Bringing you news and notes coming from the American Athletic Conference in women's sports from both the athletic field and in the classroom as soon as news breaks.
American Athletic Conference Scholar of the Year Athletes
Commissioner Tim Pernetti has announced Charlotte track and field All-American Riley Felts have been chosen as the 2023-24 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year, as chosen by the conference’s Academic Committee.
Felts, The American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, will each receive a $4,000 postgraduate financial scholarship.
“I am proud to present the American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards to 23 of our outstanding student-athletes,” said Pernetti. “And I am especially pleased to recognize Jackson Caldwell and Riley Felts as our Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year, the best of the best. Jackson and Riley join an impressive list of champions and scholars who have won these awards and set the highest standard for all of our student-athletes.”
Felts, who hails from Matthews, North Carolina, becomes the first Charlotte student-athlete to be chosen as The American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Felts was the runner-up in the pole vault in both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championship meets as she registered the highest national individual finish in school history in any sport. She is a six-time conference champion who helped the 49ers to a sweep of the indoor and outdoor team titles in Charlotte’s first year in The American.
Felts earned a 4.00 grade-point average as an undergraduate and holds a 3.90 GPA in Charlotte’s postgraduate civil engineering program. She won the Charlotte Provost Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award as the 49ers’ top all-around student-athlete and was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America first team.
Selections for the 23 Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, as well as the Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, are made by the Academic Committee on the basis of academic credentials and athletic performance. Each conference school may nominate one student-athlete per sport who has achieved senior academic standing as determined by the institution. A winner is chosen from each of the conference’s 21 sponsored sports in addition to at-large selections from sports not sponsored by the conference.
2024 American Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Riley Felts, Charlotte (Track and Field)
2024 American Athletic Conference Sport Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Sport Student-Athlete School Highlights
Women's Basketball Dazia Lawerence Charlotte Two time First Team All Conference selection
Women’s Cross Country Lauren Johnston Charlotte Placed sixth at 2023 AAC Championship to earn all-conference honors
Women’s Golf Melanie Green South Florida 2024 AAC Player of the Year; four-time All-AAC; R&A Women’s Amateur Champion
Women’s Lacrosse Belle Mastropietro Temple Three-time AAC Midfielder of the Year; four-time first team All-AAC selection
Women’s Rowing Isabella Musollino Tulsa Two-time all-conference selection; coxswain of 2024 AAC champion varsity eight
Women’s Soccer Mya Jones Memphis 2023 AAC Offensive Player of the Year; four-time all-conference selection
Softball Addison Barnard Wichita State First player in NCAA history with 90 HR and 60 SB; ranks fifth in NCAA career HR
Women’s Swimming Diving Imogen Meers Rice 2024 AAC champion in 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke
Women’s Tennis Taylor Johnson SMU 2024 AAC Player of the Year and two-time all-conference selection
Women’s Indoor Track and Field Riley Felts Charlotte NCAA runner-up in indoor and outdoor pole vault; two-time Academic All-America
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Chloe Hershenow Tulsa 2024 AAC champion in the 5,000 and 10,000; three AAC titles in the 10,000
Women’s Volleyball Kayley Cassaday Tulsa AVCA honorable mention All-America; first team Academic All-America
Women’s At-Large (Fencing) Diana Tiburcio Temple Career record of 102-60 in sabre; helped team to four straight conference titles
Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year
