COSTA MESA -- The annual Vanguard Athletics Award Show brought the entire department together one last time before the 2025-26 school year comes to an end.  There were some incredible moments witnessed throughout the year, from school-firsts to comeback wins, championships to school records, the student-athletes at VU raised the bar again for what the Lions can achieve in Division II.  Monday night was a time to celebrate not only what was done on the field, but also the merits in the classroom and in life that were worthy of recognition.
 
During the school year, Vanguard captured its first Pacific West Conference titles, as women's basketball won the regular season and the tournament crowns which led to VU's first appearance in an NCAA DII National Championship.  Men's soccer again made the PacWest Tournament after finishing a program-best second, men's basketball qualified for its first PacWest Tournament, and men's volleyball finished a program-best fourth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings.  Women's cross country and men's golf both finished well enough at the PacWest Championships to receive berths at the NCAA Regional events, while women's golf got its first individual to a regional event.  Numerous school records fell for the track & field teams, with one individual set to go to the National Championships later this May.  Men's wrestling got its first MPSF individual champion, and both genders got placers at their first regional experiences.  There have been 24 All-PacWest or MPSF honorees so far this campaign, with baseball and softball potentially adding to that tally over the next week or two. 
 
With all of that achieved on the field, the show on Monday night opened with the Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) Jungkeit Family Academic Excellence Award to acknowledge the best team in the classroom in 2025-26.  After women's soccer won in year one of the prize, the dance team secured the second iteration to place its name on the perpetual plaque. 
  
The Newcomer of the Year award followed that, and men's wrestler Zachary Klarcyk was selected as the male recipient for his dominance on the mat as a freshman.  The Freshman of the Year in the MPSF went 20-4 during the 2025-26 season and did not lose to any conference opponents.  He had two MPSF Wrestler of the Week laurels and placed fourth at the Regional Tournament, just missing out on a DII Championship berth by one place.  Kaylee Best was then announced as the female winner, as the freshman continues to defy gravity in the long and triple jumps.  A PacWest Champion at each discipline, a first for VU track & field, Best topped the program's record early in the season in each event and reset her own bests at least three more times, including her triumphal leaps at the PacWest Championships.  As of Monday night, Best was third in the DII nation in the long jump and sixth in the triple jump, and unless 16-20 people best her over the next week or two, Best should be selected to compete as the first Vanguard track & field student-athlete at the DII National Championships later in May.

   

Dance team captains Chloe McLeroy and Harlie Martinez accept the award from SALT leaders (left to right) Tiffany Pope, Halle Si'i, & Alex Stewart

Klarcyk and Best flanked by Women's Assistant Basketball Coach Sierra Vaglica (left) & Head Women's Wrestling Coach Joe Evano (right)

 
The Game of the Year, in its second year as an award, pitted four pivotal games against each other, with men's volleyball's five-set victory over #9 UCSD selected as the winner.  The teams alternated set victories, with the Blue and Gold taking the final frame 15-12 to secure one of the biggest wins in its NCAA history.  The fifth set was tied at 12-12 after a UCSD error, but VU registered the final three points to send the home faithful into a frenzy.  VU had only one other win against a DI foe before the stunner, and that was against unranked CSUN.  The Lions were led by Cole Oliver's 15 kills, with Logan Freemon next with 11.  Willy Wang netted five aces and 39 assists, with Braddock Duckworth coming up with seven total blocks to lead the team.
 
 
After that came the Individual Performance of the Year, which acknowledged the accomplishment of a student-athlete in one specific game.  The women's winner was Ella Murray, who got the nod for her second-place finish at the PacWest Championships.  Murray crossed the line six seconds behind the champion and posted a mark of 21:46.4 to become the highest-placing finisher for VU since 2020.  The result gave her First Team All-Conference honors, helped the team to a third-place finish that resulted in a trip to the NCAA West Regional, and the Freshman of the Year honors in the PacWest.  The men's winner was Marquize Brown, who got the nod for becoming the first individual MPSF men's wrestling champion as he stormed through the 180-pound bracket.  Brown went 3-0, winning each match by 10 points or more, and pinned his opponent within a minute in the final to take home the top prize.

   
The next award on offer was the Scholar Athlete of the Year, which commends a chosen student-athlete for their excellence in the classroom.  The men's winner was Robert Villegas of men's wrestling, who posted an amazing GPA while majoring in physics engineering, while Caelyn Armijo of women's soccer was selected for her accomplishments in the field of biology.
 
