BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic Athletics gathers each spring to celebrate team and department successes at an event known to student-athletes as the Owlspys. The 2025 edition was held on Monday night at the Boca Raton campus' Carole and Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium.
 
The FAU student-athlete advisory committee, SAAC, organized, produced and hosted the 11th annual event tabbed "A Night in Paradise" where nearly 100 student-athletes, teams or staff members were recognized.
 

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This year's top honors were awarded to Michelle Horan from the women's soccer team and Brian Boully of the baseball team. The duo was also honored at the University's April 9 Honor's Convocation, a ceremony that recognizes FAU's most outstanding students and faculty members.
 
Horan appeared in each of the team's 18 games in 2024 and was one of the five leading goal scorers with six and led the team in assists. The Cape Coral, Florida native (North Fort Myers High School) holds a 3.890 GPA after arriving in Paradise in the fall of 2022. She completed her undergraduate studies in two years, graduating magna cum laude in marketing. She was a Dean's List recipient in each of the four undergraduate semesters and received President's List honors for the spring 2023 semester. In the fall of 2024, Horan was accepted into the Executive Master of Business Administration program and will complete her master's degree while still holding NCAA eligibility. Last season, Horan was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Conference Third Team. She also was named Collegiate Sports Communicators Academic All-District. Horan epitomizes an athlete who took full advantage of the educational opportunity to earn two degrees while being an active student-athlete as a member of SAAC since the fall of 2023.
 
Boully is in his fourth season as a member of the Florida Atlantic baseball team. The senior from Dover, Florida (Strawberry Crest High School), holds a cumulative GPA of 3.934, is majoring in accounting, and is on track to graduate this May summa cum laude. Boully has already been accepted into the Executive Masters of Accounting program, which he will begin in fall 2025.  Boully has been a Dean's List recipient each collegiate semester, receiving the honor for seven straight semesters as well as being a President's List recipient for fall 2021, fall 2022, and spring 2023.  He was an active student-athlete advisory committee leader, representing baseball for the 22-23 academic year. Boully is the epitome of an outstanding academic student-athlete with 20 appearances through four seasons, posting a 4.26 ERA, retiring 28 batters in 25.1 innings pitched, holding opponents to a .187 batting average.
 
The final and most coveted award by the student-athletes, the Owl Cup, was bestowed to the softball team, who currently hold a record of 35-9 and reclaimed the award after winning it in 2023.
 

All-Freshman Team (Female): Nancy Cox (golf), Ludo Pavia (swimming & diving), Destiny Johns (softball), Constance Pittet (cross country and Track & Field), Lara Smejkal (tennis), Olivia Hart (volleyball), Shantel Starling (beach volleyball), Rachel Shepherd (dance), Sutton Markee (soccer), Chloe Fenwick (cheer),
 
All-Freshman Team (Male): James Litman (baseball), Biagio Gagliardi (golf), James Shevchenko (swimming & diving), Gemari Sands (football), Donovan Petty (cross country), Segundo Goity Zapico (tennis)
 
Coach of the Year: Jordan Clark, softball
 
Best Performance of the Year – Individual: Mamadou Diarra, men's soccer
Best Performance of the Year – Team: 2024 Softball
 
Staff Member of the Year: Kaitlin Greer, athletic training
 
Picture Perfect Award:
 
W.I.N.G. Award (Female): Maya Shanok, women's tennis
W.I.N.G Team Award (Female): Women's tennis
 
OWLstanding Spirit Award: Bernice Chau, dance
 
New to the Nest (Male): Mamadou Diarra, men's soccer
New to the Nest (Female): Autumn Courtney, softball
 
SASC Scholar Owl Award (Male): Gianni Carlino, swimming & diving
SASC Scholar Owl Award (Female): Charlotte Perkins, golf
 
Individual Performance of the Year: Mamadou Diarra, men's soccer
Team Performance of the Year: Softball
 
Athlete of the Year (Male): Mamadou Diarra, men's soccer
Athlete of the Year (Female): Trinity Schlotterbeck, softball
 
SHAW Award: Ashleigh Adams, beach volleyball
 

Gallery: (4-21-2025) 2025 Owlspys Award Winners

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