded to a student-athlete who is a letterwinner in an ACC-sponsored sport, has a top-five GPA and is in his/her last year of eligibility.
Nell Crosby, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field

Nell is a master's student in the physiology graduate program. Her academic accomplishments include 2018 All-ACC Academic Cross Country Team, Dean's List and USTFCCCA Academic All-American. Nell was a scoring member of the ACC and Southeast Region cross country championship teams, garnered All-ACC and All-Region honors, received the Heart of the Pack Award for the month of November and qualified for the indoor ACC track and field championships in the 5K and 3K.

Jacob Molacek, Men's Swimming & Diving

Jacob is majoring in psychology and was a CSCAA Scholar All-American in 2018. He has also made the Dean's List every semester that he has been at NC State. Jacob was the 2018 NCAA Champion in both the 400 freestyle relay and the 800 freestyle relay and was also an ACC champion in three events in 2018.

Individual Performance of the Year
Awarded to a male and female student-athlete who had an outstanding performance in a competition.
Anna Rogers vs. Miami, Women's Tennis

Anna defeated Miami's Perez-Somarriba at the No. 1 singles position, handing the Hurricane player her first loss in 364 days. Perez-Somarriba was ranked the No. 2 overall singles player in the nation and was reigning ACC Player of the Year. For her performance, Anna was awarded ACC Player of the Week honors and will most certainly qualify for NCAAs in both singles and doubles, becoming the first player in program history to qualify in both events during the same season.

Andreas Vazaios at NCAA Championships, Men's Swimming

Andreas won a national title in the 200-yard butterfly at the 2019 NCAA Championships. His time of 1:38.57 was the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history and broke his own program and ACC record. This was his second straight title in the event and third season earning All-American honors in the event. It made him only the second swimmer in program history to become a multi-time individual national champion.

Team Performance of the Year
Awarded to a men's and women's team that had an outstanding performance in a competition.
Women's Soccer Advances to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

The women's soccer team earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and hosted the first round for the second year in a row. In the second round, despite a series of injuries, regulation concluded in a 1-1 draw. After 20 minutes of overtime, the match was forced to go to PKs, resulting in the Pack defeating No. 7 Santa Clara. The team advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years, which has not been accomplished in nearly three decades.

Men's Soccer Defeats No. 1 UNC-Chapel Hill

The men's soccer team defeated top-ranked UNC-CH in Raleigh for the first time since 1997 in front of a stadium-record sellout crowd. The game-winning goal was scored in the 53rd minute by midfielder David Loera. Loera went on to be named ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week as well as TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week. Goalkeeper Leon Krapf made five saves against one of the best offenses in the nation, earning him ACC Defensive Player of the Week and United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week.

Head Coach of the Year
Awarded to a men's and women's head coach who led their team to success during the season.
Wes Moore, Women's Basketball

Moore led the Wolfpack to a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, a third-place finish in the ACC, and the longest winning streak in program history of 21 games. The team finished the year 28-6 despite missing an astounding 83.5 combined games from injuries to impact players. After the season, Moore was named a finalist for both the Naismith National Coach of the Year and WBCA National Coach of the Year.

Elliott Avent, Baseball

The Pack won eight of 10 conference series, including three road series wins against top-25 opponents. The team also set a program record with 19 ACC wins. Under Avent's leadership, the program was awarded ACC Pitcher of the Year, ACC Freshman of the Year and seven other All-ACC honors. The team was selected as an NCAA Regional host for the second time in three years.

Team of the Year
Awarded to a men's and women's team that had an outstanding season.
Women's Basketball

The basketball team earned a third-place finish in the ACC and made a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. It recorded the best start to a season and winning streak in a season with 21 victories in a row to open the year. It was the last unbeaten men's or women's team in NCAA Division I basketball. The team finished the year 28-6 overall despite many of its players missing an astounding amount of time from injuries.

Men's Swimming & Diving

The men's swimming and diving team put together a remarkable season, highlighted by tying its best finish at the NCAA Championships award where it placed fourth. The program won its fifth ACC title in a row and took home gold medals in five events. Every athlete who competed in the ACC meet scored points for the Pack. The team had 17 individual All-Americans, five relay All-Americans and a national champion in Andreas Vazaios.

Chancellor's Cup
Awarded to teams with the highest cumulative GPA at the end of the previous fall semester.
Women's Soccer
Men's Swimming & Diving

North Carolina State University Athletics

NC State Athletics Celebrates Successes at 2019 Wolfies

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