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On Monday night, the sixth annual UNC Rammy Awards Ceremony was held at Memorial Hall on the UNC campus, honoring the achievements of those involved in Carolina athletics. Another successful year in North Carolina sports made for another fun and memorable awards presentation.
The event was hosted by two senior student-athletes: Marika Akkerman from women’s tennis and Kenny Selmon from men’s track and field. Each would go on to win a Rammy before the ceremony ended.
Here’s a look at the winners of some of the more notable Rammy awards:
Athletes of the Year
Joel Berry II (Men’s Basketball): After leading the Tar Heels to a national championship as a junior, Berry returned to Chapel Hill for his senior season. With lots of new faces on the team, Berry took it upon himself to be the leader. He averaged 17.1 points per game as the Tar Heels secured a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Berry will go down as one of the most decorated Tar Heel basketball players of all time.
Nicole Greene (Women’s Track and Field): In a home meet in January that featured Duke, N.C. State, and East Carolina, Nicole Greene recorded an NCAA-best 6-foot, 2-inch high jump. She went on to dominate all season long for the Women’s Track and Field team, capping it off with a national championship in the women’s high jump, the first such title for the Tar Heels since 2007.
Breakthrough Athletes
Luke Maye (Men’s Basketball): Maye parlayed his success in the 2017 NCAA tournament into a monster junior campaign. After recording 5.5 points and 3.9 rebounds a game as a sophomore, Maye averaged a double-double with 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds. He earned first-team All-ACC honors as well as third-team AP All-American honors. His increase in production was easily enough to make him the ACC’s most improved player.
Alex Cooke (Women’s Track and Field): Cooke, a redshirt junior, emerged as a top competitor for the Women’s Track and Field team. She participated in events such as shot put, discus, hammer throw, and javelin throw, but Cooke especially excelled in the weight throw, finishing consistently at or near the top in that event for the Tar Heels. Her personal record for weight throw is 20.27 meters.
Record-Breaking Performance
Kenny Selmon (Men’s Track and Field): Selmon, the aforementioned co-host of the evening, broke the UNC record for the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 48.60. The previous record, 48.72, had been set 22 years prior by Ken Harnden, who competed in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic games for this event as a member of the Zimbabwe national team. Selmon’s performance helped earn him first-team All-America honors for the second year in a row.