Columbia Athletics Reveals 2023-24 Varsity C Award Winners

Phoebe Anderson Poses with the Campbell Trophy with Columbia Athletics Director Peter Pilling

Columbia Athletics Reveals 2023-24 Varsity C Award Winners

9/10/2024 10:00:00 AM | Baseball, General, Men's Golf, Men's Squash, Men's Tennis, Women's Basketball, Women's Soccer, Women's Squash, Wrestling, Archery, Cross Country, Fencing, Track and Field

Nathan Han & Abbey Hsu Receive Maniatty Awards; Phoebe Anderson & Lennox Wolak Named Campbell Performers of the Year

NEW YORK— Columbia Athletics hosted its 2024-25 Student-Athlete Welcome & Celebration on Monday evening in Levien Gymnasium at Dodge Fitness Center. A portion of this wonderful evening was dedicated to revealing all of Columbia Athletics' Varsity C award winners from the 2023-24 season.

Varsity C is the final gathering and major event of the year for all of Columbia's 800-plus student-athletes, with the purpose of showcasing achievements and milestones from every program. At this event, the highest honors in Columbia Athletics were bestowed upon several of the Lions' brightest stars. Unfortunately, the 101st Varsity C which was to conclude the 2023-24 academic year was canceled. All the 2023-24 Varsity C awards were revealed and presented last night.

Taking home the prestigious Connie S. Maniatty Award, which is given annually to the top senior student-athletes from men's and women's sports to recognize their outstanding Columbia careers, were women's basketball's Abbey Hsu along with Nathan Han from men's golf. Hsu has been selected as an All-American three times during her career, was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2023-24, holds numerous Columbia and Ivy League records and was selected by the Connecticut Sun in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Han, who hold's the program record for lowest career scoring average (71.4), was the first All-American in the men's golf program's history in 2023 and the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year.

The William V. Campbell Performer of the Year is presented to two student-athletes demonstrating superior athletic ability during the 2023-24 academic year. This year, the recipients were Phoebe Anderson from cross country/track & field and Lennox Wolak of wrestling. Anderson earned All-America honors in both cross country and the indoor track & field season in the 5,000-meter run. She currently holds the eighth fastest time in the country in the outdoor 5,000-meter. Wolak became the first All-American for the wrestling program since 2013 with a sixth place finish at the NCAA Championships in March and won the EIWA Championship in the 174-pound division.

Two student-athletes were given 2023-24 Rookie of the Year Awards, which go to top student-athletes in their first year of competition with Columbia Athletics. This year's winners were Eunice Choi from archery and Sam Kumbla of fencing.

Also presented at the ceremony was the Karen Blank Award, which celebrates the top senior female student-athlete enrolled at Barnard College and who exemplifies the qualities of academic success, athletic achievement, strong sporting behavior & commitment to the community. The winner of this prestigious award was given to women's soccer's Grace Hurren.

The long-standing watch presentations for the Columbia senior student-athletes earning the highest cumulative grade point averages with at least two varsity letters were presented. Megan Meyerson from squash earned the Marion R. Philips Watch and her teammate Sameer Saxena was awarded the Dwight D. Eisenhower Watch. Named after former U.S. President and Columbia University President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the award has been presented every year since 1948. Named for Marion R. Philips, who was a major force in founding Barnard's Intercollegiate Athletics Program which served as the foundation for today's Consortium, the women's scholar watch has been awarded every year since 1984.

The women's basketball team earned the Paul E. Fernandes Community Service Award for the 2023-24 year, which is presented to the varsity sports program which achieves the most significant contributions and notable service to the University and local communities during each academic year. The 2023-24 Lions Cup, which honors the most outstanding team on the basis of points in several categories including academic, athletic, personal and social responsibility was given to the archery team.

The event also featured awards for Game of the Year, Top Performance of the Year, and Play of the Year from the 2023-24 academic year. The finalists for these awards were determined by a vote on social media, and the winners were crowned via a poll that was sent to student-athletes over the past two weeks. The winner of Men's Game of the Year was men's tennis' victory over #7 Tennessee. The winner of Women's Game of the Year was women's soccer's victory over Rutgers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of Men's Performance of the Year was Michael Zheng and his All-American showing in 2023 when he advanced to the sweet-16 of the individual NCAA Tournament. The winner of Women's Performance of the Year was Abbey Hsu scoring her 2000th career point while leading the Lions to an upset over #25 Princeton for the program's first ranked victory. The winner of Men's Play of the Year was Eric Jeon, Jack Cooper, and Sam Miller of baseball's incredible play off a deflection to get an out at first base. The winner of Women's Play of the Year was Abbey Hsu of women's basketball and her game-winning shot against Villanova.