TOP student athletes of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, were honoured by the university at the 11th staging of the annual Sports Awards Ceremony recently at Rex Nettleford Hall Multi-Purpose Centre.

The awards formed part of the university’s mandate of ensuring that its programmes are not aimed solely towards academics.

The glitzy red-carpet event celebrated the successes of the UWI’s sportsmen and women, who, during the past academic year, displayed their talents successfully both locally and internationally. Among the students to be honoured were Olympian Hansle Parchment, IAAF Diamond League competitor Jason Young and national netballer Malysha Kelly, in addition to other athletes who have represented the country and contributed to the rich and historical sporting tradition of the university.

Dalton Myers, director of sports, UWI, Mona, said: “For years the University of the West Indies has been producing athletes of the highest standard, who not only perform exceptionally on the field of play but also maintain excellent academic records.”

By this motivation the university conceptualised its sports awards to highlight and commemorate the hard work done by student athletes who, while maintaining their academic standing as dictated by the university, produced sterling performances on the field, court, track, and in the pool.

With several team awards for outstanding performances in intercol on offer, the female badminton, table tennis, basketball and volleyball teams were awarded for their championship seasons, while the male hockey team was awarded for its outstanding year, which saw multiple members of the team being called up for national representation.

The male sprint medley team was also awarded for its Penn Relays victory, earning it the history-making accolade of being the first UWI team to win a Championship of America event.

The eagerly awaited individual awards were taken by relatively new faces in the UWI sports fraternity. The Sportswoman of the Year saw Thristina Harwood beating out multi-sport woman Sherona Forrester and netball stalwart Malysha Kelly.

Harwood rose to prominence since her enrolment at UWI and she was immediately given the goal attack duties for the UWI Pelicans senior netball team. She has steadily progressed from the National Netball Under-13 to U-16, U-21 to now national senior team.

Harwood’s most recent display saw her piloting Jamaica to a bronze medal finish at the World Youth Championships with especially impressive shooting performances in the semi-finals against New Zealand and the bronze-medal match versus England. Harwood has been named in the top 10 new talents in the world by Scoop Magazine.

The Sportsman of the Year saw Nicholas Maitland beating out Jason Young and heavy favourite Hansle Parchment. Maitland gained the honours due to his impressive season, which included a 400m victory over the Usain Bolt, which he followed with an impressive bronze medal finish at the World University Games in Russia. Maitland was also a key member of the sprint medley team which won at the Penn Relays, making history.

The University of the West Indies Sports Department also made a special award to Angella Freeman, mother of deceased Andre Mitchell. Mitchell perished last year in a motor accident and was a long-standing UWI sports contributor to the discipline of basketball, which he helped advance at the institution.

This acknowledgement truly shows the respect and gratitude which UWI Sports holds for each and every contributing athlete and administrator, who makes UWI Sports a success.