Eastern New Mexico Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) held its first annual Greyhound Gala to honor and recognize the student-athletes within the Eastern New Mexico Athletics. The SAAC Greyhound Gala gave out six individual awards and one team cup award. The nominees for each award were put forward by the Eastern New Mexico Head Coaches and voted on by the SAAC representatives for each sport.

Spencer Roach, of ENMU Baseball, claimed Male Athlete of the Year after having an impressive start to the 2022 season. Roach leads the team in batting average (.386), slugging percentage (.543), hits (49), homeruns (3), and total bases (69). Roach is also a close second for RBI’s (30) and runs scored (29). This season, Roach has been recognized as the Lone Star Conference Hitter of the Week (3/15/22) and the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) South Central Hitter of the Week (3/16/22).

Malethabo Seema, from ENMU Cross Country and Track & Field, took home Female Athlete of the Year. Seema finished in the top-30 for the 2021 Lone Star Conference Cross Country Championship, with a time of 23:49.69, and competed in the 2021 NCAA South Central Regional with a time of 23:29.3. In track & field, Seema took home gold for the 800 meters in the 2021 Outdoor Track & Field Championship with a time of 2:19.02. Seema followed that win into the indoor season, taking first place in the 2022 800 meters with a time of 2:16.12 at the LSC Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Mikaela Garvin, of ENMU Volleyball, picked up Freshman Athlete of the Year after a great first year with the team. Garvin played in all 26 matches for the Greyhounds and finished the season with 213 kills (2nd on team), a hitting percentage of .252 (1st on team), while adding 60 total blocks, three solo, 57 block assists (3rd on the team), for a total of 244,5 points (3rd on team), and 2.55 points per game (2nd on team). Garvin was named Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year and was selected to the All-LSC Freshman team.Garvin was named Lone Star Conference Offensive player of the week (11/2) after great performance against Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Tamia Smith, of ENMU Track & Field, received Sophomore of the Year after holding the top five marks in the shot put for program history. In the 2021 Lone Star Conference Outdoor Championships, Smith placed in the top six in the shot put, discus, and hammer throw. In the shot put, Smith took home fourth place with a toss of 13.27m (43′ 6.5″). Smith also took home fourth in the discus with a throw of 41.02m (134′ 7″) and sixth place in the in the hammer throw with a distance of 40.47m (132′ 9′).

Kelvin Kipkemboi, of ENMU Cross Country, was awarded Junior Athlete of the Year. Kipkemboi boasted a 10th place finish at the 2021 Lone Star Conference Championships with a time of 26:10.88, the performance earned All-Conference recognition and LSC Newcomer of the Year. He competed at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships, finished with a time of 31:46.22 on the course, the 10th fastest time by an ENMU on a 10K course, and set personal best.

Rae Sapiga, of ENMU Volleyball, took home Senior Athlete of the Year. Sapiga compiled a teaming leading 446 assists, 5.01 assists per set, and 35 service aces, also found 137 digs, eight kills, for 43.0 total points. Sapiga finished the season with three double-doubles. In their final season, Sapiga posted double-digit assists 21 times, found 20+ assists on 11 occasions, and produced 30 or more assists twice. The Senior accumulated 10 or more digs three times over the season. Sapiga picked up LSC Setter of the Week (11/2) after a combined 57 assists against Texas A&M-International and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The final award of the night was the ENMU Team Cup, which was determined by the number of ENMU Student athletes that attended other team’s game. Eastern New Mexico softball finished the atop the standings, beating out the other ENMU programs in terms of attendance at other Eastern New Mexico athletic events.