TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona Athletics hosted The CATSYS on Monday in the McKale Center to recognize the accomplishments of its nearly 500 student-athletes. Soccer's Gabi Stoian claimed the Ruby Award for top senior female student-athlete, while Dusan Ristic from men's basketball earned the Sapphire Award for top senior male student-athlete. Track and field's Alyssa Thompson was recognized as the athletics department's Valedictorian, while the women's basketball program took home the Athletics Director Cup for Community Service for the second consecutive year.
 
The event was hosted by Arizona letterwinners Miles Simon and Richard Jefferson, along with Emmy Award winner Chris 'Geeter' McGee, while live music was provided by recording artist Kelley James.
 
A senior from Scottsdale, Stoian finished her career near the top of the record book in many columns for the Arizona soccer program. She ranks first in shots, second in goals and assists, and third in game-winning goals. She will remain as one of Arizona soccer's greatest players ever. Additionally, she served as a leader on the team for two seasons and is part of the first senior class to go to three NCAA tournaments. She has earned All-Pac-12 First, Second, and Third team honors and is a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention honoree. She has been recognized nationally as an All-Region player in three of her four seasons, and as an Academic All-Region player in 2015.

Others nominees: Jalea Bennett (Women's Basketball), Madison Cindric (Gymnastics), Claire Green (Track & Field)
 
A senior from Novi Sad, Serbia, Ristic became the all-time winningest player in program history with 115 victories, surpassing Matt Muehlebach (1988-91) and Kaleb Tarczewski (2013-16) at 110 wins. Ristic earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2018 and was a member of the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. He became the 28th Wildcat in Arizona history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in a career. Ristic helped Arizona to three regular season conference championships and three Pac-12 Tournament titles. In 2017-18, he posted the best statistical season of his four-year career averaging 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 56.1 percent from the field and 78.5 percent at the free throw line. Ristic left the McKale Center on Senior Day with one of the most memorable exits, shedding his jersey as he checked out while wearing an undershirt that read "Thank You Arizona" on the front and "Dusan Loves Tucson" on the back.

Others nominees: George Cunningham (Golf), Nick Thorne (Swimming), Justin Wright (Swimming)
 
A senior from Tucson, Thompson is a USTFCCCA Academic All-American and a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic selection. She currently holds a 4.0 GPA as a physiology major. Thompson is a two-time All-Pac-12 performer and earned second-team All-America honors in the heptathlon in 2016. After redshirting last year, Thompson currently has the nation's sixth-best mark in the heptathlon having scored 5,596 points at the Jim Click Shootout.

The women's basketball program earned the Athletics Director Cup for Community Service for the second consecutive year after posting an average of 43 hours of community service per team member. Overall, student-athletes have produced 3,460 hours of community service between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018.
 
In addition to these accomplishments, the following awards were also handed out at The CATSYS:
 
Junior Female Athlete of the Year – Haley Moore (Golf)
 
Haley Moore has posted two individual victories so far this season. She won the Golfweek Conference Challenge at Red Sky Golf Club, where she shot 7-under-par. Her total included a career low round of 64 in the second round, which is also a program record. Moore also won the Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational shooting 210 (-6) in Puerto Vallarta. Moore finished tied for second at the PING ASU Invitational where she again posted a score of 210 (-6). Moore has four Top-10 and six Top-20 finishes in the eight events she has participated in so far this season. Moore's scoring average is 71.92 in 25 rounds and 15 of her 25 rounds came in at even or under par, while also shooting four rounds in the 60s. 
 
Other nominees: Lainey Burdett (Soccer), Taylor McQuillin (Softball)
 
Junior Male Athlete of the Year – Alfonso Rivas (Baseball)
 
Alfonso Rivas entered the 2018 campaign as a preseason first-team All-America selection by NCBWA, a second-team pick by D1 Baseball and a third-team selection by Baseball America. Rivas was a preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List for top player in the country. Rivas is currently batting .348, has a .438 on base percentage, and has posted 33 RBI. Some of his best moments this season include his six RBI and one home run performance against Michigan, and a walk-off hit to seal the series victory against No.4 Oregon State.
 
Last season, Rivas earned second-team All-America, second-team all-West Region, and first-team All-Pac-12 honors. He led the conference and ranked 13th nationally in on-base percentage at .483, finished third in the Pac-12 in batting average at .371, and posted 63 RBI, which is the most by an Arizona underclassman since Jeff Van Houten tallied 72 in 2003. Rivas also scored 54 runs, had 13 doubles, seven home runs and 39 walks.
 
Other nominees: Grayson Fleming (Track & Field), Allonzo Trier (Men's Basketball)
 
Sophomore Female Athlete of the Year – Alyssa Palomino (Softball)
 
Alyssa Palomino is tied for second in the Pac-12 with 12 home runs, third in slugging percentage (.795) and fifth in batting average (.411) and on-base percentage (.492) . So far this season, 19 of her 46 hits have gone for extra bases (7 doubles and 12 homers) and she has driven in 27 runs and scored 22 of her own. She also ranks second on the team with 17 walks.
 
Other nominees: Jessie Harper (Softball), Kirsten Jacobsen (Swimming), Morgan McGarry (Soccer)
 
Sophomore Male Athlete of the Year – Khalil Tate (Football)
 
A Pac-12 honorable mention selection both on the field and in the classroom, Tate became the first player in conference history to win four consecutive offensive player of the week awards. The breakout star finished his sophomore season with 1,411 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, while passing for 1,591 yards and another 14 touchdowns. His 327-yard effort on the ground on Oct. 7 set a new FBS single-game record for rushing by a quarterback. Later, he became the first quarterback in conference history to tally 1,000 rushing yards in a season and he was the first Wildcat to tally three 200-yard rushing games in a season. Tate was a finalist for the Manning Award, as well as a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Maxwell and Davey O'Brien Awards.
 
