* University of Wyoming press release

LARAMIE -- An outstanding student-athlete and a dedicated student worker are the winners of the 2024 Admiral Land Award and Trophy, a longtime Wyoming homecoming tradition.

This year's award winner is former soccer player Jamie Tatum, and the trophy winner is marketing intern Darby Thayer. The announcement was made at Saturday's Wyoming-Air Force Homecoming football game.

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The Admiral Land Award is presented to the student-athlete(s) who has completed his or her Wyoming competition during the preceding academic year and demonstrated outstanding achievement in intercollegiate competition, exemplary personal conduct during competition, and maintained academic standing with satisfactory progress toward a degree.

The Admiral Land Trophy is awarded to the student (non-collegiate athlete) who has done the most to promote Intercollegiate Athletics at the University during the previous school year.

A native of Highlands Ranch, Colo., Jamie Tatum is the most decorated player in Cowgirl Soccer history. She has the most goals in program history with 25, the most points with 69, the most starts with 83, is third in game-winning goals with 7 and third in assists with 18.

She was named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year during the 2022 season when the Cowgirls won the conference’s regular-season crown and played in the tournament title game. She majored in nursing while at UW.

Darby Thayer is a senior majoring in Marketing Communication and Leadership.  In her third year as an intern for Athletics Marketing, she has taken on leadership roles, spearheaded marketing initiatives, and contributed countless hours to promoting Wyoming Athletics on campus, in the community, and throughout the state.

During the past school year specifically, Darby led the Wyoming Kids Club, increasing membership in the club from 76 members to over 300. Hailing from Rawlins, Wyo., Darby has helped lead several community outreach events, including the Pokes Halloween Bash in partnership with Wyoming SAAC, Bounce Cancer, Football Spring Youth Clinic, and Wyoming Night at David Street Station in Casper.

The Admiral Land awards have been a special part of Homecoming since 1953.  They were established as a tribute to distinguished UW alumnus Admiral Emory S. Land, class of 1898. Land was a World War II Shipping Administrator and head of the U.S. Maritime Service. At UW, he was a member of the first football team and four of the first five teams in school history.

Following are the previous Admiral Land Award & Trophy Winners:

     Year               Admiral Land Award                            Admiral Land Trophy

1953                                    Paul Carlin, Track

1954                                    George Galuska, Football

1955                                    Bob Jingling, Baseball

1956                                    Joe Capua, Basketball

1957                                    Jim Crawford, Football

1958                                    C.T. “Wimp” Hewgley

1959                                    Harold Farmer, Football & Track                                    Janice Elmer

1960                                    Dick Ballinger, Wrestling                                                Mary Jones

1961                                    Jerry Hill, Football                                                           Dave Bonner

1962                                    Chuck Lamson, Football                                                 Gene Bryan

1963                                    Bob Hanson, Basketball                                                 Judy King

1964                                    Mack Balls, Football                                                       Joan Selmer

1965                                    Flynn Robinson, Basketball                                            John Hursh

1966                                    Bob Dinges, Football                                                       Babette Numon & Harold Blumenthal

1967                                    Mike Gregorio, Cross Country                                         Phil White, Jr.

1968                                    Mike Eberle, Basketball                                                  Carl Hanson & Jim York

1969                                    Bruce Jennings, Skiing                                                    Bill Hill

1970                                    Stan Dodds, Basketball                                                   Debbie Hardy

1971                                    Roy Wilson, Basketball                                                   Mary Ann Gorman & Don Bogdan

1972                                    Gary Fox, Football                                                          Kathy Hunt & Larry Bresso

1973                                    Staale Engen, Skiing                                                        The UW Marching Band

1974                                    Steve Cockreham, Football                                            Michelle Green & Bill Yost

1975                                    Jody Sloan, Wrestling                                                     The UW Pep Band

1976                                    Bill Ewing, Baseball                                                        Steve Prosinski

1977                                    Christine Brown, Women’s Athletics                             Sally Shurmur

1978                                    Kathy Merklin, Women’s Athletics                                 Randall Luthi

1979                                    Ross Houston, Skiing                                                      Pete Kuhn

1980                                    Geir Kvernmo, Track/Skiing                                            Cynthia Fester

