DALLAS – Conference USA announced the 14 student-athletes receiving the C-USA Winter Spirit of Service Award today. The award honors the league’s student-athletes with significant community service endeavors, good academic standing and participation in their sport. The Spirit of Service award is presented three times throughout the season, with today’s honorees representing winter sports: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor track & field and women’s swimming & diving.
 
2019-20 Winter Spirit of Service Award Recipients
Riley Felts, Charlotte Women’s Indoor Track & Field
Sharon Kok, Florida Atlantic Women’s Swimming & Diving
Taylor Grabenhorst, FIU Women’s Swimming & Diving
Ma’Asa Gay, Louisiana Tech Women’s Indoor Track & Field
Jarrod West, Marshall Men’s Basketball
Charity Savage, Middle Tennessee Women’s Basketball
Madison Townley, North Texas Women’s Basketball
Ashley Scott, Old Dominion Women’s Basketball
Michelle Fokam, Rice Women’s Indoor Track & Field
Boban Jacdonmi, Southern Miss Men’s Basketball
Jennifer Sharpe, UAB Women’s Indoor Track & Field
Isaiah Rhyanes, UTEP Men’s Basketball
Karrington Donald, UTSA Women’s Basketball
Dee Givens, WKU Women’s Basketball
 
Charlotte pole vaulter Riley Felts collected the school’s highest amount of female student-athlete volunteer hours throughout the season. She spent 32 hours at various events, including Kids Math Learning Camp and Buddy Walk to support Down syndrome awareness. The sophomore broke the program’s indoor pole vault record (4.06m) at the C-USA Championships to claim gold and all-conference first-team honors. Felts earned a 4.00 GPA as a civil engineering major.
 
A two-time gold medalist at the 2020 C-USA Swimming & Diving Championships, senior Taylor Grabenhorst helped FIU to its sixth-straight conference title in February. Her impact was also felt in the community as she volunteered with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and Carlos Finlay Elementary School Shared Reading, among other organizations. She was awarded the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal and Honor Roll in the fall and compiled a 3.70 GPA as a psychology student with plans to attend nursing school after graduation.
 
Florida Atlantic senior swimmer Sharon Kok amassed more than 125 community service hours throughout 2019-20, lending a hand at beach cleanups, school service events and initiatives to promote mental health, breast cancer and Alzheimer’s. The Illinois native inked a 3.311 GPA with a focus in communication studies and logged nine top-five individual finishes during her senior campaign.
 
Sprinter Ma’Asa Gay’s contributions throughout her sophomore season included time volunteered at the Rolling Hills Ministry Thrift Store, the Wesley Foundation, Loyal Blue Boxes Fundraising and more. The five-time Louisiana Tech Dean’s List recipient averaged a 3.697 GPA as a marketing major. She competed in the 300m, 400m and 600m races during the indoor slate, earning the team’s top time in the 300m competition.
 
Junior Jarrod West represented Marshall on the 2019-20 C-USA Men’s Basketball All-Academic Team. He turned in a 3.71 GPA as a business management major and led the league with 64 steals on the season. Off the court, West and the Thundering Herd visited a local school to spend time with a student who had lost a parent, inviting him to participate in the team’s pregame activities.
 
Charity Savage, Middle Tennessee women’s basketball student-athlete, had a memorable final season in more ways than one. She was involved in several community service projects including Read to Succeed, Special Kids of Murfreesboro and the SAAC Food Drive. The Memphis product received a 3.01 GPA in her bio chemistry studies and will soon enroll in graduate school as part of the ROTC program. Savage became an all-conference selection and ranked sixth in the nation in total rebounds (339) in 2019-20.
 
Madison Townley played an active role in North Texas’ SAAC and on its women’s basketball team in 2019-20. She helped organize the school’s first week of service in the fall and was an active volunteer with the community’s food pantry and hunger coalition. Townley reeled in C-USA Honor Roll recognition for five-straight semesters and recently earned a 3.13 GPA with a major in kinesiology and minor in psychology. The redshirt junior averaged 5.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and started all but two games for the Mean Green.
 
Old Dominion’s Ashley Scott has volunteered for various events in the Norfolk community including Trunk or Treat, the Christmas Toy Drive, the Larchmont Rat Race and freshmen move-in. The senior holds a 3.505 GPA while majoring in political science. The women’s basketball standout was one of the Monarchs’ top rebounders in 2020, averaging 3.3 per game.  
 
As the 2020 C-USA Indoor Field Performer of the Meet, Rice’s Michelle Fokam had great success at the conference meet, earning two medals in long jump and triple jump. The senior psychology major is a consistent participant in volunteer work at the Houston Food Bank, Bread of Life Houston, Main Street Ministries and Forge for Families throughout the year.
 
Southern Miss’ Boban Jacdonmi excels on and off the court, dedicating his free time to serving the Hattiesburg community when he’s not playing basketball. The redshirt senior has helped at numerous events at Petal Harvey Baptist Church and is highly active with Southern Miss FCA and Petal High School and Middle School FCA. The liberal studies major also helped with the Family Literacy Event at a local elementary school.
 
Jennifer Sharpe posted a career season for UAB Indoor Track & Field after leaping a personal-best 11.31 meters in triple jump at the Vulcan Invitational. In the classroom, the senior compiled a 3.25 GPA as a kinesiology and exercise science major. The Waycross, Georgia, native has served an impressive 125 hours of community service with the Blazers, volunteering for several organizations including Children’s of Alabama Hospital, Habitat for Humanity and Ronald McDonald House.
 
A 2018 and 2019 C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll honoree, UTEP’s Isaiah Rhyanes posted a 3.2 GPA in multidisciplinary studies. The senior men’s basketball player has spent several hours helping the city of El Paso through several outlets, including Game Changers, El Paso Children’s Hospital, Loma Linda Elementary, the food bank and Salvation Army.
 
As a member of the UTSA Honors College, Karrington Donald has a 3.79 GPA as a computer science major. The junior led the Roadrunners women’s basketball squad in several categories this season, including three-point percentage and assists. Off the court, she has volunteered with the San Antonio Food Bank, Methodist Children’s Hospital and is very active in SAAC, serving on the executive board as a liaison to the UTSA Rowdy Crew.
 
WKU’s Dee Givens, C-USA women’s basketball’s fifth-leading scorer in 2020, averaged 16.2 points per game and was named All-C-USA First Team. The redshirt senior recreation and sport administration major maintained a perfect 4.00 GPA while earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She also helped organize team community outings that included wheelchair basketball at the local rec center, serving meals at Feeding America, volunteering at the humane society and a school supply drive.