2019 aCATemy Awards -Overcoming Adversity
Overcoming Adversity Award Nominees
Natalie Connell, Women's Soccer
-From Head Coach Adam Denton:
"Heading into her junior year, Natalie suffered a season-ending injury. In the midst of her own pain, Natalie embodied the culture, encouraged her teammates, and challenged from the sideline. Natalie's commitment and resilience to come back for her senior season this year, to lead the team as a captain, to start in 16/17 games, and to be one of the most relied upon players on the field (playing nearly 1,300 minutes) demonstrates her desire and capacity to overcome challenges and to continue to grow."
-Scored 1 goal and 1 assist in 2018 as team captain
Maggie Farrell, Women's Swimming
From Head Coach John Young:
"As a freshman and as a sophomore, Maggie Farrell swam on Davidson and A-10 Record breaking relays. She was the heir apparent to the powerful sprinters in our 2017 class. At the A-10 Championship, she was twice an A-finalist in the 100 Butterfly, and B-finaled in the 100 Freestyle as a freshman, and in the 50 freestyle as a sophomore. Only Elise Lankiewicz split faster on our 400 Freestyle Relay, which still holds the A10 and Davidson Record. But she swam with intense shoulder pain, and it became too great to deal with. Before her junior season, already selected to captain the team, Maggie had surgery to address her pain and instability. Her junior year she rehabbed. Diving into the pool became a milestone. Finishing a race in a meet was a victory. She was no longer allowed to swim butterfly, her best stroke. At her third A10 Championship, she didn’t advance to any championship heats. This year, Maggie again captained the team. But this time, she led them in the pool too. She won important victories to seal close dual meets versus Asheville and Old Dominion. She A-finaled in an impressive field at the Bucknell Invite. And at A-10s, she A-finaled in her individual races (the 50 and 100 freestyles), each for the first time. She also swam on all five Davidson Relays, leading the women as they rose four places in the A-10 standings from the year before."
Nicole Krykanov, Women's Tennis
From Head Coach Susanne Depka:
"She [had a season-ending knee injury] in one of the very first practices in the fall season of her freshman year. She was out of competition her entire Freshman year. The fall of her Sophomore year Nicole trained extremely hard to get back on the court, her injured leg ended up being stronger than the healthy one so she had to then work to get them both to equal strength. This took her out of the fall season. During the winter break, Nicole went home and diligently followed the strength plan and came back stronger than ever and was cleared to play. Not having played a college match in a year and a half, Nicole has secured a spot in the doubles lineup and has also had a positive impact on our team with her enthusiasm and energy. She has an 8-3 total doubles record and is 5-0 in A-10 play with a win over VCU who is a nationally ranked team."
Charley Orner, Lacrosse
From Head Coach Kim Wayne:
"She has overcome numerous injuries prior to her career and then once she was at Davidson including a season-ending knee injury (at Davidson), [another] surgery (at Davidson), multiple shoulder injuries, and two hip procedures (prior to Davidson). As a freshman, Charley played in 13 games while starting 8. She then spent most of her sophomore and junior year rehabbing her shins and ACL. As a senior, Charley spent the first part of the season rehabbing swelling in her knee, and worked overtime to strengthen her muscles so she could finish her career on the field. Despite still having swelling issues, Charley has started and played in every game since she was cleared on March 16th prior to our game against Duke. She is determined and a true fighter."
-She has started all 10 games she has played, and has amassed 12 groundballs.
KiShawn Pritchett, Men's Basketball
"[Procedures] pre-Davidson set his body in motion to experience chronic injuries to his knee. Multiple surgeries have plagued him for the past three years yet he has been a three year starter and vital contributor to our team. He was not able to participate in 80% of our practices since the beginning of the season and is in constant pain yet he was able to start all 32 games and successfully compete and help us achieve a 24 win season."
- Finished second on the team in blocks and assists.
Andrea Robinson, Women's Basketball
-Diagnosed with leukemia in December 2017, but overcame it to return to campus in Fall 2018 to resume her studies.
-A valuable member of the team, helping out in any way she could while always bringing a positive attitude on and off the court.
