Penn Athletics announced its major intercollegiate senior student-athlete awards on Thursday, April 29. Five awards were handed out.
In the two most prominent senior awards of the night, Andrew Douglas of the men’s squash team was honored with the Class of 1915 Award and women’s track and field star Uchechi Nwogwugwu was awarded the Association of Alumnae Fathers’ Trophy.
Presented annually since 1931, the Class of 1915 Award is presented to the male student-athlete who shows outstanding athletic, academic, and leadership qualities, and has at least a 3.0 grade point average. Voting is conducted by the head coaches of Penn’s varsity men’s programs. Douglas, a political science major in the College of Arts and Sciences and three-time First-Team All-American, is only the second men’s squash player to receive the Award, and the first since Clay Hamlin in 1967.
The Fathers’ Trophy has been given annually since 1945 to a female student-athlete who is recognized for leadership, athletic, and academic qualities, and has at least a 3.0 grade point average. Voting is conducted by the head coaches of Penn’s varsity women’s programs. Nwogwugwu, a health & societies major in the College and a two-time Honorable Mention All-American, is the second consecutive women’s track and field athlete to receive the Fathers’ Trophy, and the ninth overall.
Penn Athletics also announced the winners of the Norman J. Goldring and George H. Frazier Prizes. Jennifer Richards of the women’s tennis team, who is double majoring in criminology and psychology in the College, was the female recipient of the Goldring Prize. Ben Padon of the football team, a neuroscience major in the College, was the male recipient of the Goldring Prize as well as this year’s recipient of the Frazier Prize.
The Goldring Prize is awarded to a graduating male and female student-athlete with the highest grade point average who earned a varsity letter in his/her senior year. The Frazier Prize is bestowed to a graduating student-athlete, male or female, with the highest GPA who competed on the basketball, crew, track, soccer, baseball, or football teams.
Richards, the second women’s tennis player to earn the Goldring Prize and a two-time Dean’s List honoree, played in 13 singles and seven doubles matches as a freshman and 16 singles and four doubles matches as a sophomore.
Padon is the first football player to earn the Goldring Prize and the second football player to receive the Frazier Prize. He appeared in all 10 games for the Quakers as a junior (there was no football season this academic year) and made the Dean’s List twice.
