ODAC Announces Jopson and Berkley Award Winners

Posted: Jun 08, 2015

Generals Katterhagen, Hu Take Home Honors

FOREST, Va. --- Washington and Lee University collected its 20th and 21st season-ending conference accolades as the ODAC Board of Directors announced its top two individual student-athlete awards on Monday. Generals' track & field athlete Jillian Katterhagen was recognized as the Marjorie Berkley Award recipient, men's tennis player Christopher Hu took home the Harry G. "Doc" Jopson Award.

Inaugurated in 1984 and 1981, respectively, the Marjorie Berkley and Harry G. "Doc" Jopson Scholar-Athlete Awards are given each spring 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.

A four-year letterwinner and team captain for the W&L track & field teams, Katterhagen is the ninth General to win the Berkley Award. She is a six-time ODAC champion in the pole vault, winning three times both indoors and outdoors. She was the pole vault runner-up, indoors and out, during her junior campaign. The Generals' outdoor pole vault record-holder (3.60m), Katterhagen earned 10 All-ODAC honors in her career, receiving six first-team selections and two choices to both the second and third teams. She finished the 2015 season ranked 34th in NCAA Division III.

The History and Politics major earned Capital One Academic All-District honors this season, adding to multiple academic awards from the USTFCCCA and eight selections each to the All-ODAC Academic Team and as a W&L Scholar-Athlete. She was recently honored as the 2015 William D. McHenry Washington and Lee Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She is a member of several honor societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Sigma Alpha (politics) and Nu Delta Alpha (dance). Katterhagen has achieved much with Omicron Delta Kappa (leadership), serving as W&L chapter president in addition to earning the 2015 Omircon Delta Kappa Leader of the Year award.

In addition to her ODK presidency, Katterhagen is a peer tutor on campus and serves as a member of the W&L Political Review Editorial Board. She has volunteered at several events thru Chi Omega sorority, including the Make a Wish Foundation. She is a member of the W&L Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, history department hiring committee, and W&L Repertory Dance Company, thru which she's received numerous awards for her contributions as both a dancer and choreographer. Katterhagen will attend Stanford Law School in the fall.

A four-year letter winner and multiple All-ODAC honoree, Hu put together a 40-25 singles record and a 61-21 doubles mark on W&L's national-caliber men's tennis teams. He was recently named the William D. McHenry Washington and Lee Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He received three All-ODAC First Team singles honors from the ODAC's head coaches, in addition to three first team spots on doubles teams and one selection to a doubles second team. He and teammate Michael Holt were the eighth ranked doubles team in the Atlantic South Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) in 2015.

Hu has put together a blemish-free grade point average as a Biochemistry major with a minor in Education. A recipient of the Washington and Lee Johnson Scholar in Leadership and Integrity scholarship, Hu is a member of Phi Beta Kappa in addition to receiving multiple honors as a W&L Scholar-Athlete and to the All-ODAC Academic Team. He's received numerous awards for his academic work, earning the James Lewis Howe Chemistry Award for Outstanding Achievement, the James Keith Shillington Scholarship for Organic Chemistry, and the CRC Press Chemistry Award. He also earned the Andrew M. Hemm Prize for Excellence in Chinese.

Hu is active on campus, serving as the Washington and Lee House of Prayer Director for the last four years. He is also a four-member of the Generals Christian Fellowship, serving as a small group leader. Hu donated his time to local high school students each of the past four summers as a tutor for pre-calculus, calculus, chemistry, physics and earth science.

2015 Harry G. “Doc” Jopson Award Nominees
Tim Miller, Bridgewater (cross country/track)
Lucas Kirby, Emory & Henry (football)
Jeff Gray, Hampden-Sydney (baseball)
Christopher Hu, Washington and Lee (tennis)

2015 Marjorie Berkley Award Nominees
Caroline Augsburger, Bridgewater (field hockey/lacrosse)
Erica Merriman, Emory & Henry (soccer)
Angela Bosco, Lynchburg (soccer)
Liz Bereit, Shenandoah (lacrosse)
Kelsey Barta, Sweet Briar (soccer/lacrosse)
Nancy Kelly, Virginia Wesleyan (basketball)
Jillian Katterhagen, Washington and Lee (track)