ARLINGTON – UT Arlington Department of Athletics officials on Wednesday announced the female and male winners of the prestigious B.G. Wilson Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Maverick Club Student-Athlete of the Year awards for 2022-23.
B.G. Wilson Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Morgan Westbrook (Softball)
B.G. Wilson Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Zak Jones (Golf)
Maverick Club Female Student-Athlete of the Year: Tatyana Terrell (Track & Field)
Maverick Club Male Student-Athlete of the Year: Solano Caffarena (Tennis)
B.G. WILSON SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Presented to a female and male student-athlete who best epitomize the 'student-first' and 'athlete-second' mantra. The award is named for former baseball player B.G. Wilson, who played for the Mavs from 1993-96, was an Academic All-American and a widely respected youth mentor who gave countless hours to support the Arlington community.
MORGAN WESTBROOK
Academic: Having just completed her junior year, Westbrook carries a 3.8 cumulative GPA, and was recognized as a UTA Super Scholar-Athlete in 2022. She is also the recipient of the Coy Garrett Athletics Endowment and the Maverick Academic Scholarship.
Community: Westbrook is a member of the SAAC Leadership Team and captain of Team Social Justice. She has volunteered at Mission Arlington, the Salvation Army, the Boys and Girls Club and Swift Elementary. Additionally, Westbrook helped organize the Ladies Night Out event for female student-athletes, participated in Cards for Cubs events and traveled with Team Uganda to assist with the Musana Organization in Africa.
Athletic: This past season, the Houston native appeared in 45 games, making 29 starts in right field, seven in left field and four at designated player. She accumulated a .271 batting average and .381 slugging percentage, tying for 2nd on the team with six multi-RBI games. Westbrook finished with the 3rd-longest reached base streak on the club with 11 games, and registered the 3rd-most RBI on the team with 25. In WAC play, she held a .338 batting average with 24 hits and 17 RBI.
Female Nominees
Jireh Washington – Basketball
Kinsey Ray – Golf
Sarina Reinertsen – Tennis
Tatyana Terrell – Track & Field
Alli Wells – Volleyball
ZAK JONES
Community: Jones partook in the Mav Move In, assisting students in getting acclimated into their on-campus housing. He has also spent time volunteering at the Salvation Army.
Academic: Jones graduated with his Master's degree in Business Management last month after completing his bachelor's degree as a double major in management and marketing. He was the recipient of the Harold R. Kauth Memorial Endowment. The Spring, Texas, product was recognized as a Maverick Super Scholar-Athlete in 2022, and during his undergraduate tenure was a four-time all-conference academic recognition.
Athletic: This past year, Jones played in a career-high 11 tournaments, logging 32 rounds and finishing with an average score of 73.9. In his last collegiate round, Jones posted a career-low 7-under, bogey-free 65 in the final round of the WAC Championship to tie for the 4th-lowest round in program history; it also represented the lowest final round in a conference championship in program lore. He led the team in birdies with 102 to represent the 11th most in single-season program history. On the leaderboard, Jones notched four top-15 showings, highlighted by a career-best tie for 3rd at Baylor's 36-hole Bear Brawl in October.
Male Nominees
Aaron Cash – Basketball
Alfredo Corona – Track & Field
Tyler Rice – Baseball
MAVERICK CLUB STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Presented to a female and male senior student-athlete who have demonstrated commitment to academics and excellence in their respective sport.
TATYANA TERRELL
Academic: Terrell was awarded her MBA in May. She was also the recipient of the Optimist Club of Arlington Endowment.
Athletic: The Mansfield native was an NCAA West Regional qualifier in three separate sprint events: 200m, 400m and the 4x100m relay. At the WAC Outdoor Championships, she helped UTA to gold in the 4x100 and claimed an individual silver medal in the 400m, setting the school record with a time of 52.79 – the third occurrence during the season breaking the record.
A few weeks later, Terrell was part of another school record, this time in the 4x100 at the West Regional in Sacramento, Calif., with a clocking of 44.03. That marked the third time as well during the season the group set the school mark, and the quartet just missed qualifying for nationals by 0.12 of a second.
Along with the aforementioned school records, Terrell also established a personal record in the 100m (11.84) at the North Texas Classic in April. Additionally, she claimed WAC Track Athlete of the Week on Apr. 26.
Female Nominees
Shyia Smith – Basketball
Connor Howard – Golf
Liz Chileno – Tennis
Brianna Ford – Volleyball
Meagan Smith – Softball
SOLANO CAFFARENA
Academic: Caffarena was the recipient of the College of Business Gamma Sigma Scholarship, the J. Fouse Endowment (College of Business) and the Alcon Inc. Scholarship. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in May, and is currently enrolled in the MBA Economics program at UTA. Already a three-time all-conference commissioner's list honoree, Caffarena was recognized as a UTA Super Scholar-Athlete in 2022.
Athletic: Helped spearhead UTA to WAC regular season and tournament championships this past spring, en route to being named to the league's First Team in singles and doubles. UTA went a perfect 5-0 in WAC matches and 16-8 overall on its way to the NCAA Tournament.
Caffarena finished conference play undefeated, going 5-0 as the primary No. 3 player. Three of his conference wins were in straight sets. The Argentinian finished the regular season with a 15-11 overall record, marking a career high for victories and notching his 50th career win.
In doubles, Caffarena and partner
Anton Shepp finished WAC action with a 4-1 record on Court 1 for the Mavs. The duo earned WAC Doubles Team of the Week on Apr. 12. They finished 15-8 overall, with notable non-conference wins over Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and Oklahoma.
Male Nominees
Pedro Castro – Basketball
Caleb Hicks – Golf
Matt Novis – Baseball
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