CU Athletics Honors Top Performers at 26th Annual CUSPY Awards
The night time was highlighted by the presentation of the Male and Female Athletes of the Year, recognizing the highest particular person performers throughout all sports activities.
Barrington Hargress (males’s basketball) was named Male Athlete of the Year, rising from a robust group of finalists that included Hunter Swanson (males’s golf), Isaiah Givens (observe & subject), Filip Wahlqvist (alpine snowboarding) and Jakob Moch (Nordic snowboarding). Additional nominees included Dominic Serem (cross nation) and Jeremy Brown (soccer).
Hargress put collectively an excellent season, averaging 14.2 factors and 4.5 assists per recreation whereas capturing 48.5 p.c from three-point vary. He led the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio and ranked among the many nation’s best guards with a .531 subject purpose proportion.
On the ladies’s aspect, Hope Leyba (soccer) earned Female Athlete of the Year honors, headlining a deep finalist group that included Carolyn Fuller (girls’s golf), Avery Pearson (observe & subject), Lily Assini (lacrosse), Tilde Baangman (Nordic snowboarding), Louison Accambray (alpine snowboarding) and Ana Burilovic (volleyball). Other nominees have been Jade Masogayo (girls’s basketball), Jessie Secor (cross nation) and Pia Rebecca (tennis).
Leyba delivered a historic marketing campaign, main the nation in targets whereas incomes First-Team All-America honors and setting a Colorado single-season report with 24 targets. She completed the season with 24 targets and 6 assists (54 factors) and was chosen to the US U-23 Women’s National Team.
Career Achievement Awards
The Male Career Athletic Achievement Award was shared by Filip Wahlqvist (alpine snowboarding) and Hunter Swanson (males’s golf), chosen from a finalist group that additionally included James Overberg (cross nation) and Alejandro Mata (soccer), with Elijah Malone (males’s basketball) among the many further nominees.
Swanson has emerged as one of the vital achieved golfers in program historical past, posting a 71.69 profession stroke common whereas competing in 48 tournaments with the Big 12 Tournament and extra but to come back. He recorded 20 tournaments underneath par and ranked among the many program’s high performers in rounds within the 60s, rounds of par or higher and complete birdies.
Wahlqvist capped a dominant snowboarding profession that included 38 top-10 finishes, 24 podium appearances and 11 victories. He set program data in slalom wins and podium finishes, cementing his place amongst Colorado’s all-time greats.
On the ladies’s aspect, Jordan Nytes (soccer) earned the Female Career Athletic Achievement Award. She was chosen from a finalist group that included Jade Masogayo (girls’s basketball), Jess Peluso (lacrosse), Tilde Baangman (Nordic snowboarding) and Aya El Sayed (tennis), with Louison Accambray (alpine snowboarding) and Sarah Morton (volleyball) additionally acknowledged as nominees.
Nytes capped his profession as one of many high goalkeepers in program historical past, incomes Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Year honors 3 times whereas setting the college report for profession shutouts and beginning greater than 80 matches. She additionally earned a number of All-America honors and signed knowledgeable contract following her collegiate profession.
Newcomer of the Year
Dominic Serem (males’s cross nation) was named Male Newcomer of the Year, main a finalist group that included Barrington Hargress (males’s basketball), Joseph Williams (soccer), Jackson Rivera (males’s golf) and Justine Kipkoech (observe & subject).
It will make an instantaneous influence for the Buffaloes, inserting fifth at the Gans Creek Classic and fourth at the Nuttycombe Invitational earlier than ending as Colorado’s high runner at the NCAA Championships with a 58th-place end.
Avery Pearson (observe & subject) earned Female Newcomer of the Year honors, rising from a gaggle of finalists that included Zyanna Walker (girls’s basketball), Nina Schamberger (Nordic snowboarding) and Raegan Kotschau (soccer), with Hannah Soria (alpine snowboarding) and Peyton Neal (volleyball) additionally among the many nominees.
