NEW ORLEANS — Track and field athletes Clarke Allen and Ammiel Williams were Xavier University of Louisiana's Medal of Honor recipients Wednesday evening during Athletic Honors Night, a department ceremony which honored all nine XULA teams.
The Medal of Honor was presented to the senior female and male student-athlete who best define the qualities of scholarship, athletics, leadership and service.
Allen, from Mendenhall, Miss., and a graduate of Mendenhall High School, is a two-time NAIA All-American and was All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference four consecutive years. This past weekend she scored in three events to help the Gold Nuggets repeat as GCAC team champion. A biology/pre-medical major, Allen is a two-time Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar, a two-year member of the GCAC Honor Roll and a three-year member of XULA's Sister Grace Mary Flickinger Honor Roll. Allen was XULA's Female Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2016-17.
Williams, a political science major from Los Angeles and a graduate of Hamilton High School, was part of the Gold Rush's GCAC-champion 3,200-meter relay team this past weekend, where he helped the XULA men score their highest conference finish in 14 years. He is a two-time Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar, a three-time Flickinger Honor Roll member, and in 2016-17 he was XULA's Male Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year. This past summer he participated in a research fellowship in the Public Policy & International Affairs program at Princeton University.
Additional recipients were:
• Male Athlete of the Year: Jeff Dixon, basketball (New Orleans/McMain High School and Delgado Community College . . . Finalists were Edward Angel, track and field (Fulshear, Texas/Seven Lakes High School) and Catalin Fifea, tennis (Bucharest, Romania/General School No. 31).
• Female Athlete of the Year: Juliana Tomasoni, volleyball (Nova Trento, Brazil/Francisco Mazzola School and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College), who won this award for the second consecutive year . . . Finalists were Mariia Borodii, tennis (Zapozizhzhia, Ukraine/Specialized Phisicol N18) and Charlene Goreau, tennis (Toulouse, France/Raymond Naves School).
• Male Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Williams.
• Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tomasoni.
• Male Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Gabriel Niculescu, tennis (Bucharest, Romania/A.D. Xenopol School).
• Female Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Mikayla Bates, basketball (Baton Rouge, La./University Lab School).
• Male Newcomer of the Year: Angel . . . Finalists were Samir Chikhaoui, tennis (Lille, France/St. Remi School) and Joseph Williams, basketball (Memphis, Tenn./Lausanne Collegiate School).
• Female Newcomer of the Year: Borodii . . . Finalists were Angela Charles-Alfred, tennis (Saint-Pierre, Martinique/Lycee de Bellefontaine) and Alysia Terry, track and field (Terrytown, La./Ursuline Academy).
XULA Vice President for Student Services Joseph Byrd received the Distinguished Service Award as thanks for his contributions to the department.
"Dean Byrd has meant a lot of things to a lot of people, but he has always made time for our student-athletes and staff," Director of Athletics & Recreation Jason Horn said, "whether it had to do with academics, personal issues or cheering our teams on to victory. It's an honor to recognize him tonight as one of our true fans."
The event began with a one-hour social with food on the concourse of the Convocation Center. That was followed by awards on the floor level of the facility, where XULA President Dr. Reynold Verret and Horn addressed the student-athletes and guests. The podium hosts were senior student-athletes Angelle Simon of women's basketball (Marrero, La./Karr High School) and Christopher August of men's track and field/cross country (Spring, Texas/Klein Collins High School).
"Tonight was a fun evening celebrating the accomplishments of our student-athletes and coaches," Horn said. "Several of our sports have had record years, and it's a true testament to the hard work of our coaches and student-athletes."
Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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