2013-14 Nicole Scott, Swimming & Diving, Rutgers
2014-15 Kadi Kullerkann, Volleyball, Houston
2015-16 Avery Acker, Volleyball, SMU
2016-17 Micaela Bouter, Swimming and Diving, Houston
2017-18 Mikaela Raudsepp, Volleyball, Wichita State
2018-19 Leonie Harm, Golf, Houston
2019-20 Caitlin Klopfer, Cross Country, Tulsa
2020-21 Georgina Corrick, Softball, South Florida
2021-22 McKenna Melville, Volleyball, UCF
2022-23 Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, Basketball, South Florida
2023-24 Riley Felts, Track and Field, Charlotte
Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2013-14 Antonita Slaughter, Louisville
2014-15 Jamie Kaplan, Tulane
2015-16 Courtney Williams, South Florida
2016-17 Leslie Vorpahl, Tulane
2017-18 Ktija Laksa, South Florida
2018-19 Katie Lou Samuelson, UConn
2019-20 Antoinette Miller, Cincinnati
2020-21 Rebecca Lescay, Tulsa
2021-22 Elena Tsineke, South Florida
2022-23 Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, South Florida
2023-24 Dazia Lawrence, Charlotte
Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Lauren Bartels, Tulane
2018-19 Alyssa Bolliger, Tulsa
2019-20 Caitlin Klopfer, Tulsa
2020-21 Caitlin Klopfer, Tulsa
2021-22 Caroline Miller, Tulsa
2022-23 Kat Pesendorfer, Tulsa
2023-24 Lauren Johnston, Charlotte
Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Megan Thothong, Houston
2018-19 Leonie Harm, Houston
2019-20 Dorthea Forbrigd, East Carolina
2020-21 Dorthea Forbrigd, East Carolina
2021-22 Kathryn Carson, East Carolina
2022-23 Lilly Thomas, Tulsa
2023-24 Melanie Green, South Florida
Women’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2018-19 Maddie Gebert, Temple
2019-20 Megan Pallozzi, East Carolina
2020-21 Courtney Taylor, Temple
2021-22 Kylie Nause, Cincinnati
2022-23 Belle Mastropietro, Temple
2023-24 Belle Mastropietro, Temple
Women’s Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Hannah Vissers, Tulsa
2018-19 Emily Fogg, SMU
2019-20 Mia Cleary, UCF
2020-21 Julie Poulsen, UCF
2021-22 Hallie Wilson, SMU
2022-23 Karen Undset, Tulsa
2023-24 Isabella Musollino, Tulsa
Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Vanessa Giles, Cincinnati
2018-19 Lizzie Woerner, Memphis
2019-20 Stasia Mallin, Memphis
2020-21 Elizabeth Moberg, Memphis
2021-22 Elizabeth Moberg, Memphis
2022-23 Mya Jones, Memphis
2023-24 Mya Jones, Memphis
Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Emily Watson, Tulsa
2018-19 Savannah Heebner, Houston
2019-20 Alea White, UCF
2020-21 Georgina Corrick, South Florida
2021-22 Gracie Morton, Memphis
2022-23 Shannon Doherty, UCF
2023-24 Addison Barnard, Wichita State
Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Micaela Bouter, Houston
2018-19 Peyton Kondis, Houston
2019-20 Zarena Brown, Houston
2020-21 Kate McDonald, Tulane
2021-22 Iza Pelka, Tulane
2022-23 Nicole Stambo, SMU
2023-24 Imogen Meers, Rice
Women’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Monica Matias, UCF
2018-19 Martha Matoula, Tulsa
2019-20 Martina Okalova, Tulsa
2020-21 Ksenia Kuznetsova, UCF
2021-22 Marie Mattel, UCF
2022-23 Marie Mattel, UCF
2023-24 Taylor Johnson, SMU
Women’s Indoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Rosie Chamberlain, UCF
2018-19 Loretta Blaut, Cincinnati
2019-20 Millie Howard, Temple
2020-21 Alanna Lally, Temple
2021-22 Kat Pesendorfer, Tulsa
2022-23 Rayniah Jones, UCF
2023-24 Riley Felts, Charlotte
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Loretta Blaut, Cincinnati
2018-19 Ashley Pryke, Memphis
2019-20 Hannah Miller, SMU
2020-21 Claudia Rojo, Wichita State
2021-22 Jane Sensibaugh, Cincinnati
2022-23 Latasha Smith, UCF
2023-24 Chloe Hershenow, Tulsa
Women’s Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Mikaela Raudsepp, Wichita State
2018-19 Emily Thorson, Tulsa
2019-20 Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati
2020-21 Lexie Douglas, Tulane
2021-22 McKenna Melville, UCF
2022-23 McKenna Melville, UCF
2023-24 Kaley Cassaday, Tulsa
At-Large Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2017-18 Charlotte Veitner, UConn (Field Hockey) Lauren Hudson, Cincinnati (Lacrosse)
2018-19 Nora Gray, SMU (Equestrian)
2019-20 Malia Hee, Temple (Fencing)
2020-21 Marina Barzaghi, South Florida (Sailing)
2021-22 Crystal Singh, Tulane (Bowling)
2022-23 Margherita Calderaro, Temple (Fencing)
2023-24 Diana Tiburcio, Temple (Fencing)