The VU Community Impact Award made its debut last year and had co-champions in 2025-26.  Lauryn Harris of STUNT and Megan Charley of women's soccer and track & field were picked for their work in the local community.  Harris is a part of College Corp at VU and works at the OC Fairgrounds, spending hours working with the farm animals.  She spends 15 hours a week split between caring for the animals and showing the farm to children, teaching them about the farming community and what it takes.  Charley started the Helping Hands club at Vanguard and has led the planning and execution of service initiatives that bring students out to support the local community.  She helped to organize events such as a food drive, cards sent to cheer up seniors at a senior living home, and a beach cleanup, while also being an intern at Trellis International and the "Love Costa Mesa" program.
 
In another salute to excellence, the VU student-athlete populace was asked to submit their favorite professors on campus for the Faculty of the Year award.  After the ballots were sent out to that group and the votes counted up, Dr. Alicia Jackson of the Theology Department was announced as the recipient of the award in its second year.

 

Villegas & Armijo with Associate Director, Academic Strategic Initiatives  Amy Jungkeit (left) & Assistant Registrar Kelly LeGuern (right).

Harris & Charley with Associate AD for Compliance and Senior Women's Administrator Jane Teixeira

Dr. Jackson (second from left) with SALT members (left to right) Lily Avalos, Hannah Finch, Theresa Shaw, and Kyan Cameron

The Bob & Tammy Wilson Character Award, which followed, is handed out in honor of the longtime athletic director and his wife, with winners selected for exemplifying the core values of Vanguard Athletics. This year, Bryson Metz of men's basketball and Harlie Martinez of dance were given the trophies.  After that came the emotional stories of the Walt Simon Courage award, given in memory of a longtime friend of the basketball programs, Walt Simon.  The award recognizes a student-athlete who showed the same courageous qualities that Walt possessed as he struggled with his bout with cancer that eventually took his life.  The 2025-26 selections were Leah Mays of softball and Jenson Wright of men's volleyball, who received a standing ovations after their stories were given to those in attendance. 

 
 
The final award was the male and female Athlete of the Year honor, with the winners being Kaylee Byon of women's basketball and Aidan Hay of men's soccer.  Hay was recognized as the PacWest Goalie of the Year for the second season in a row, a first for the Lions, and holds marks inside the top 10 in goalie statistics in program history, including shutouts, wins, and goals against average.  Hay became the most awarded goalie since VU keeper Brandon Gomez was selected to the All-GSAC team for four straight years (2014-17) after his back-to-back win, and Hay played every minute for the Blue and Gold in 2025.  He tallied 49 saves and owned a goals against average of 1.22.  He tied for the league lead in shutouts with five, had the second-best GAA, and the fourth-best save percentage (.718).  Hay faced a season-high 21 shots on the road against PLNU and made five stops to keep VU in the showdown with the eventual conference winners.  He tallied a season-high seven stops at Hawaii Pacific and had nine games when he faced 10 or more shots, including 17 in the PacWest Tournament game against Hilo.  He helped the Vanguard defenders with his booming voice, assisting in their organization en route to surrendering only 22 goals, tied for second best in the conference, making it two years in a row that the Lions have been one of the best defensive teams in the PacWest (fewest allowed last year). He concluded his VU career with GAA of 1.16 and 10 shutouts. 
 
Byon was the Player of the Year in the PacWest and was an All-Conference and All-Region player.  Byon was named the Pacific West Conference Player of the Year and a First-Team All-PacWest player, firsts for her career and the first VU POTY in program history.  She averaged 12.7 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game.  While she missed her only game of the season in the PacWest Tournament, Byon started rest of her 30 games she played in and clocked a shade over 30 minutes per game.  She collected 10 or more points in 19 games this season, with 12 games of 15 or more points.  Her benchmark for scoring this year was 25 against her old team, Point Loma, while she had a clean 10-for-10 day from the free-throw line against Hawaii Pacific as one of a few players in the PacWest to go perfect from the line in a contest. While she was always a threat to score, her trademark of 2025-26 was being the orchestrator behind the fifth-best offense in the West Region.  She had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the PacWest at +2.8, second in the region and third in the NCAA Division II.  She was second in the league in the assist categories, second in the region, and sixth and fifth in the nation at the end of the basketball season.  Byon tallied at least three assists in every game this season until she had two in the PacWest title game and posted 20 games with five or more helpers.  Her 12 assists against Dominican on January 29 were tied for the second-most by a PacWest player in a game in 2025-26.  In the first NCAA National Tournament games in Vanguard history, Byon was second on the team in scoring (16 & 17 points) and had the team high in assists (eight & five) in both contests.  The VU women's program has plenty of legendary records, and it is a strong testament to her passing ability that she placed 13th for most assists in a single season, while her per-game mark puts her in a tie for ninth with Carrie Burt (1996-97).  She ended 11th in scoring in the conference, had the 14th-best field goal shooting rate (44.4%), and the seventh-best free throw percentage (80%).