Pearson has delivered a record-breaking season, changing into the primary athlete in program historical past to interrupt the two-minute barrier within the 800 meters with a school-record time of 1:59.98. She certified for the NCAA Championships and gained the Big 12 title within the 600 yards.
Freshman of the Year
Feb Allasina (alpine snowboarding) was named Male Freshman of the Year after a standout debut season. He was chosen from a finalist group that included Isaiah Johnson (males’s basketball), Quentin Gibson (soccer), TJ Hansen (observe & subject) and Storm Pedersen (Nordic snowboarding), with Tyler Long (males’s golf) additionally among the many nominees.
Allasina completed 13 of 16 races, all throughout the high 10, recording 10 top-five finishes and 6 podium appearances. He gained two large slalom races, claimed the RMISA large slalom title and earned two First-Team All-America honors.
The Female Freshman of the Year award was shared by Logyn Greer (girls’s basketball) and Mia Larochelle (cross nation). The duo led a finalist group that included Rowan Edson (lacrosse), Paige DeHart (alpine snowboarding) and Vivi Zacarias (soccer), with Teemapat Pateetin (girls’s golf) and Lani Brotman (tennis) additionally acknowledged as nominees.
Greer earned All-Big 12 Freshman Team honors whereas showing in all 34 video games, recording 16 double-digit scoring performances. Larochelle posted robust outcomes all through the season, together with a top-100 end at the NCAA Championships and a top-10 all-time mark within the 3,000 meters.
The Staff Member of the Year honor was shared by Taylor Stratton, Director of the Ralphie Live Mascot Program, and Colton Behr, Assistant Program Manager. The two have been instrumental in bringing the Ralphie custom charging again with the debut of Ralphie VII.
The Student-Athlete Support Award was introduced to the Custodial Maintenance Staff.
The Spencer Nelson Buffalo Spirit Award was introduced to Magdalena Luczak (alpine snowboarding), honoring her resilience and perseverance. Luczak was on the verge of historical past at final 12 months’s NCAA Championships, holding a commanding lead at the enormous slalom cut up earlier than a fall resulted in a knee harm, ending her race and subsequent 2026 season simply seconds from what would have been her fourth profession particular person NCAA title. Granted a further 12 months of eligibility, Luczak is ready to return and compete for the Buffaloes as soon as once more subsequent season.
Faith Leyba and Hope Leyba (soccer) have been named Women’s Lifters of the Year, whereas Luke Williams (observe & subject) earned the boys’s honor.
The Ceal Barry Leadership Award recipients included Jessica Peluso (lacrosse), RJ Johnson (soccer), Louison Accambray (alpine snowboarding) and Luke Dry (observe & subject).
The Byron R. White Leadership & Initiative Award was introduced to Rian Finley (volleyball), Johnny Homsy (observe & subject), Anya Nelson (tennis) and Matthew Winston (Ralphie Handler).
Championing Change Awards have been introduced to student-athlete Balansama Kamara (soccer) and Dr. Courtney Copeland (Psychological Health and Performance).
Entering CU for the spring semester, Kamara wasted no time making an influence. He co-hosted the annual Black Excellence night time in CU athletics and was additionally instrumental in internet hosting The Kickback, an area for scholar athletes, workers and coaches to fellowship, construct group and bridge the hole with scholar campus management teams.
The Moment of the Year was voted on through the occasion, and the Lacrosse staff’s win over No. 2 Northwestern to start out the 12 months gained. In the highest-ranked win in CU historical past, Maddie Shoup led the cost with 5 targets, together with the game-winner with simply over 4 minutes to play. And when it got here all the way down to the ultimate seconds, goalkeeper Elena Oh made the stops that sealed it.
Originally created in 2001, the annual occasion stays one of the vital common among the many athletes, as they’ve tailor-made the operate to be the ultimate social gathering solely amongst themselves for the final time earlier than finals and summer season trip, if not for an extended time period for these graduating. It is believed to be one of many solely occasions within the nation virtually fully organized by the student-athletes, and definitely was amongst, if not, the primary.