April 28, 2008

TOMMY AWARD PHOTO GALLERY

The third edition of the Tommy Athletic Awards was well received by USC student-athletes, coaches and staff on Wednesday evening. The event, which is planned by the members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (S.A.A.C.), honors Trojan student-athletes for their many accomplishments in the past year. The ceremony was opened by the Director of Athletics Mike Garrett and included various video tributes in addition to the awards. Most notably, the 2007 National Champion women's soccer team walked away with Best Female Individual Day Performance (Kristin Olsen), Female Record Breaking Performance, Best Female Team of the Year, Trojan of the Year (Amy Massey) and Coach of the Year (Ali Khosroshahin).

Women's Soccer also won the inaugural Trojan Cup. This is a very special award because the Trojan Cup is a competition initiated by the student-athletes to encourage student-athletes to support each other by attending athletic events. The competition is now about being good citizens and the most all around Trojans. Teams can earn points for academic achievement, athletic accomplishment, community service, program attendance, personal development initiatives and attendance at USC athletic events. Competition for the Trojan Cup was close this year and next year is sure to be more of the same with Women's Volleyball and Men's Water Polo finishing in second and third respectively.

The event was a great success and the next edition of the Tommy Awards is sure to be even better as the tradition grows stronger.

2007 Tommy Athletic Award Winners

Male - Individual Day Performance
Stenn Parton, Track & Field
Parton helped USC to defeat UCLA in the Dual Meet to snap a five-year losing streak to the Bruins. He won the javelin competition with a throw of 197-8, which beat his previous Personal Record by 23 feet. That throw also moved him to ninth place all-time on the USC career best javelin throw marks.

Female - Individual Day Performance
Kristin Olsen, Women's Soccer
In her first season as USC's full-time goalkeeper, Olsen became USC's all-time leader in solo shutouts in a single season with 12 and set a new career high of eight saves during USC's 2-1 win over UCLA in the NCAA Semifinals. It was USC's first win over UCLA since 1998 and snapped an 11-game winless streak against the Bruins.

Best Comeback
Rebecca Soni, Women's Swimming
In 2006, Soni underwent heart surgery to repair an irregular heartbeat (called a cardiac ablation). The surgery cost Soni much of her training season, yet she still managed to win the 200 yard breast NCAA title in 2007.

Female - Record Breaking Performance
Women's Soccer
Women's soccer won the first NCAA soccer championship in USC history and set program records with 20 wins, 15 shutouts, 13 goals allowed. USC became the first Pac-10 team to win an NCAA soccer title.

Male - Record Breaking Performance
Noah Bryant, Track & Field
Bryant set a new USC record in the shot put with throw of 67-5 ½ at the USC-UCLA dual meet (record had stood since 1972). Best Athlete - Female
Candice Davis, Track
Davis was the 2007 Pac-10 & Western Regional Champion in the 100 meter Hurdles and runner-up at the NCAA Championships in the 100 Meter Hurdles. She placed third at NCAA Championships in 4x100 relay and is a four-time All-American.

Best Athlete - Male
Jamie Lovemark, Golf
Lovemark was the 2007 NCAA Individual Champion and was the Arnold Palmer recipient (national championship individual medalist). He also was the winner of Jack Nicklaus (national player of the year) & Phil Mickleson (nation's outstanding freshman) awards.

Female Team of the Year
Women's Soccer
Women's soccer won the first NCAA soccer championship in USC history and set program records with 20 wins, 15 shutouts, 13 goals allowed. USC became the first Pac-10 team to win an NCAA soccer title.

Male Team of the Year
Football
Football recorded its sixth consecutive 11-win season, finishing 11-2 overall. USC won the Pac-10 title, made another BCS bowl appearance and earned an AP top 4 ranking. The Trojans finished the season as Rose Bowl Champion over Illinois.

Male - Trojan of the Year
Jody Adewale, Football
Despite extreme financial hardships, Jody has been described as someone with strength of spirit and character in both his athletic and academic pursuits. He is known to be a caring individual who consistently aims to improve himself and those around him. Throughout school, he juggled classes while frequently commuting back and forth between USC and Boyle Heights to help to support his family. Earning his undergraduate degree in four years, Jody is currently pursuing his master's degree in counseling at USC's School of Education.

Female - Trojan of the Year
Amy Massey, Soccer
Amy transferred to USC this season and made an instant impact on the athletic department while also helping the Trojans win the 2007 National Championship. She mobilized a department effort to raise money for a powerful global outreach program, organizing a recycling program on campus in support of Water Wells for Africa. Each week, she makes the rounds to recycling bins around campus and gathers bottles from teammates, then hauls them to a local recycling center to collect the refund. All the money earned goes directly to WWFA, in an effort to raise the $5,000 necessary to install a well in Malawi and save the lives of hundreds of Africans who would otherwise be subjected to the diseases borne in unclean water.

Coach of the Year
Ali Khosroshahin, Women's Soccer
Named the 2007 National Coach of the Year by NSCAA, SoccerBuzz and SoccerTimes, Khosroshahin became the first first-year coach to lead his team to the NCAA title, leading USC to first NCAA soccer championship in USC history as well as new program records with 20 wins, 15 shutouts, 13 goals allowed. USC became the first Pac-10 team to win an NCAA soccer title.