Lopey winners announced virtually

The Lopey Awards honor the finest GCU athletic achievements of each school year. With student-athletes unable to gather for the usual GCU Arena ceremony, this year's winners were unveiled on a daily basis this month.

MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Kade Mechals, baseball (watch video)

Baseball starting pitcher Kade Mechals earned a spot on the All-WAC first team last year when he set the GCU Division I record with a 2.16 earned run average, led the WAC by holding opponents to .193 hitting and became the first Lopes pitcher since 2004 to reach 100 strikeouts. After the WAC Tournament, Mechals shared the national lead for victories with 11. This season, the Preseason All-American opened with a win against No. 16 Oklahoma State and posted a 2.35 ERA in three starts.

Also nominated: Lorenzo Fucile (tennis), Pietro Hufnagel Toscani (swimming and diving) and Alessandro Lever (basketball).

FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Alyson Schwartz, track and field (watch video)

Track and field standout Alyson Schwartz repeated her pole vault title at the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships this year with a meet and GCU record of 4.16 meters. She also won the GCU Outdoor Track and Field Championships' pole vault titles in 2018 and 2019 and qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round twice. She was named GCU Student-Athlete of the Month in February and placed on the Academic All-WAC list this year for her 3.88 grade point average in Biomedical Engineering.

Also nominated: Celina Buhr (tennis), Da'jah Daniel (basketball), Paige Hildebrandt (cross country and track and field) and Kaira Moss (volleyball).

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Men's tennis (watch video)

The men's tennis team advanced to the Division I NCAA tournament for the first time in program history in May after winning the WAC regular-season title and the WAC Tournament championships. In the tourney's title match, the Lopes rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the team dual score with Mathieu Rajaonah, now a graduate assistant, fighting off three match points. Then-junior Lorenzo Fucile (pictured) was honored as WAC Player of the Year while head coach Greg Prudhomme won WAC Coach of the Year.

Also nominated: men's track and field, women's track and field and women's volleyball.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Camden Gianni, volleyball (watch video)

Redshirt freshman volleyball player Camden Gianni went into cardiac arrest during a December 2018 practice and had his life saved on the Antelope Gymnasium floor by GCU staffers Deborah Carter and Dennis Flowers. Gianni underwent open-heart surgery and missed the 2019 season before returning to star this season for the 11th-ranked Lopes. He was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Freshman of the Year with a team-leading 3.5 kills per set, which ranked 26th in the nation. He was 18th nationally for aces per set (0.43) and 24th nationally for points per game (4.2).

COMEBACK STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Alyssa Christianson, swimming and diving (watch video)

Junior swimmer Alyssa Christianson underwent shoulder surgery in 2018 and redshirted the 2018-19 season before successfully returning to action last fall. In February, Christianson won the WAC championship in the 200-yard breaststroke and took third at the conference meet for the 100 breaststroke and fourth for the 200 individual medley. She also holds GCU records in the 200 breaststroke and the 100 individual medley.

Also nominated: Cuba Bess (baseball), Justin Cvitanovic (tennis) and Jack Schneider (baseball).

BREAKTHROUGH STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Hugo Fischer, volleyball (watch video)

Sophomore volleyball player Hugo Fischer went from playing in six sets as a GCU freshman to being an integral factor this season for the 11th-ranked Lopes. He was selected as an All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honorable mention after he ranked 11th in the conference for points per set (3.32) and blocks per set (0.74) and being 30th in the nation for aces per set (0.39). He was second on GCU in blocks (42) and third for kills (142) and aces (22).

Also nominated: Bella Bauman (beach volleyball), Jacob Lewis (cross country and track and field) and Justin Rasmussen (soccer).

FEMALE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Klaire Mitchell, volleyball (watch video)

Volleyball player Klaire Mitchell won WAC Freshman of the Year as she helped GCU post one of the nation's best one-year improvements in women's volleyball. She was one of six All-WAC Tournament Team honorees after leading the Lopes (24-6) to the championship match and was an All-WAC second-team selection for the regular season. The setter ranked second in the conference with 9.6 assists per set and was 74th nationally with 1,085 assists, the second-best assist total in GCU's Division I history.

Also nominated: Sara Lameiro Castellanos (swimming and diving), Payton Fehringer (golf), Jada Holland (basketball) and Savannah Tourville (softball).

MALE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Pierson Ohl, baseball (watch video)

Baseball starting pitcher Pierson Ohl racked up the honors in his debut campaign in the spring of 2019. As a freshman at the time, Ohl slid right into the Lopes' weekend pitching rotation and helped lead the program to its winningest Division I season with 36 wins. Ohl was named the WAC Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball. He started more games (16) than any other WAC pitcher, and his sparkling 2.37 ERA in WAC play was the second-best mark in the conference.

Also nominated: Jovan Blacksher Jr. (basketball).

ROLAND L. BECK SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD (female)

Jessica Stansfield, beach volleyball (watch video)

Beach volleyball senior Jessica Stansfield is the female honoree for GCU's most traditional award, recognizing excellence in academics, athletics, leadership and character. Stansfield won 53 career matches despite a shortened senior season, when she helped the Lopes to a No. 7 national ranking. She went 22-8 as a junior on the top three courts. Stansfield volunteered 480 hours with the National Ecological Observatory Network and also served with Feed My Starving Children while being a two-year member of GCU's Building Champions Leadership Academy.

Also nominated: Elizabeth Balsan (cross country and track and field), Paige Hildebrandt (cross country and track and field), Melody Horton (volleyball) and Loriann Olson (softball).

ROLAND L. BECK SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD (male)

Austin Day, soccer (watch video)

Soccer senior Austin Day is the male honoree for GCU's most traditional award, recognizing excellence in academics, athletics, leadership and character. Day was named to the Academic All-America first team in December for the second consecutive year, making him one of eight Lopes ever to do that in any sport. He was selected to the 2019 All-WAC second team while starting being one of two GCU players to start every game. In 2018, Day was part of a defense that ranked 24th in the nation. He earned an undergraduate degree in Business with a 3.99 GPA and carries a 3.91 GPA as a graduate student. He also is a two-year member of the GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Also nominated: Caleb Blazer (volleyball), Lorenzo Fucile (tennis) and Jack Schneider (baseball).

L.O.P.E.S. CUP

Softball

The softball team wins the L.O.P.E.S. (Leadership, Ownership, Purpose, Excellence, Service) for the third consecutive year. Led by head coach Ann Pierson (pictured), the softball team has excelled on and off the field. Softball led GCU Athletics with more than 1,000 community service hours while topping all softball teams in the nation for best grade point average (3.76). The team had perfect attendance at events in L.O.P.E.S. for Life, a GCU program for personal and professional developments. The team went 33-24 last season and supported other Lopes by attending 16 athletic events as a team.

TOP TEAM GPAS OF THE YEAR

Men's tennis and women's tennis

The men's tennis and women's tennis teams recorded the best GCU team grade point averages for spring and fall 2019 cumulatively. The men's tennis team posted a 3.69 GPA for 2019 to top men's teams while the women's team recorded the Lopes' highest GPA at 3.88 in 2019. Both teams are led by head coach Dr. Greg Prudhomme (pictured), who received his Doctorate of Philosophy in General Psychology from GCU last year.

The voting process: Student-athletes were nominated by GCU's athletic communications staff and voted on by GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and administrative staff. Performances from March 1, 2019, to March 1, 2020, were considered. Voting for Team of the Year consisted of spring 2019 teams and fall/winter 2019-20 teams.

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