HARRISONBURG, Va. – EMU Athletics held its annual Athletics Awards Ceremony on Monday, April 20, celebrating and recognizing the accomplishments of our student-athletes and teams during the 2025-26 academic year. Over the next few days, we will recap each of the major award winners.

The Freshman Athlete of the Year award is given annually to the male and female freshman student-athlete with the most outstanding athletic achievement in the current academic year. Student-athletes also had to maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 or higher to be eligible. Read on to learn more about this year's winners:

Female Freshman of the Year - Aliza Judd (Softball)

Judd had an outstanding season for the Royals softball team, as she was just one of four players to start all 34 games for the Royals. On the season she hit .304, which was third on the team, and collected 35 hits, which was second on the team. She struck out just nine times in 115 at-bats. Defensively, she had a .985 fielding percentage, committing just two errors in 132 chances across her time at first base, catcher and the outfield. 

"Aliza Judd...great attitude and she brings it every day," said head softball coach JD McCurdy. "She was our lead off hitter and she was an immediate impact player. If you ever come to see her play, you'll never know whether she's 0-5 or 5-5; she's ice cold. She checks all the boxes as a great player and a great leader." 

Male Freshman of the Year - Koran Rucker (Men's Track & Field)

Rucker burst onto the scene in a big way for EMU, placing ninth in the shot put and 12th in the weight throw at his very first meet, the Liberty Kickoff, which was attended by many DI and DII institutions. The very next weekend he won the shot put and was second in the weight throw and continued, for the rest of the indoor season, win event after event while also etching his name in the EMU T&F record books (EMU record in indoor weight throw, second in indoor shot put, EMU record in outdoor discus, second in outdoor hammer throw). At the indoor ODAC Championships, he was Second Team All-ODAC in the shot put. At the end of the season, he was named USTFCCCA All-South Region in the shot put and weight throw. He followed that up with a stellar outdoor season that saw him win an ODAC Championship in both the hammer throw and the discus, while finishing second on the shot put. He is currently 29th in DIII in the hammer throw and 50th in the shot put. 

"I think one of the most impressive thing with Koran is that, for the last couple of months, the throwers have had to pretty much coach themselves," said Director of Cross Country, Track & Field and Triathlon Bob Hepler. "He's shown a lot of character through his work ethic and we are very blessed to have him."