June 6, 2014
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the NU P.R.I.D.E. Program teamed up with the Evanston Fire Department and NU Police Department to host the fourth annual kickball game at Sharon J. Drysdale Field on Tuesday, June. 3.
The kickball game featured student-athletes from the Wildcats varsity teams, with the Evanston Fire Department earning the victory.
Led by the Evanston Fire Department, Team Fire, and coached by women's basketball assistant coach Allison Guth, the following student-athletes completed on the purple team:
- Lacrosse - Mikaela Bozza
- Wrestling - Garrison White
- Football-Max Chapman
- Women's Swimming & Diving-Valerie Nubbe
- Men's Tennis-Mihir Kumar
- Fencing-Katherine Kim
- Volleyball-Maggie Burnham
- Women's Soccer-Nandi Mehta
- Men's Golf-Scott Smith
- Softball-Fran Strub
The White Team, coached by director of compliance Jane Wagner was led by the NU Polie Department and the following student-athletes:
- Cody Libman-Baseball
- Alex Olah-Men's Basketball
- Nick Pinkerton-Men's Swimming and Diving
- Women's Soccer-Anna Cassell
- Women's Tennis-Madeline Lipp
- Women's Cross Country-Elena Barham
- Women's Basketball-Meghan McKeown
Following the kickball game, student-athletes, coaches and NU administrations joined the Evanston Fire Department and NU Police Department for the Annual P.R.I.D.E. Picnic. The picnic was an opportunity to celebrate the Wildcats student-athletes and honor the EFD and NUPD for their hard work and dedication to the community.
NU also announced its P.R.I.D.E. Challenge and Willie Award Winners.
The NU P.R.I.D.E. Program hosts a Life Skills Competition among its student-athletes and teams. The competition is designed to strengthen the student-athletes in all five commitment areas of life skills; academics, athletics, personal development, career development, and community service.
Student-athletes are awarded points for participating and excelling in academic excellence, athletic excellence, community outreach, professional development, P.R.I.D.E. B1G Games, S.A.A.C., P.U.R.P.L.E., Engage and other NU P.R.I.D.E. Programs.
The top five teams for the 2013-14 P.R.I.D.E. Challenge are women's soccer, women's swimming & diving, fencing, men's swimming & diving and women's basketball. Women's soccer won the overall 2013-14 P.R.I.D.E. Challenge. Women's swimming & diving finished in second followed by fencing rounding out the top three.
Established by the Department of Athletics and Recreation through the generosity of the Pomeranz Family in 2010, the Willie Award is presented annually to one male and one female varsity student-athlete. The recipients of The Willie Award embodies P.R.I.D.E. (Perseverance, Responsibility, Integrity, Dedication and Education) and meet the following criteria:
- Maintain academic excellence in the classroom
- Display athletic excellence and sportsmanship in competition
- Give freely of their time and energy in the community
- Show a commitment to his/her personal and professional development
- Provide leadership within the athletics community through participation in either SAAC, PURPLE, or their team
- Actively support their peers throughout the Northwestern community
Willie Award Winners
Softball-Marisa Bast
Men's Golf-John Callahan
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