Julia Ingram Named Recipient of the Melissa Vanderhall Award
Tampa, Fla. - University of Tampa women's basketball player Julia Ingram, a senior and two-time team captain, has been selected as the 2020-21 recipient of the Melissa Vanderhall Spartan Cape Award. The award is given annually to the most well-rounded student-athlete who consistently performs at the top of his or her level in athletics, academics, and community service.
The Spartan Cape Award is named after Melissa Vanderhall, a standout volleyball student-athlete and Class of 2018 UT Hall of Fame Inductee. Vanderhall tragically lost her life on August 12, 2017. While playing for the Spartans from 2006-10, Vanderhall was a three-time first-team All-American who was twice named the SSC Player of the Year. Her success extended to the classroom as well, where she became the first player in program history to be a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District member. She was also named to the SSC Commissioner's Honor Roll for her achieving a 3.2-plus GPA in each of her four playing seasons as a Spartan.
Ingram's laundry list of academic achievements includes a Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award and four-year stays on the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and University of Tampa's All-Academic Team. She earned a 4.0 cumulative GPA in her four years at Tampa, was a member of the school's honors program, and has membership with honor societies like Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Alpha Theta (history), and Pi Sigma Alpha (political science). She is also a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Graduating in May, Ingram has been accepted to law schools at the University of Florida, Florida State University, Stetson University, the University of Kentucky, and Washington and Lee University.
As an athlete, she was awarded the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a junior.
Ingram has appeared in 80 games across her UT career, with 40 starts. She carries career averages of 5.6 points per game, 1.3 rebounds per game, a 44.5% shooting percentage, and a career 80% from the line. She has never shot less than 38% from three with a career average of 41%. She also led the SSC in minutes played and was 19th in the nation as a senior.
Her community service work has allowed her to work with organizations like Feeding Tampa Bay, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), where she is a two-time executive board president. SAACs are made up entirely of student-athletes and provide insight on the student-athlete experience and offer input on the rules, regulations, and policies that affect student-athletes' lives on campus.
Tom Jessee, head coach of the women's basketball team, calls Ingram "the most well-rounded student-athlete we have ever had in our program. She is a true Spartan."
Male Scholar-Athlete Award:Nico Gamio
, Men's Soccer
Female Scholar-Athlete Award: Hana van Loock
, Women's Swimming
Male Iron Spartan Award: Jordan Leasure
, Baseball
Female Iron Spartan Award: Megan Bromwell
, Women's Soccer
Melissa Vanderhall Spartan Cape Award: Julia Ingram, Women's Basketball
Freddie Solomon Community Service Award: TBA
Male Athlete of the Year: TBA
Female Athlete of the Year: TBA