Webster University Athletics held its annual Gorlok Awards on Monday, May 6. The Gorlok Awards are led by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The event includes a buffet dinner and awards ceremony. Beginning in 2023-2024, SAAC Team Representatives were able to nominate and vote on nine of the awards while the department's coaches and staff nominated and voted on the other seven awards for the evening.

The department awards include the Chancellor's Award, Scholar Athlete of the Year, Inspiration Award, Record-Breaking Performance, Golden Gorlok, Male Athlete of the Year, and Female Athlete of the Year. The student nominated and voted on awards include Best Win, Best Play, Funniest Athlete, Best Social Media Post, Best Road Trip Picture, Breakout Athlete, 6^th Man/Woman of the Year, Best Teammate, and Coach of the Year. In addition, Matt Saitz, Strength & Conditioning Coach annually awards student-athletes who have put in the extra work and have excelled in the weight room the Strength & Conditioning Award.

The first award of the night was the Chancellor's Award presented by Maureen "Mo" Burt, Assistant Athletics Director. The Chancellor's Award is awarded to awarded to an excellent person, student and athlete. This student must set an example of leadership, dedication, values, and concern for others. This year's Chancellor's Award was presented to Grace Rodgers, Women's Soccer and Reese Waggoner, Softball.

The next award presented was the Scholar Athlete of the Year which is presented to a student-athlete who excels both in and out of the classroom. Scott Jensen, FAR, presented this year's Student-Athlete of the Year Award to Jacob Witaschek, Men's Basketball. Jacob graduated this past weekend with a degree in Finance and a perfect 4.0 GPA.
 
The Inspiration Award is present to the student-athlete who has displayed a positive attitude, high personal motivation, will and drive which impacts the Webster University Athletics Department. Ralph Olliges, retiring Professor in the School of Education was the presenter. This year's winner is Cheyenne Dickens, Softball.

The next set of awards were presented by student-athletes.

Most-Well Rounded Team: Women's Basketball

Best Play: Josh Hayes sinking a hole-in-one at the Transylvania Invitational practice round.

Best Win: Women's Basketball coming back from 20 point down to win the SLIAC Championship, 71-56 over Westminster.

Funniest Athlete: Andrew McDonald, Men's Tennis

Best Social Media Post: Women's Basketball Instagram Post hyping their SLIAC Semifinal contest against Fontbonne on February 24 (https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3tKUceOz48/?igsh=N2F0cWk1ZTJ5bnpi)

Best Road Trip Picture: Members of the Cross Country team posing for a funny picture in the bathroom stalls at Regionals.

Breakout Athlete: Danny Nusinovic, Men's Soccer

6^th Man/Woman of the Year: Abby Szydlowski, Women's Cross Country and Emily Wilson, Women's Basketball

Best Teammate: Kaelin Triggs, Men's Track & Field

Record-Breaking Performance: Women's Basketball for setting a record for most wins in a season, most consecutive wins in a season and in the SLIAC, first time ever ranked in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) poll and d3hoops Coaches poll climbing up to #18.

Coach of the Year: Matt Saitz, Strength & Conditioning

Golden Gorlok: Kaelin Triggs, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field

The final awards of the night were the Male and Female Athletes of the Year. The Athlete of the Year is presented to one male and one female student-athlete who displays excellence in one or more sports, is in good academic standing and has an attitude and character that represents the ideals of the Webster Intercollegiate Athletics Program.

Scott Kilgallon, Director of Athletics, presented the Male Athlete of the Year. The 2023-2024 Male Athlete of the Year is Jan Antonin Wdowka. Jan has been a major contributor to the Men's Golf Team ever since his recruitment.  He has played in the number one position of every college event since beginning at Webster and his abilities have garnered significant interest from competitive Division I golf programs. Jan won the individual title at the SLIAC Conference Championship two years in row, 2023 and 2024. He became the sixth straight Gorlok to win the SLIAC Championship and only the second Gorlok to win his second career title. He led the field with a 2.80 scoring average on par 3's while finishing tied for first with 13 birdies. For his efforts, Jan earned First Team All-SLIAC honors and was named the SLIAC Men's Golfer of the Year for the second straight season. Jan is a Business Administration major with a 3.46 GPA (before final grades were submitted).

Maureen "Mo" Burt, Assistant Athletics Director presented the Female Student Athlete of the Year to Lauren Borik. Lauren completed her final year of eligibility this year as a defensive specialist/libero after missing most of last year with a back injury she's dealt with her entire collegiate career. Despite her injury, this year she won SLIAC Defensive Player of the year, was 1^st Team All-SLIAC, Defensive Player of the Week 3x, SLIAC All-Academic for the 4^th time, and named to the CSC All-Academic Team. Lauren reached her 1,000 dig this fall making her just the fifth player in Webster history to reach 1,000 kills and digs. She tallied 442 digs this season, which led the team. Over the course of her Webster career, Lauren was named Offensive Player of the Week five times; three times was named Defensive Player of the Week; earned First Team All-SLIAC three times and was a Second Team All-SLIAC; was named to the SLIAC All-Tournament Team in 2021; was the SLIAC Player of the Year in 2020 and 2021; was the SLIAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023; was SLIAC All-Academic the past four seasons; and was a CoSida All-District All-Academic and a CSC All-Academic.

To close out the awards ceremony, graduating seniors were recognized. 40 seniors were in attendance. They received a Student-Athlete graduation stole, a SAAC-initiated gift and a Webster University padfolio.