Kahleel Shaw, Football
-Season-ending knee injury at the end of the 2017 season, but worked hard to rehab to return for senior
season to be a valuable contributor and vital part of the offense, playing in 5 games and scoring a touchdown.
-From Head Coach Adam Denton:
"Heading into her junior year, Natalie suffered a season-ending injury. In the midst of her own pain, Natalie embodied the culture, encouraged her teammates, and challenged from the sideline. Natalie's commitment and resilience to come back for her senior season this year, to lead the team as a captain, to start in 16/17 games, and to be one of the most relied upon players on the field (playing nearly 1,300 minutes) demonstrates her desire and capacity to overcome challenges and to continue to grow."
-Scored 1 goal and 1 assist in 2018 as team captain
From Head Coach John Young:
"As a freshman and as a sophomore, Maggie Farrell swam on Davidson and A-10 Record breaking relays. She was the heir apparent to the powerful sprinters in our 2017 class. At the A-10 Championship, she was twice an A-finalist in the 100 Butterfly, and B-finaled in the 100 Freestyle as a freshman, and in the 50 freestyle as a sophomore. Only Elise Lankiewicz split faster on our 400 Freestyle Relay, which still holds the A10 and Davidson Record. But she swam with intense shoulder pain, and it became too great to deal with. Before her junior season, already selected to captain the team, Maggie had surgery to address her pain and instability. Her junior year she rehabbed. Diving into the pool became a milestone. Finishing a race in a meet was a victory. She was no longer allowed to swim butterfly, her best stroke. At her third A10 Championship, she didn’t advance to any championship heats. This year, Maggie again captained the team. But this time, she led them in the pool too. She won important victories to seal close dual meets versus Asheville and Old Dominion. She A-finaled in an impressive field at the Bucknell Invite. And at A-10s, she A-finaled in her individual races (the 50 and 100 freestyles), each for the first time. She also swam on all five Davidson Relays, leading the women as they rose four places in the A-10 standings from the year before."
From Head Coach Susanne Depka:
"She [had a season-ending knee injury] in one of the very first practices in the fall season of her freshman year. She was out of competition her entire Freshman year. The fall of her Sophomore year Nicole trained extremely hard to get back on the court, her injured leg ended up being stronger than the healthy one so she had to then work to get them both to equal strength. This took her out of the fall season. During the winter break, Nicole went home and diligently followed the strength plan and came back stronger than ever and was cleared to play. Not having played a college match in a year and a half, Nicole has secured a spot in the doubles lineup and has also had a positive impact on our team with her enthusiasm and energy. She has an 8-3 total doubles record and is 5-0 in A-10 play with a win over VCU who is a nationally ranked team."
From Head Coach Kim Wayne:
"She has overcome numerous injuries prior to her career and then once she was at Davidson including a season-ending knee injury (at Davidson), [another] surgery (at Davidson), multiple shoulder injuries, and two hip procedures (prior to Davidson). As a freshman, Charley played in 13 games while starting 8. She then spent most of her sophomore and junior year rehabbing her shins and ACL. As a senior, Charley spent the first part of the season rehabbing swelling in her knee, and worked overtime to strengthen her muscles so she could finish her career on the field. Despite still having swelling issues, Charley has started and played in every game since she was cleared on March 16th prior to our game against Duke. She is determined and a true fighter."
-She has started all 10 games she has played, and has amassed 12 groundballs.
"[Procedures] pre-Davidson set his body in motion to experience chronic injuries to his knee. Multiple surgeries have plagued him for the past three years yet he has been a three year starter and vital contributor to our team. He was not able to participate in 80% of our practices since the beginning of the season and is in constant pain yet he was able to start all 32 games and successfully compete and help us achieve a 24 win season."
- Finished second on the team in blocks and assists.
-Diagnosed with leukemia in December 2017, but overcame it to return to campus in Fall 2018 to resume her studies.
-A valuable member of the team, helping out in any way she could while always bringing a positive attitude on and off the court.
-Season-ending knee injury at the end of the 2017 season, but worked hard to rehab to return for senior
season to be a valuable contributor and vital part of the offense, playing in 5 games and scoring a touchdown.
