ELKINS, W.Va. -- It was an evening to celebrate excellence and togetherness as teams gathered on the red carpet in the recently-dedicated Myles Center for the Arts for the DESPY Awards after a two-year absence due the pandemic.

Four student-athletes, one team, and one group outside of Athletics headlined the event as DESPY Award winners.

The Scholar-Athlete Award, which is awarded to the graduating male and female student-athlete who has maintained the highest overall grade point average, was presented to Reagan Sharp of the Women's Basketball team and Justin Wisniewski of the Baseball team.

The Athlete-of-the-Year Award, which is awarded to the male and female student athletes who have distinguish themselves this season through their athletic performance through a combination of statistics, records, and accolades, was presented to Macie Magallon of the Volleyball team and Alex Estrada-Avila of the Men's Soccer team.

The D&E Men's Soccer Team was award Team of the Year as the team that has distinguished themselves throughout the 2021-2022 academic year through outstanding team success.

The Senator Award, which is given to those individuals outside of Davis & Elkins Athletics Department who make a significant contribution to the department to help enhance the overall experience for our athletes, coaches, and staff, was presented the Senator Fleet Drivers.

Director of Athletics, Patrick Snively and DESPYs Emcee and Baseball team member, Zachary McGillan presented the awards and recognized outstanding performances at the National level, as well as, conference player and coach-of-the-year honorees during 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 and so far this year.
 
Also recognized were national statistical leaders from this year. Volleyball outside hitter, Macie Magallon led NCAA Division II in two statistical categories this season with 5.03 kills per set and 5.53 points per set. Men's Soccer goalkeeper Jeremy Coste led the nation with 14 shutouts this season. Additionally, the D&E men led the country with 14 shutouts overall and a .636 shutout percentage.
 
Graduating seniors were also recognized with a graphic presentation and introduced by Dr. Jennifer Riggleman, Faculty Athletic Representative and Dr. Mary Ann DeLuca, Special Advisor to Athletics.
 
The program also featured an opening prayer from Fellowship of Christian Athletes President Reagan Sharp and special welcome messages from Davis & Elkins President Chris Wood, Executive Vice President Dr. Rosemary Thomas, and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President and Vice President Andrew Shand and Robert Stephenson.
 
The evening culminated with a special recognition as Snively presented Men's Tennis player and SAAC President Andrew Shand with a personal acknowledgement and gift for the time, effort, and energy Andrew puts into volunteering at home contests to ensure their success.
 
Scholar-Athlete Award
 
REAGAN SHARP (Women's Basketball)
 
Reagan Sharp is a three-year member of the Women's Basketball Team, majoring in Exercise Science Pre-Professional major in the Honors Program with a minor in Chemistry. She has maintained a 4.0 overall grade-point-average.

 
JUSTIN WISNIEWSKI (Baseball)
 
Justin Wisniewski is a four-year member of the Baseball Team, majoring in Criminology with minors in Political Science and Health. He has maintained a 3.956 overall grade-point-average.

 
Athlete of the Year
 
MACIE MAGALLON (Volleyball)
 
Macie Magallon was a first-team all Mountain East Conference selection and a second-team all-Atlantic region selection. She led the nation in kills per set with 5.03 and points per set with 5.53 as an outside hitter.

 
ALEX ESTRADA-AVILA (Men's Soccer)
 
Alex Estrada-Avila was both a United Soccer Coaches and NCAA D2 first-team all-American and Region 1 first-team selection. He was a Mountain East Conference All-Conference Team and All-Tournament Team selection and was named MEC Defensive Player of the Year. Most recently, he was named the MLS Draft Eligible selection watch list.
 

Team of the Year
 
MEN'S SOCCER
 
The D&E Men's Soccer Team enjoyed a historic season, winning a Mountain East Conference regular season title after an undefeated regular season. Their first and only loss of the season came in the MEC Championship game. They went on to earn a bid to the National Tournament as the number six seed, with a first-round bye. In the second round, they beat Wilmington University 4-1 and moved on to the Sweet Sixteen round to yet again face a familiar in-conference opponent. The game ended in a draw and the season ended after penalty shots, but history had been made.
 

Senator Award
 
SENATOR FLEET DRIVERS
 
Senator Drivers Travis Bodkins, Mike Karlen, and Sheila Zickefoose are not only essential to the department's ability to function, but critically important in its ability to compete and get to and from sites of competition safely.
 
 
Special Recognition

ANDREW SHAND (Men's Tennis, SAAC President)