Wayne State University Athletics

Zack Belsky/WSU Athletics

Baseball 5/2/2024 9:44:00 AM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Golden W Awards Event Recognizes Top Student-Athletes

DETROIT -- On Monday evening, the Wayne State University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) in conjunction with the Athletic Department's Student Support Services unit held the Golden W Awards Ceremony in the Community Arts Auditorium on campus.

Eight Deans' Awards were presented to the student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPA in each college. Click here for release.

In addition, the 62 student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 term GPA for the Fall 2023 semester were also recognized as well as the 234 student-athletes that attained Athletic Director's Honor Roll status (term GPA 3.5+) for the Fall 2023 semester.

The 80 student-athletes that are graduating this week or in August were also honored.

Team Academic Awards were presented to the male and female teams with the highest term GPA for the Fall 2023 semester. The eight members of the women's fencing team had a combined 3.811 term GPA, while the 35 members of the baseball squad had a combined 3.567 term GPA.

All student-athletes were eligible to vote on many awards. Receiving the team award for "Dressed to Impress" was Women's Tennis. Baseball won the "Warrior Spirit" Team award.

Men's swimmer Khalil Ben Ajmia garnered the Male Newcomer of the Year, while women's basketball's McKenna Ferguson earned the Female Newcomer of the Year.

Men's cross country All-American Ransom Allen won the Make Record Breaker award, with women's basketball's Becca Fugate receiving the Female Record Breaker award.

The "Male Influencer Vibes" award went to football's Donte Reed, while women's basketball's Taylor Thompson was the female award recipient.

The Male Teammate of the Year honor went to baseball's Ryan Szlachcic, with women's track and field's Mikayla Williams earning the Female Teammate of the Year award.

The Male Comeback Player of the Year was baseball's Mason McGuire, with women's track sophomore Hanne Bastiaansen receiving the Female Comeback Player of the Year honor.

Softball's Mady Ruczynski and men's swimmer James Violassi were selected as Best Dressed for the evening through an online vote the night of the event. Joining Ruczynski and Violassi in the picture below are women's golfer Sabel Imesch (far left) and softball student-athlete Maddie Hool (far right).

Mady Ruczynski and James Violassi - Best Dressed

Mady Ruczynski and James Violassi - Best Dressed

The final recognition of the evening was to retiring Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Tim Butler, who received a WSU Letterwinners jacket from Director of Athletics Erika Wallace.

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Players Mentioned

#44 Donte Reed: DE; 6' 0"; Redshirt Junior

#42 Mason McGuire: UT; 6' 0"; Junior; S/R

#28 Ryan Szlachcic: RHP; 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior; R/R

Ransom Allen: 5' 10"; Graduate Student

James Violassi: Sprint Free; 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior

#21 McKenna Ferguson: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

#4 Becca Fugate: G; 5' 7"; Redshirt Senior

#5 Taylor Thompson: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

Sabel Imesch: 5' 7"; Sophomore

#2 Maddie Hool: 2B; 5' 4"; Sophomore; R/R

Players Mentioned

#44 Donte Reed
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Junior
: DE

#42 Mason McGuire
: 6' 0"; Junior; S/R
: UT

#28 Ryan Szlachcic
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior; R/R
: RHP

Ransom Allen
: 5' 10"; Graduate Student

James Violassi
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior
: Sprint Free

#21 McKenna Ferguson
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G

#4 Becca Fugate
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#5 Taylor Thompson
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

Sabel Imesch
: 5' 7"; Sophomore

#2 Maddie Hool
: 5' 4"; Sophomore; R/R
: 2B