Hu and Katterhagen Earn Top ODAC Awards
The Old Dominion Athletic Conference announced on Monday that Washington and Lee University has swept the conference’s top scholar-athlete awards for the first time since the 2010-11 school year.
Senior men’s tennis player Christopher Hu (Ridgewood, N.J. / Ridgewood) will receive the Harry G. “Doc” Jopson Award as the top male scholar-athlete in the conference, while senior track & field athlete Jillian Katterhagen (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) will be presented the Marjorie Berkley Award as the top female scholar-athlete.
Hu was tabbed for the award after also taking home the William McHenry Scholar-Athlete Award as the top male scholar-athlete at last month’s W&L Athletics Awards Ceremony. The biochemistry graduate was a four-year letterwinner with the men’s tennis team, earning seven All-ODAC citations over the course of his career.
A First Team All-ODAC honoree in doubles this spring, he teamed with junior Michael Holt (Henrico, Va. / Mills Godwin) to form the eighth-ranked doubles team in the Atlantic South Region. He was a W&L Johnson Scholar and member of Phi Beta Kappa and he graduated with a 40-25 singles record and a 61-21 doubles mark.
Hu is W&L’s first recipient of the Doc Jopson Award since Greg Kurkis ’11 took the honor in 2011.
Katterhagen was honored as the Berkley Award winner, marking the second straight Berkley Award for W&L. Annelise Madison ’14 took home the honor last year.
Katterhagen earned degrees in politics and history and also took home the William McHenry Scholar-Athlete Award as the top female scholar-athlete at W&L. She was a four-year letterwinner for the track & field team and she served as a team captain for her senior campaign.
Katterhagen was a six-time ODAC champion in the pole vault, racking up a total of 10 All-ODAC citations during her career. She also competed in the 60 meter hurdles, the 100 meter hurdles and the long jump, and she was a member of the 4×100 meter relay team. She holds the school record for the outdoor pole vault at 3.60 meters. Katterhagen is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa and she served as a University Peer Tutor. She will enter law school at Stanford this fall.
Inaugurated in 1981 and 1984, respectively, the Harry G. “Doc” Jopson and Marjorie Berkley Scholar-Athlete Awards are given each June to member college seniors and conference sport participants who exhibit the highest athletic, academic and extracurricular achievements. Ms. Berkley began her collegiate teaching career at Lynchburg College. Several years later, Ms. Berkley moved to Hollins University where she coached tennis, field hockey and soccer, and served as the athletic director for 30 years. The Jopson Award is named in honor of the Bridgewater College professor and coach who retired in 1981 following 45 years at BC. Dr. Jopson, who initiated and directed the Eagles’ cross country and track programs, led his teams to ODAC indoor track titles in 1979, 1980 and 1981, and outdoor crowns in 1978 through 1981.
