CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Tar Heel student-athletes sang, danced, cheered and celebrated Monday evening at the 2023 Rammy Awards, held at Memorial Hall on the UNC campus. Carolina Athletics honored NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference champions, record-breakers and all-around talented students for their achievements over the past year, dating back to last year’s ceremony.
NCAA Champions swept the biggest honors, with diver Aranza Vazquez named Female Athlete of the Year, wrestler Austin O’Connor the Male Athlete of the Year, and the undefeated field hockey and women’s lacrosse teams sharing the Team of the Year Rammy Award.
After members of UNC’s 28 teams, as well as coaches and staff members, walked the Carolina blue carpet, the evening kicked off with a highlight video that had the Tar Heel teams cheering loudly for each appearance. The Carolina Girls dance team then took the stage for a number that brought out the evening’s hosts, Malu Tshitenge of women’s basketball and Kaimon Rucker from football, who joined them for the end of the routine.
Tshitenge and Rucker kicked off the night with a monolog that included jokes about NIL and the transfer portal, and some comparisons to 2013, the first year that the Rammys were held.
The first honors of the night went to the Male and Female Newcomers of the Year, David Ford from men’s golf and Ally Sentnor from women’s soccer.
The Rammy for best play went to football’s Drake Maye and Antoine Green for the winning touchdown in UNC’s victory at Duke.
The Rammy for Best Championship Performance went to Aranza Vazquez, who won two NCAA titles in women’s diving last month.
Austin O’Connor from wrestling and Fiona Crawley from women’s tennis were honored for Best Individual Performances.
The Rammys for Breakthrough Athlete went to gymnast Lali Dekanoidze and runner Ethan Strand.
Women’s basketball received the Rammy for Best Upset, recognizing a string of three straight home wins over higher-ranked teams.
Armando Bacot from men’s basketball was honored with the Rammy for Record-Breaking Performance.
The Tar Heels also handed out several special awards based on performance outside of competition. The John Lotz Award recognizes student-athletes who have overcome challenges on the way to representing the Tar Heels. This year’s honorees are gymnastics’ Hallie…
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