TEMPE – Sun Devil soccer head coach Graham Winkworth and softball graduate student Yanni Acuña received the top awards at the annual Wings of Gold event last Wednesday evening at the San Tan Ford Club at Sun Devil Stadium.
The two big awards that were given out were the Heather Farr Award, which Acuña won, and the Wings of Gold Linda Vollstedt Coach of the Year, which Winkworth won.
After the silent auction prior to the event, emcee Lina Washington, a sports reporter for 12 News in Phoenix and an ASU alumnus, first acknowledged the accomplishments of the women’s sports programs at ASU throughout the 2021-22 and 2022-23 athletic seasons in addition to four women student-athletes who are Change Agents in the Sun Devil community.
Washington first noted Sun Devil Softball’s 20-game win streak they went on last season and how they were 12-0 to start conference play and hosted Regionals and Super Regionals last May. Washington then highlighted triathlon’s sixth-consecutive national championship backed by national champion Amber Schlebusch and runner-up Liberty Ricca in November 2022.
After team highlights, Washington went on to recognize the four student-athletes servings as Change Agents by first recognizing beach volleyball’s Jensen Kaelin, who is the only Sun Devil student-athlete to be in the Starbucks college program. She also is involved with EmpowHER, a program specific for bringing together female student-athletes. Next, Washington recognized gymnastics’ Izzy Redmond for her NIL partnership with adidas, serving as the Black Student Athletes Association president and being a key panelist for the social justice town hall during Super Bowl Week last month. Lastly, Lexi Guerin and Brynn Holohan of lacrosse were acknowledged for the efforts they made in creating an ASU student-athlete chapter of Morgan’s Message, a nonprofit organization that strives to eliminate the stigma of mental health within the student-athlete community.
After the student-athete and team highlights, the Heather Farr Award was awarded to Acuña and was presented by Farr’s sister, current Sun Devil women’s golf head coach Missy Farr-Kaye. The award was named in honor of one of the most successful female student-athletes in school history. Farr passed away in November 1993 after a long, valiant fight against breast cancer. This award honors her…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Arizona State University Athletics…