SWEET BRIAR, Va. – Sweet Briar College Athletics & Riding held its annual award ceremony this past Wednesday, May 7th, at Upchurch Field House to cap off another successful 2024-25 campaign.

Student-athletes, family, faculty and staff came together to celebrate the past year in an event hosted by Director of Athletics, Jason Vittone.

Senior Jillian Lewis (Ellicott City, Md.), Sweet Briar’s second-year Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President and dual-sport athlete in both soccer and swimming gave everyone a brief description of the initiatives SAAC has been a part of over the school year.

SAAC has organized a canned food drive where they collected over 400 canned goods and donated them to Neighbors Helping Neighbors in Amherst County, organized events such as kickball, cowbell decorating and a tennis tournament during Division III week, held hurricane relief drives and volunteering at local elementary schools to play educational games with students to name a few.

She then presented the Robert Barlow Faculty and Staff Award to Assistant Professor of Biology, Dr. Nicholas Kinney, in gratitude for his overwhelming support of student-athletes both in the classroom and on the playing field.

The Crispen Awards were then handed out to one member of each team. Crispen Award winners are chosen at the coaches’ discretion with no standard criteria. This year’s award winners included:

• Cross Country: Carolina Wilson (Hedgesville, W. Va.)
• Field Hockey: Kailey McCarthy (Atkinson, N.H.)
• Golf: Amani Narang (Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India)
• IHSA: Emily Roberts (Goochland, Va.)
• Lacrosse: Ashley Prevet (Nesconset, N.Y.)
• NCEA: Ella Peterson (Ashland, Va.)
• Soccer: Trista Cleaves (Millville, N.J.)
• Softball: Anna Smith (Rocky Mount, Va.)
• Swimming: Jillian Lewis 
• Tennis: Isadora Lima (Natal, Brazil)
• Track & Field: Alia Peets (Devonshire, Bermuda)

For the second straight year, a member of the soccer program was named the Jean Pschirrer First-Year Athlete Award winner. First-year Yadira Castrejon (Connelly Springs, N.C.) received the honor for her accomplishments during the fall season. Castrejon started all 15 games for the Vixens and played all 90 minutes in each game. Despite being a defender, the North Carolina native was the third leading scorer on the team in her first collegiate season with four goals.

The Class of 1977 Sportsmanship Award, presented to a student-athlete selected regarding her sportsmanship, team spirit and commitment to varsity sports at Sweet Briar was given to sophomore Ciara Nauful (Forest, Va.) of softball. Nauful is always the most vocal player on the field, encouraging and energizing her teammates every inning. Her passion for the sport and her genuine care for her team are unmatched.

The next award to be given out was the Whiteman Scholar-Athlete Award; presented to sophomore tennis player Maggie Minton (Wytheville, Va.). Maggie currently holds a 4.0 GPA as an engineering science major and is on track to graduate in only three years. In addition to holding a perfect GPA, Minton has also played some incredible tennis this season, including clinching the team’s 4-3 win over Randolph in a three-hour-plus singles match. Minton also played one of the longest points seen in recent memory at the College with a 15+ minute match point against Virginia Wesleyan this past season.

First-year Abi Sawyers (Matthews, N.C.) of softball was crowned the 2024-25 Rookie Athlete of the Year. Sawyers had an incredible first season in 2025 with a .318 batting average while driving in 23 RBIs with 21 hits, including 10 doubles and two home runs. As a pitcher, Sawyers earned a 6-7 record with 26 strikeouts over 59 innings pitched and a notable win against Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) competitor Shenandoah. Her ability to contribute on both offense and defense has made her one of the most valuable and versatile players on the team.

This year’s title of Rookie Rider of the Year went to IHSA rider and first-year Ariana Schneider (Clarksville, Tenn.). Schneider competed in six shows for the Vixens this season and averaged a second-place finish while competing primarily in the novice flat class with one appearance in the limit flat class. She placed first in novice flat twice during the 2024-25 campaign, once at Randolph-Macon and once at Liberty.

Senior Amani Narang was crowned Athlete of the Year after an incredible conclusion to her Sweet Briar career. Throughout her career, she has competed in 34 different events and amassed a total of 70 competitive rounds of golf. Narang has a career scoring average of 78, won three individual titles, placed in the top 10 in 32 tournaments and the top five in 21 tournaments. At this year’s ODAC Championships, Narang was named Student-Athlete of the Year and also earned her third spot on the All-ODAC Second Team.

After earning her second Ariat All-America honors this past season, senior Isabelle Mesiarik (Pottstown, Pa.) was named Rider of the Year. The Pennsylvania native was crowned Honorable Mention on the flat after getting selected for the Second Team over fences last season. Additionally, Mesiarik was named to the ODAC traditional equestrian All-Conference team while holding an 80% win percentage on the flat with a 4-1 and an undefeated 3-0 record at home.

With so many talented student-athletes and a host of accomplishments achieved this year, the coaches once again voted to hand out the Coaches’ Award with this year’s recipient being Jillian Lewis. Lewis, a four-year varsity athlete for both the soccer and swimming programs, is an outstanding student-athlete with a 3.97 GPA as an engineering science major and mathematics minor. She never missed a single practice and was dedicated to the mission of growing both team cultures into true collegiate programs. Her year-round commitment to Sweet Briar, along with her consistency, leadership and competitive spirit has left an indelible mark on Sweet Briar Athletics.

The prestigious Crysler Award is handed out every year to a four-year varsity athlete who has demonstrated outstanding achievement, continuous commitment and sportsmanship in sport. This year, the award was presented to senior Ana Patino (Medellín, Colombia) of tennis. Patino has been one of the most important players on the tennis team for the past four years and was named ODAC Rookie of the Year in 2022 along with earning a spot on the All-ODAC and VaSID All-State team every season. She also earned a national doubles ranking while holding a 3.95 GPA in engineering science. An avid supporter of all of the teams at Sweet Briar, Patino can be found proudly and loudly supporting every program at their home games.

To re-watch the full awards ceremony, head over to vixensportsnetwork.com for on-demand playback.

Visit the online home of Sweet Briar athletics, vixenathletics.com, to stay up-to-date on all Vixens sports and coverage from the Vixen Sports Network. Click here to sign up for email blasts from Vixen Athletics.

You can also give the Sweet Briar Vixens a like on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Threads and X (formerly Twitter).