2026 CATSPY Awards Offered Monday at Historic Memorial Coliseum – UK Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The twenty fourth annual CATSPY Awards had been held Monday inside Historic Memorial Coliseum to acknowledge athletic and tutorial performances in the course of the 2025-26 yr within the University of Kentucky Athletics Department. With a number of winners in some classes, 31 people and three groups had been acknowledged. The 2026 CATSPY Awards cowl accomplishments earned from April 2025 by way of April 2026.

Headlining the awards was the Team of the Year – volleyball, the nationwide runner up and Southeastern Conference regular-season and event winners.

Craig Skinner’s squad gained its ninth-straight SEC regular-season title and claimed the newly revived SEC Tournament title to cap an undefeated run by way of the league. Kentucky hosted the primary and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Historic Memorial Coliseum and in addition noticed sold-out crowds for its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight victories at residence.

The Wildcats posted an exciting five-set victory over Wisconsin within the Final Four to advance to their second NCAA Championship match earlier than falling to Texas A&M.

Volleyball’s Eva Hudson gained Women’s Athlete of the Year, whereas Braden Peiser and Carlie Makarawu gained Men’s Athletes of the Year.

Hudson had an unimaginable season for Kentucky with a prolonged checklist of accomplishments, together with 2025 SEC Player of the Year, 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year, AVCA First-Team All-America and a finalist for AVCA National Player of the Year. She was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team and set a faculty file for kills with 546.

Peiser had a record-breaking season, setting an NCAA file smallbore rating and tied an NCAA file combination rating. Peiser gained the 2026 GARC Smallbore Individual Championship and was the 2026 NCAA Smallbore Individual National Champion. Peiser was named the CRCA National Shooter of the Year and was CRCA All-America First Team in all three classes.

Makarawu gained two NCAA nationwide championships in 2025, claiming the NCAA 200m Indoor Championship in March and NCAA 200m Outdoor Championship in June. The latter was claimed with a faculty and nationwide file time of 19.84.

The Mr. And Miss Wildcat Awards – devoted in honor of the late Bruno Agostinelli, a UK males’s tennis All-American and previous Mr. Wildcat winner – are offered to Wildcats who’ve represented all-around excellence in athletics, lecturers, character and repair throughout their Kentucky careers. Ty Bryant and Josh Kattus from soccer, Levi Sandidge from males’s swimming and diving and Makarawu had been named Mr. Wildcat. Brooklyn DeLeye and Hudson from volleyball, Sofia Ceccarello from rifle, Ella Emmert from softball, Teonni Key from ladies’s basketball and Zoe Hammond from ladies’s tennis had been identify Miss Wildcat.

Baseball and ladies’s golf had been the Academic Teams of the Year. Three Wildcats – Hammond, Isabella Rivelli from gymnastics and Martin Voss from rifle – earned Scholar-Athletes of the Year whereas sustaining spectacular profession grade-point averages.

Anna Flynn Cashion from gymnastics, Jordan Obi from ladies’s basketball and Agustin Lopez from males’s soccer earned the Blue Heart Award for overcoming accidents to return to motion and make vital contributions to their groups.

Tonie Morgan from ladies’s basketball and Tyler Bell from baseball earned Newcomers of the Year. Grant Godfrey from soccer and Miles Jones from males’s monitor and area gained Men’s Supporting Role, whereas Molly Berezowitz from volleyball and Amelia Hassett from ladies’s basketball earned Women’s Supporting Role.

In honor of 24 years of dedication to the University, student-athletes and the Big Blue Nation, retiring director of athletics Mitch Barnhart acquired the Heart of a Wildcat Award. Among the quite a few accomplishments throughout his time period, Barnhart has guided the Wildcats to 6 nationwide championships, 64 convention common season and event championships, developed tons of of tens of millions of {dollars} of facility enhancements and grown UK Athletics’ commencement price from 68 % to 93 %. Barnhart has saved UK outstanding and influential by way of his management and repair on the NCAA and SEC ranges and has earned National Athletics Director of the Year honors from the SportsBusiness Journal and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

An entire checklist of award winners is under.

2026 CATSPY AWARD WINNERS
Academic Teams of the Year
Women’s Golf and Baseball

Blue Heart Award
Anna Flynn Cashion – Gymnastics
Jordan Obi – Women’s Basketball
Agustin Lopez – Men’s Soccer

Community Service Award
Lily DeLong – Women’s Swimming & Diving
Sharon Lee – Gymnastics
Emma Green – STUNT
Josh Kattus – Football
Malachi Moreno – Men’s Basketball

Keightley Assist Award
Lilly Francis – Athletics Communications & Public Relations
Caeleigh Bybee – STUNT Manager

Lifetime Achievement Award
Jim Madaleno – Athletic Training/Administration

Mike Lyden Courage Award
Maddy Hartley – Women’s Swimming and Diving

Scratch Award
JT Broome – Men’s Swimming and Diving

Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Zoe Hammond – Women’s Tennis
Isabella Rivelli – Gymnastics
Martin Voss – Rifle

Men’s Athlete of the Year
Carlie Makarawu – Men’s Track and Field
Braden Peiser – Rifle

Men’s Newcomer of the Year
Tyler Bell – Baseball

Men’s Supporting Role
Grant Godfrey – Football
Miles Jones – Men’s Track & Field

Women’s Athlete of the Year
Eva Hudson – Volleyball

Women’s Newcomer of the Year
Tonie Morgan – Women’s Basketball

Women’s Supporting Role
Molly Berezowitz – Volleyball
Amelia Hassett – Women’s Basketball

Team of the Year
Volleyball

Miss Wildcat
Brooklyn Deleye – Volleyball
Sofia Ceccarello – Rifle
Ella Emmert – Softball
Teonni Key – Women’s Basketball
Eva Hudson – Volleyball
Zoe Hammond – Women’s Tennis

Mr. Wildcat
Ty Bryant – Football
Josh Kattus – Football
Levi Sandidge – Men’s Swimming & Diving
Carlie Makarawu – Men’s Track & Field

Heart of a Wildcat
Mitch Barnhart – Director of Athletics

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