By: Vantage Staff
One of the year’s most anticipated and rowdiest end-of-the-year events happened on Tuesday night when the Jetspys — whose name is a takeoff on the ESPN sports awards The Espys — filled Fugate Gymnasium with a crowd of Newman athletes and coaches wearing formal wear instead of their uniforms.
The event, which has been happening at Newman every year since 2014, is intended to honor Newman student athletes and give them a chance to have a little fun. At the ceremony, 21 individual awards were given out in categories like “Comeback Athlete of the Year,” female and male “Maverick of the Year,” and female and male “Game Changer.” Student athletes vote to determine the winners.
The big awards of the night — Mr. and Ms. Jet — were won by baseball player Ian Lecki and by Lauren Esfeld, a tennis player.
Attendees were fed a meal that starred barbecue brisket and barbecue chicken from Great Western Dining, but it was a meal that almost wasn’t served. Event hosts, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), decided initially to cut out the food in an effort to shorten the ceremony. But after revolt among athletes, the Student Government Association stepped in and picked up the bill for dinner.
The evening was filled with energy and unusual sights.
Everytime a baseball player would win an award (and that happened seven times) player and Male Athlete of the Year winner Jenner Steele would lead the team in the New York Jets chant, calling out “J:E:T:S” to which the rest of the team would reply “Jets! Jets! Jets!”
Students also were often caught on camera during the event by an unusual “selfie robot,” which would roam around the room snapping party pics. Many attendees noticed that the robot was being controlled via remote from across the room.
Here’s a list of winners from Tuesday night’s festivities:
Comeback Athlete of the Year: Colby Wilson, Baseball
Game of the Year: Women’s Basketball Win vs. UCO
Breakthrough Athlete of the Year: Jack Kiser, Baseball
Special Ops Award: Sister Therese Wetta, ASC
360 Turnaround Team: Women's Basketball
Community Outreach: Women's Soccer
Male Wingman: Chase Wiebe, Men's Basketball
Female Wingman: Amaya Perez, Women's Basketball
Male Rookie of the Year: Sam Somerhalder, Men's Basketball
Female Rookie of the Year: Lani Brickbichler, Women’s Soccer
Male Tame Changer: Eli Wohl, Baseball
Female Game Changer: Maddie Spagnola, Women's Basketball
Performance of the Year: Noah Akona, Men’s Bowling
Supporting Role: Noah Rogers, Trainer
Male Top Gun: Hayden VanDePol, Baseball
Female Top Gun award: Caroline Williams, Cross Country
Male Maverick: Zach Boh, Men’s Bowling
Female Maverick: Lucy Mwangi, Cheer and Dance
Male Best of the Best: Baseball
Female Best of the best: Women’s Basketball
Male Athlete of the Year: Jenner Steele, Baseball
Female Athlete of the Year: Britney Ho, Women’s Basketball
Mr. Jet: Ian Lecki, Baseball
Ms. Jet: Lauren Esfeld, Tennis
PHOTO: Cole Farquhar, Photographer
