2019 Tommy Award Winners
Celebrating the best of USC Athletics from 2019
Aubrey Kragen
6/30/2020
USC’s Student-Athlete Academic Council — Trojan Athletic Senate (TAS) — has brought back the annual athletic department awards celebrating the accomplishments of USC student-athletes for each calendar year.
Moved to a virtual experience this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, TAS and USC Athletics proudly present the winners of the 2019 Tommy Awards!
Female Athlete of the Year: Kerrigan Miller (lacrosse)
Miller, a junior midfielder in 2019, started all 20 games for the Trojans.
She scored 29 points, with 22 goals and seven assists.
She led the Pac-12 in caused turnovers (41) and caused turnovers per game (2.05 ctpg).
Miller was named the Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year, the Pac-12 Tournament MVP and made the Pac-12 All-Conference First Team, the IWLCA All-West/Midwest Region First Team and the IWLCA All-America Second Team.
Male Athlete of the Year: Michael Pittman Jr. (football)
Pittman, a senior wide receiver in 2019, started all 13 games for the Trojans, tallying 101 receptions for 1,265 yards (12.6 average) with 11 touchdowns.
His 101 receptions ranked fifth all-time in a single season for USC.
He was named a Biletnikoff Award finalist and a Second Team All-American by the AP, Football Coaches, Football Writers, Walter Camp, CBSSports.com, The Athletic and Phil Steele.
He was voted USC's MVP by his teammates.
Women's Team of the Year: Soccer
The 2019 Trojans reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings and made a run to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season with a 17-5-1 record.
The Trojans made their 18th postseason appearance in 2019, keeping their streak of never missing the postseason under head coach Keidane McAlpine alive (six straight seasons).
The Trojans picked up wins over four ranked opponents, including the defending national champs Florida State, who were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time.
USC had an All-American first team selection (Tara McKeown) for the fifth time in program history, had its 13th Freshman All-American (Kaylin Martin), garnered three All-Region first team honors and had eight players grab Pac-12 postseason awards, including McKeown being named the Pac-12 Forward of the Year.
Men's Team of the Year: Water Polo
Under the direction of first-year head coach Marko Pintaric, the 2019 men's water polo team posted a 15-6 record and made its 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Trojans reached the NCAA Semifinals, falling in sudden death to eventual champion Stanford.
Six Trojans were named All-Americans.
Best Record-Breaking Moment of the Year: Louise Hansson 100y Fly (swimming)
Hansson broke the NCAA record in the 100y fly (49.26) at the 2019 NCAA Swimming Championships, for the second time in less than a month (first broke the record at the 2019 Pac-12 Swimming Championships).
Best Play/Moment of the Year: Matt Fink Leads USC to Win Over Utah (football)
Fink came off the bench for the Trojans when starting QB Kedon Slovis was knocked out of the game versus Utah on the second play from scrimmage.
Fink threw for a career-best 351 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead USC to a 30-23 upset over No. 10 Utah at the Coliseum.
Fink, who considered transferring from USC in the spring of 2019 and began the 2019 season as the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart, completed 21-of-30 aerials in the game.
Female Rookie of the Year: Danielle Willson (tennis)
Willson, who walked on the team before being awarded an athletic scholarship midseason, finished her freshman season with a 27-4 record in singles (17-3 in dual matches).
She clinched four matches for the Women of Troy.
At one point during the season, had a 12-match winning streak and was one of five players in the Top 50 teams in the nation to be undefeated in dual matches two-thirds of the way through the season.
Male Rookie of the Year: Clay Owens (baseball)
Owens appeared in 35 games, making 29 starts for the Trojans as a freshman in 2019.
He had a slash line of .275/.358/.440, with 16 RBI and 14 runs scored and led USC with a .348 batting average and .927 OPS during conference play, earning All-Pac-12 honors.
Owens notched seven doubles, one triple and three home runs, along with three three-hit games on the season.
Female Comeback Athlete of the Year: Shalexxus Aaron (basketball)
Aaron was sidelined during her freshman season (2018) with a knee injury.
As a redshirt freshman in 2019, she appeared in 29 games, starting seven.
She averaged 6.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
Her 41.6 three-point percentage ranked fifth-best in USC history.
She earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors after scoring a career-high 28 points and hitting six three-pointers in a win over Washington.
Male Comeback Athlete of the Year: Henry Fusaro (diving)
After winning nine of 10 events as a junior, Fusaro suffered an injury that cut his spring season short.
In Fall 2019, Fusaro returned to competition and was named the team captain.
His senior debut included two wins against Arizona on 1-meter and 3-meter.
Fusaro won twice at the Trojan Diving Invitational and once at the Utah Diving Invitational.
Female Spirit of Troy: Anna Cockrell (track & field)
Cockrell served as a team captain for the 2019 Trojans.
On the track, she won the NCAA 400m hurdles title with a time of 55.23, the fastest-time ever by a Trojan at the Championships. She also placed sixth in the 100m hurdles and ran on USC’s 4x400m relay which placed eighth, making her a three-time All-American. She won the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay and scored in the 100m hurdles at the Pac-12 Championships.
Off the track, Cockrell delivered an inspiring speech at student-athlete graduation, in which she discussed her own struggles with mental health and encouraged other Trojans to speak up about their issues and not be afraid to seek help.
She earned the highest cumulative GPA (3.98) of any graduating student-athlete in 2019 and was named a Google Cloud Academic All-America second teamer.
Cockrell also sang the National Anthem before one of USC's home meets, showing just how talented and spirited she is.
Male Spirit of Troy: Michael Pittman Jr. (football)
Pittman served as a team captain for the 2019 football team.
In addition to his efforts on the field, which earned him a spot as a Biletnikoff Award finalist and second team All-American, Pittman was a finalist for the 2019 Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award (for players with an outstanding record of leadership).
Pittman earned USC's Community Service Award for his efforts off the field.
He volunteered with Project Hope (providing young people in LA with a safe learning environment) and frequently shared the story of how he overcame his stutter with young students.
He also sponsors a child in Indonesia through Compassion International.
When Pittman had his headphones on and didn't hear a young fan named Caleb Gonzalez yell “Go Pitt!” upon his arrival at the Coliseum, Pittman tracked the family down and gave Caleb a USC jersey just a few days later.
Head Coach of the Year: Casey Moon (women's water polo)
Moon was named the interim head coach in the middle of the 2019 season after former head coach Jovan Vavic was terminated.
Moon kept the team together and on a winning course to a 29-2 overall record.
Under Moon, the Women of Troy won the 2019 MPSF Tournament championship, with a buzzer-beater in sudden death to beat host Stanford in the final.
USC reached the NCAA Championship game, taking a tight one-goal loss to Stanford in the final.
Six Trojans were named All-Americans, and two were named finalists for the Cutino Award (Heisman Trophy of water polo).
Assistant Coach of the Year: Graham Harrell (football)
Under Harrell, the USC offense averaged 455.4 yards of total offense, including a school-record 335.8 passing yards, and 32.5 points.
The Trojans also set school season pass marks for completion percentage, completions and attempts.
USC ranked in the national Top 25 in 6 offensive categories.
True freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis, who was a Freshman All-American first teamer and the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, completed a school-record and NCAA freshman record 71.9% of his passes.
Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Katarzyna Pilch (rowing)
Pilch excelled in the classroom as a Cognitive Science major with a minor in Two-Dimensional Studies.
Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Henry Fusaro (diving)
Fusaro excelled in the classroom as a double major in Philosophy, Politics and Law and Law, History and Culture, with a Business Law minor.
