CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com)– Virginia's Gretchen Walsh, named 2024 CSCAA Women’s Swimmer of the Year, and Notre Dame’s Pat Kavanagh, the 2024 Tewaaraton Award winner, have been chosen as the top female and male ACC athletes for the 2023-24 academic year by a select media panel (71 voters).
“Gretchen and Pat are truly exceptional representatives of the ACC and have dominated in their respective sports,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “Their outstanding athletic and academic achievements stand out not only in the ACC but nationally, and they are extremely deserving of this prestigious honor. This past year has been another phenomenal one for the ACC and we remain incredibly proud of our student-athletes, coaches and programs.”
Walsh earned the 35th Mary Garber Award as the ACC’s most outstanding female athlete, becoming only the third Virginia student-athlete to claim the honor, joining Dawn Staley (women’s basketball) in 1991 and 1992 and Morgan Brian (women’s soccer) in 2015.
Named the 2024 Honda Award winner for swimming & diving, the Nashville, Tennessee, native won seven NCAA titles to help lead the Cavaliers to the program’s fourth consecutive NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship title. At the NCAA Championships, she set American, US Open and NCAA records in the 50 free (20.37), 100 fly (47.42) and 100 free (44.83) on top of helping lead the 400-medley relay team to an NCAA record (3:21.01) time at the NCAA Championships. She was also part of the NCAA championship relay teams for both the 200-free relay (1:24.05) and 400-free relay (3:05.89), and the 200-medley relay (1:31.58).
Tabbed the Most Valuable Swimmer at the 2024 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships, Walsh set the meet, pool, ACC, American, NCAA, and US Open records in the 50 free (20.57), 100 free (45.16) and 100 butterfly (48.25) at the ACC Championships. She was also part of the first-place 200 relay (1:23.63) that set pool, meet, ACC, US Open, and NCAA records at the conference championship meet.
In addition to her athletic achievements, Walsh was also named the 2023-24 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for swimming & diving and earned a spot on the 2024 College Sports Communicators’ (CSC) Academic All-America First Team. She recently qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team in the 100 fly, 50 free, and 4x100 relay, and set the World Record (55.18) in the semifinals of the 50 free at the USA Olympic Trials.
Walsh received 31 votes to lead the Garber Award balloting, followed by Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley (women’s basketball) with 13 votes and Boston College’s Sydney Scales (women’s lacrosse) with six votes.
Kavanagh was awarded the 71st Anthony J. McKevlin Award as the premier male athlete in the conference. He is the first Fighting Irish student-athlete to receive this honor.
The Rockville Centre, New York, native led the Fighting Irish to back-to-back national titles, the first two in program history, with a 15-5 win over Maryland in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship game this May.
Named the 2024 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, Kavanagh earned All-American honors from the USILA, Inside Lacrosse, and USA Lacrosse Magazine and was selected to the 2024 NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team. The only player to rank in the top 2 in goals per game (2.5), assists per game (2.5) and points per game (5.0) in ACC play for the season, Kavanagh was a key factor in Notre Dame becoming the first team since the 2006 Virginia team to go undefeated in ACC play, win the ACC Tournament and win the NCAA Championship in the same season.
Drafted as the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 Premier Lacrosse League Draft by the Boston Cannon, the four-time All-ACC Team selection finished his career as the all-time points and assists leader in Notre Dame history, with 301 career points and 184 career assists, and as the active career leader in assists per game (2.97) over his collegiate career.
Kavanagh led the McKevlin Award balloting with 27 votes, followed by Clemson’s Ousmane Syllia (men’s soccer) with 15 votes and NC State’s Payton Wilson (football) with nine votes.
The ACC Athlete of the Year Awards are given in memory of two distinguished journalists. McKevlin was a sports editor of the Raleigh (North Carolina) News and Observer, while Garber, of the Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Journal, was a pioneer as one of the first female sports journalists in the nation.