Other nominees: Rawle Alkins (Men's Basketball), Carlos Villarreal (Track & Field)
 
Freshman Female Athlete of the Year – Sam Thomas (Women's Basketball)
 
Sam Thomas was named Pac-12 All-Freshman by both the coaches and media this year after averaging 10.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. She scored the 10th-most points and had the fourth-most rebounds for a freshman in Arizona history. Additionally, she played the most minutes in Arizona history for a freshman (1,088), which is also tied for the fifth-most all-time. Thomas led all freshmen in the Pac-12 in scoring, rebounding, steals, blocks and minutes and was the only player in the Pac-12 to be in the top 10 in rebounding, steals and blocks. She led the team in field goal percentage, rebounding, blocks, steals and minutes and was second in scoring and three-point percentage. Thomas finished the season with three double-doubles, which is the most for an Arizona freshman since Erica Barnes in 2011. She also became the first freshman in school history to start 30 games since Davellyn Whyte, who went on to become Arizona's second-leading scorer in program history.
 
Other nominees: Kaelyn Shipley (Track & Field), Yu-Sang Hou (Golf)
 
Freshman Male Athlete of the Year – Deandre Ayton (Men's Basketball)
 
Deandre Ayton earned unanimous first-team All-America honors after claiming Pac-12 Player of the Year, Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, first-team All-Pac-12, Pac-12 All-Freshman, and Pac-12 All-Defense honors. Ayton was also the Most Outstanding Player at the Pac-12 Tournament. He became the first player in conference history to win Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Tournament Most Outstanding Player in the same season. Ayton is only the third player in conference history to claim Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors. He ended the season averaging 20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 61.2 percent from the field. Ayton was one of only three players in the nation to end the regular season averaging 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds a game. He set a new Pac-12 record for double-doubles by a freshman with 24, which was also the most by any player in UA history.
 
Other nominees: Jordan Geist (Track & Field), Colin Schooler (Football)
 
Silver Anniversary Awards – Karin Buchholz (Tennis) / Marcel Wade (Football)
 
Established in 1991, the C.A.T.S. Silver Anniversary Award is given to former student-athletes who competed a minimum of 25 years ago. The award recognizes past letterwinners who have made a significant impact within their community, to the University of Arizona, and within their chosen profession.

Karin Buchholz, Tennis
Karin Buchholz, a former professional athlete, is the Senior VP of Development for the National Kidney Foundation, where she leads a team of 140 passionate and dedicated people in 29 local offices across the country in the challenge of raising support against a life-threating disease that puts 1 in 3 of us at risk. Her team's hard-won efforts pay off with $25 million being raised annually to support people living with kidney disease and help raise crucial public awareness.
 
Prior to NKF, Karin had graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Finance from the University of Arizona, where she was a scholarship tennis player and the captain for 2 years. She started her career as a professional athlete, spending three years playing tennis on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, achieving a world ranking in singles and doubles.  
 
After retiring as a top-ranked professional, Karin began to share the positive lessons of her sports career through a small tennis program in Harlem for underserved children and from there, continued on to work for notable organizations such as the US Tennis Association, US Olympic Committee, WNBA, and Madison Square Garden Sports. 
 
When Karin's partner, Paulette, donated her kidney to a close family member, the experience for both of them was life changing; inspiring and motivating Karin to help others affected by this disease. Now, as a Senior VP at the NKF, she is living a new chapter in her life's mission by driving funding to improve the lives of everyone touched kidney disease.
 
Karin resides in Nyack, NY with her partner Paulette, and their 3 children; Sophia, Gabriel and Oliver, along with Daisy and Carmichael, their fabulous felines.

Marcel Wade, Football
Marcel Wade was born and raised in Oakland, California, and received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Arizona in 1988.  He played linebacker for the University of Arizona football team, and was a 4-year letterman from 1989-1992.  He graduated with a Bachelor's of Arts in December 1992.

After a close friend joined the Tucson Police Department, he encouraged Marcel to do the same. Following the thrilling experience of a ride along in early 2000, Wade applied and joined the Tucson Police Department that July. In 2009, he earned the rank of Sergeant and he has held the positions of Academy Staff Officer, Recruiting Unit Sergeant, and is currently the Impound Unit Sergeant.

In addition to these career accomplishments, Wade completed the Eller Executive Education "Foundations of Public Sector Leadership" program in 2017, and is currently the Southern Arizona liaison for A.B.L.E. (Arizona Black Law Enforcement Employees). 

Marcel continues to be involved with the A-Club Letterwinners Association and Arizona Athletics, and serve as a mentor for student-athletes that aspire to pursue a career in Law Enforcement. 

Team Academic Awards
Men's Cross Country (3.36 GPA)
Women's Golf (3.581 GPA)
 
Wildcat Way Award of Excellence
Max Donohue, Men's Golf
Eugene Simonet-Keller, Women's Basketball
T Statman, Softball
Gabi Stoian, Soccer
 
Unsung Hero Award (Nominated by student-athletes, selected by support staff)
Robyn Porter, Softball
 
Individual Community Service Awards
Matt Salerno, Swimming
Gabi Stoian, Soccer
 
Support Services Staff Member of the Year (Voted on by student-athletes)
Rob Harris, Strength and Conditioning
 
Team Performance of the Year Award (Voted on by ZonaZoo)
Men's basketball's back-to-back Pac-12 Regular Season and Tournament Championships