1981                                    Charles Bradley, Basketball                                            Bob Ihle

1982                                    Phil Davis, Football; Bill Garnett, Basketball                  Mike Larson & Mark Netzel

1983                                    Lynn Stetson, Swimming; Stacy Ward, Skiing                Scott Roberts

1984                                    Wes Gasner, Wrestling; Mary Shea, Volleyball              Bill Lamberty

1985                                    Joe Ramunno, Football; Kathy Romsa, Track;                                Annie Easterbrook

Becky Simning, Skiing

1986                                    Mike Hamel, Wrestling; Shari Ahola, Skiing                   Audrey Waldock

1987                                    Jim Walter, Baseball                                                       Mike Chisholm

1988                                     Mark Miller, Swimming; Ronda Munger, Volleyball              Patrick Stolz

1989                                    Randy Welniak, Football                                                Amy Dimond & Ron Loghry

1990                                    Darcy Cudaback, Volleyball;                                           Kevin Rochlitz

& John Wodny, Cross Country

1991                                     Shelly Thacker, Track & Field; Rob Clayton, Swimming          Jeff Ketron

1992                                    David McCleave, Golf;                                                    UW Marching Band

Dave Myers, Wrestling;

Reginald Slater, Basketball

1993                                    Scarlett Gustin, Basketball;                                            Wildfire Dance Team

Mike Abbey, Track & Field

1994                                    Kiesa Fornstrom, Swimming                                          Noah Buckley, John Carr & Brian Madden

1995                                    Amy Burnett, Basketball;                                               Karen Schatz

Ryan Christopherson, Football

1996                                    Joe Cummings, Football;                                                Doug Hoffman

Tom Hickenlooper, Wrestling

1997                                    Shilo Mathill, Wrestling                                                  Kevin Koerwitz

1998                                    Brian Lee, Football                                                          Dusty Clements

1999                                    Mark Winninger, Wrestling                                            Mark Gibbs

2000                                    Corey Hamrick, Wrestling                                              Baend Buus

2001                                    Joe Hall, Track & Field                                                    Abi Gerhard

2002                                    Oscar Delgado, Diving                                                     Will LeDoux & Shalee McCue

2003                        Josh Rollins, Football                                                      Mark Krug

2004                        Casey Bramlet, Football                                                  Keven Gibbs

2005                        Shauna Smith, Track, & Scott Usher, Swimming           Jason Wasserburger

        2006                         Bryce Leonhardt, Wrestling                                           David Primus

        2007                         Kevin Bretting, Diving                                                     Mark Bock

        2008                         Hanna Zavecz, Basketball                                               Eric Whiting & Shelley Heward

        2009                         Ward Dobbs, Football, & Amanda Lathrop, Soccer                 Sean Valentine

       2010                        Emily Huth, Diving                                                          Kellen Little

        2011             Aubrey Vandiver, Basketball & Chris Prosinski, Football            Andy Chapman & Nick Kinney

        2012                         Joe LeBlanc, Wrestling                                                   Ali Galey and Ryan Freeman

         2013      Alfonso Hernandez, Wrestling, & Chaundra Sewell, Basketball       Katie Stout and Steven Sundberg

        2014                           Morgan Hartigan-Calhoon, Swimming & Diving           Jami Baker

         2015        Erin Kirby, Volleyball/Track & Field; Larry Nance, Jr., Basketball;    Cory Fields

& Shane Woods, Wrestling

2016                          Tanner Harms, Wrestling                                                Cassandra Craddock & Patrick Hall

2017                          Ryan Wallen, Golf                                                           Mary Ginsbach & Zach Wisniewski

2018                          Bryce Meredith, Wrestling & Liv Roberts, Basketball    Kayla Cryer

2019                          John Murdock, Golf                                                         Dana Jorgensen & Keaton Yeend

2020                                  No Awards Given (Pandemic)

2021                                  No Awards Given (Pandemic)

2022                          Chad Muma, Football                                                      Emma Agebrand & Jocelyn Campbell

       2023                          Maria Oreshkina, Tennis                                                 Zoie Olguin

       2024                          Jamie Tatum, Soccer                                                       Darby Thayer

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