One outstanding student-athlete and two dedicated students are the winners of the 2016 Admiral Land Award and Trophy, respectively. The presentations were made at Saturday's Wyoming-Air Force Homecoming football game. This year's Award winner is wrestler Tanner Harms, and the Trophy co-winners are Cassandra Craddock, a student assistant in the Cowboy Joe Club, and Patrick Hall, a student assistant for Wyoming Football.
The Admiral Land Award is presented to the student-athlete who has completed his or her Wyoming competition during the preceding academic year and demonstrated outstanding achievement in intercollegiate competition, exemplary personal conduct on and off the field, and maintained academic standing with satisfactory progress toward a degree. The Admiral Land Trophy is awarded to the student (non-collegiate athlete) who has done the most to promote Intercollegiate Athletics at the University during the previous school year.
A native of Greenwood, Village, Colo., Harms was a four-time letterwinner with the UW wrestling team and an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholar. He was a two-time NCAA Qualifier and finished his senior season with a 22-6 record helping the Pokes' to their highest finish at the NCAA Championship in 20 years. He was also the first finalist for the Cowboys to wrestle in the Big 12 Championships. As a senior, he was named Scholar Athlete of the Year by the Big 12 Conference. A mechanical engineering graduate, Harms was also a finalist for the Tobin Award, presented to UW’s top male graduating senior. He is currently enrolled in graduate school at UW.
A student assistant in the Cowboy Joe Club, Craddock recruited 88 new members to the Cowboy Joe Club during the club’s new member drive. A former team captain of the Spirit Squad, she assists with outreach via the golf series, serves as Wildcatter host during home football games, assisted in coordinating WYO Night at the Rockies, helps the CJC marketing efforts through social media and design of the donor guide. A volunteer tutor for the Athletic Department, she was a finalist for the Spitaleri Award, presented to UW’s outstanding graduating female student.
A student assistant with Cowboy Football since 2015, Hall works primarily in the recruiting area. His duties include multiple mailings, updating the recruiting database, and providing information and tours to prospective student-athletes. He also provides assistance to the Wyoming Football Video Operations staff by filming practices and games, and works with the Office of Academic Support as a tutor for football student-athletes.
The Admiral Land awards have been a special part of Homecoming since 1953. They were established as a tribute to distinguished UW alumnus Admiral Emory S. Land, class of 1898. Land was a World War II Shipping Administrator and head of the U.S. Maritime Service. At UW, he was a member of the first football team and four of the first five teams in school history.
Following are the previous Admiral Land Award & Trophy Winners:
Year Admiral Land Award Admiral Land Trophy
1953 Paul Carlin, Track
1954 George Galuska, Football
1955 Bob Jingling, Baseball
1956 Joe Capua, Basketball
1957 Jim Crawford, Football
1958 C.T. “Wimp” Hewgley
1959 Harold Farmer, Football & Track Janice Elmer
1960 Dick Ballinger, Wrestling Mary Jones
1961 Jerry Hill, Football Dave Bonner
1962 Chuck Lamson, Football Gene Bryan
1963 Bob Hanson, Basketball Judy King
1964 Mack Balls, Football Joan Selmer
1965 Flynn Robinson, Basketball John Hursh
1966 Bob Dinges, Football Babette Numon & Harold Blumenthal
1967 Mike Gregorio, Cross Country Phil White, Jr.
1968 Mike Eberle, Basketball Carl Hanson & Jim York
1969 Bruce Jennings, Skiing Bill Hill
1970 Stan Dodds, Basketball Debbie Hardy
1971 Roy Wilson, Basketball Mary Ann Gorman & Don Bogdan
1972 Gary Fox, Football Kathy Hunt & Larry Bresso
1973 Staale Engen, Skiing The UW Marching Band
1974 Steve Cockreham, Football Michelle Green & Bill Yost
1975 Jody Sloan, Wrestling The UW Pep Band
1976 Bill Ewing, Baseball Steve Prosinski
1977 Christine Brown, Women’s Athletics Sally Shurmur
1978 Kathy Merklin, Women’s Athletics Randall Luthi
1979 Ross Houston, Skiing Pete Kuhn
1980 Geir Kvernmo, Track/Skiing Cynthia Fester
1981 Charles Bradley, Basketball Bob Ihle
1982 Phil Davis, Football; Bill Garnett, Basketball Mike Larson & Mark Netzel
1983 Lynn Stetson, Swimming; Stacy Ward, Skiing Scott Roberts
1984 Wes Gasner, Wrestling; Mary Shea, Volleyball Bill Lamberty
1985 Joe Ramunno, Football; Kathy Romsa, Track; Annie Easterbrook
Becky Simning, Skiing
1986 Mike Hamel, Wrestling; Shari Ahola, Skiing Audrey Waldock
1987 Jim Walter, Baseball Mike Chisholm
1988 Mark Miller, Swimming; Ronda Munger, Volleyball Patrick Stolz
1989 Randy Welniak, Football Amy Dimond & Ron Loghry
1990 Darcy Cudaback, Volleyball; Kevin Rochlitz
& John Wodny, Cross Country
1991 Shelly Thacker, Track & Field; Rob Clayton, Swimming Jeff Ketron
1992 David McCleave, Golf; UW Marching Band
Dave Myers, Wrestling;
Reginald Slater, Basketball
1993 Scarlett Gustin, Basketball; Wildfire Dance Team
Mike Abbey, Track & Field
1994 Kiesa Fornstrom, Swimming Noah Buckley, John Carr & Brian Madden
1995 Amy Burnett, Basketball; Karen Schatz
Ryan Christopherson, Football
1996 Joe Cummings, Football; Doug Hoffman
Tom Hickenlooper, Wrestling
1997 Shilo Mathill, Wrestling Kevin Koerwitz
1998 Brian Lee, Football Dusty Clements
1999 Mark Winninger, Wrestling Mark Gibbs
2000 Corey Hamrick, Wrestling Baend Buus
2001 Joe Hall, Track & Field Abi Gerhard
2002 Oscar Delgado, Diving Will LeDoux & Shalee McCue
2003 Josh Rollins, Football Mark Krug
2004 Casey Bramlet, Football Keven Gibbs
2005 Shauna Smith, Track, & Scott Usher, Swimming Jason Wasserburger
2006 Bryce Leonhardt, Wrestling David Primus
2007 Kevin Bretting, Diving Mark Bock
2008 Hanna Zavecz, Basketball Eric Whiting & Shelley Heward
2009 Ward Dobbs, Football, & Amanda Lathrop, Soccer Sean Valentine
2010 Emily Huth, Diving Kellen Little
2011 Aubrey Vandiver, Basketball & Chris Prosinski, Football Andy Chapman & Nick Kinney
2012 Joe LeBlanc, Wrestling Ali Galey and Ryan Freeman
2013 Alfonso Hernandez, Wrestling, & Chaundra Sewell, Basketball Katie Stout and Steven Sundberg
2014 Morgan Hartigan-Calhoon, Swimming & Diving Jami Baker
2015 Erin Kirby, Volleyball/Track & Field; Larry Nance, Jr., Basketball; Cory Fields
& Shane Woods, Wrestling
2016 Tanner Harms, Wrestling Cassandra Craddock & Patrick Hall
