IRVINE, Calif. – Eight outstanding student-athletes across The Big West landscape have been named 2022 recipients of The Big West’s annual Service and Leadership Award.
The Big West has celebrated student-athletes for the Service and Leadership Award annually, since the 2017-18 academic year. The award winners are selected at the discretion of each member-institution with criteria encompassing service, leadership and academics.
Two women, Carolyn Gill of Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara’s Evann Smith, are repeat award recipients.
Each member-institution may submit one honoree per academic year who participates in a Big West sponsored sport and who engages consistently in service and leadership activities that impact the campus, community or regional levels. The awardee makes the most of opportunities presented to them by taking on key roles and is innovative in seeking out meaningful service and leadership opportunities, while keeping their academic eligibility on their respective team.
The 2022 recipients represent eight sports and the class of eight is the largest in the award’s five-year history.
Starting goalkeeper for the UC Santa Barbara women’s soccer team, Evann Smith is a mainstay on the Gauchos’ honor roll while serving in multiple leadership roles on campus and within The Big West. She is the UC Santa Barbara Athletics DEI chair, a UCSB SAAC Executive Committee member, and will serve as SAAC co-chair and DEI liaison for the Gauchos in the upcoming 2022-23 school year. On the conference leadership level, Smith has served as the vice-chair of The Big West Undivided since 2020 and represented the league at the NCAA Leadership Conference in 2021. Smith advocated for trans athletes to Senator Collins at Capitol Hill Day – Voice in Sport in 2021, has used her voice in The Big West’s Undivided Dialogues series speaking on anti-racism and decolonization, and raised funds for both Black Lives Matter and Black Trans Lives in 2020.
The 2022 Women’s Basketball Best Hustle Player, Carolyn Gill recently completed her fifth year on the hardwood for the Titans. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications, entertainment and tourism in May 2022, and added an MBA in marketing in Dec. 22 while captaining the team the last three seasons. Among her service and leadership activities, Gill served as the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Equity Committee representative for three years as well as being a member of the Titans’ SAAC from 2017-20. Putting her undergraduate degree to work, Gill was the social media campaign creator and producer of the “Tune in With Titans” Instagram Live Series in 2019, and also participated in Cal State Fullerton’s “The Talk” strategic communications campaign during the 2020-21 school year.
Majoring in human developmental sciences as UC San Diego, Sydney Brown is an active organizer of team and departmental events to help the San Diego community when she’s not competing on the basketball court. A two-time member of the All-Triton Scholar-Athlete Team and Triton Athletes’ Council team representative, Brown created the Lungevity Walk at UC San Diego, raising more than $2,000 to support research on lung cancer. She also has laced up her shoes to organize the Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk and a Homeless Shelter Walkathon, as well as organizing a Love4KBag fundraiser for local oncology centers, a clothing and food drive for a local shelter, and a holiday shopping trip with the Adopt a Family program. Brown’s service to others stretches back to prep school where she traveled to Kenya to assist a non-profit organization, teaching English and American sports to children and providing local students, teachers and community members with nutritious meals and clean drinking water.
UC Irvine distance runner Hannah Chau recently graduated with a degree in public health sciences and will pursue a master’s in demographic and social analysis. The seven-time dean’s list honoree for the Anteaters, Chau served as the cross country and track & field team captain and SAAC representative while racing to school records in the 4K and steeplechase. The All-Big West performer was 2022 runner-up in the steeple while taking third in the 10,000 meters at The Big West Track & Field Championships. Along with her athletic accomplishments, Chau serves as a Fresh Hub volunteer and tutor. She is a UC Irvine Department of Public Heath COVID advocate as well as a member of the strategic planning committee.
Graduate student and softball player at Cal Poly, Kianah Corey serves as the student-athlete liaison for the Black Academic Excellence Center (BAEC) for the Mustangs along with being a student assistant. Corey is the co-creator of a food pantry in the BAEC as well as serving as a peer counselor for Black students on campus through
Kiki’s Corner utilizing her knowledge gained in her undergraduate studies in child development and master’s classes in psychology as well as her personal experiences while at Cal Poly. She has served as a mediator of conversation in a 400-person webinar with the aunt and uncle of George Floyd as well as with racial healer Dr. Annalise Singh. Corey also participates in quarterly healing programs for Black, Indigenous, People of Color on campus.
A seven-time Big West Academic All-Conference performer, UC Davis distance runner Ryman Crone leads Athlete Guidance and Support (AGS) for the Aggies. Crone invested early in the signature peer-led focus on student-athlete mental and emotional wellness, contributed to leadership in his second year, and transitioned into the president role in the midst of the COVID pandemic. He effectively kept the group active and highly effective at a critical time while working closely with Student Health and Counseling Services to execute CHOICES grant activities and liaise with relevant campus groups. In competition, Crone posted the second-best Aggie finish as the NCAA Cross Country West Regionals in 2021, and competes in the middle distances and steeplechase for UC Davis on the track, holding the top team marks of the 2022 season in both the 800 and 1,500 meters.
Long Beach State golfer Bryce Kvick balances an intense academic courseload as a triple major and member of the Honors college while competing on the course for the Beach as well as in amateur competition. Kvick is Long Beach State’s representative on The Big West SAAC and has been an executive member of the Beach’s SAAC for the last three years. Through SAAC, he has been involved in an array of service activities on campus. Additionally, Kvick helped create a charity golf tournament, the College Bound Classic, through the student-run profit Kids Helping Kids prior to his time at Long Beach State. The classic raises over $30,000 each year to give to graduating students in foster care to get them prepared for their collegiate experience. Kvick when back to get involved in the tournament in 2019 and ’20.
A two-sport student-athlete, Taylor Thames is the president of CSUN’s SAAC as well as serving on The Big West SAAC and as a member of Big West Undivided in 2021-22. The sprinter and soccer player was the co-student founder of Matador United, CSUN’s diversity and equity committee. She is the lead assistant sprints coach for the Northridge Paces and has served as a camp counselor at CSUN women’s soccer camps and an event organizer for the US Women’s National Team pre-event. Thames volunteers at the Midnight Mission and the North Hills Community Parks Soccer League while pursuing a degree in sociology with a concentration in social welfare and social justice and a minor in Africana studies.