University of Houston Athletics
2026 Cougar Choice Award Nominees Revealed
4/23/2026 10:00:00 AM | General
Houston Athletics to celebrate Cougar accomplishments with annual awards night
HOUSTON — The University of Houston Athletics Department celebrates its 2025-26 athletic year with the Cougar Choice Awards at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 27 inside Fertitta Center. The closed-door event is not open to the public.
The annual awards show features 18 categories, including the new Superstar Award which represents a student-athlete from each team whose hard work does not go unnoticed. They are a great teammate and excellent representations of their individual programs. These Superstars are chosen by the coaching staff of each respective team.
Track & Field's Jamar Marshall Jr. hosts this year's event with DJ Celani Nkomo spinning tracks for the night. Award winners will be announced across Houston Athletics social media accounts throughout the evening.
Rich Stotter Champion for Life
SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Athletics by providing NIL opportunities and by joining Cougar Pride which provides financial support for student-athlete scholarships and priority needs of the athletics department.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougars on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at Houston Athletics or on the team's Instagram page at @houstoncougars.
The annual awards show features 18 categories, including the new Superstar Award which represents a student-athlete from each team whose hard work does not go unnoticed. They are a great teammate and excellent representations of their individual programs. These Superstars are chosen by the coaching staff of each respective team.
Track & Field's Jamar Marshall Jr. hosts this year's event with DJ Celani Nkomo spinning tracks for the night. Award winners will be announced across Houston Athletics social media accounts throughout the evening.
Rich Stotter Champion for Life
- Regina Torres Pomar is heavily involved in Coogs in the Community leading several community service efforts while also serving as one of Swimming and Diving's SAAC representative. She attended the 2025 Women in the Game Sports Forum and set a Top 10 program time in the 100m backstroke.
- Men's Golf's Hudson Weibel earned the highest male athlete GPA in integrated studies with a focus in business while placing first individually at three tournaments. Weibel assisted with the setup of the Insperity Invitational community engagement initiative.
- Darius Rodgers serves as a SAAC and Team IMPACT representative while working in operations and guest relations at the Toyota Center. Rodgers attended the Big 12 Career Tour and is a sprinter for Houston Track & Field.
- Softball's Paris Lehman served as a Lyft representative and an intern with the Student-Athlete Mental Health and Wellness Services office while pursuing a master's degree in sports fitness administration. Lehman recorded her 100th career strikeout against Iowa State.
- A three-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honoree, Conner Weigman was one of four FBS quarterbacks with at least 25 passing and 10 rushing touchdowns on the season. His 36 touchdowns were tied for seventh nationally and ninth in program history while tying for the conference lead.
- Emanuel Sharp wrote his name in the record books this season as he became the seventh player with 100 career victories and the school's leader in career 3-pointers. Sharp was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and was a Jerry West Award Finalist.
- Kingston Flemings had one of the most dominant freshman seasons in Houston history as he earned All-America honors from eight different organizations. He set the freshman single game and season scoring records and was the team leader in scoring, assists and steals.
- Baseball's Antoine Jean racked up the awards in his final season in the Red & White as he was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, earned two First Team and three Second Team All-America honors, First Team Big 12 All-Conference honoree, Canadian Baseball Network's College Player of the Year, and was a Seventh Round Pick in the MLB Draft. Jean was a finalist for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year and a Semifinalist for the College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year.
- Jamar Marshall Jr. took home the 2025 Big 12 Outdoor 110m hurdle crown on his way to earning USTFCCCA First Team All-America honors. On the indoor track, Marshall Jr. was a Second Team All-American. He owns the school record in the 60m hurdles and 110m hurdles.
- Moa Svedenskiold became the third Cougar in school history to qualify for the NCAA Golf Championships.
- Michelle McLeod set a program record earning Big 12 Diver of the Week five times during the season while recording personal bests in all three of her diving events. At the Big 12 Championships, McLeod won the platform competition and was named Diver of the Meet.
- At the Big 12 Championships, Alexia Duncan won the 100-yard backstroke to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Duncan added her name to the Top 10 in four different events and holds the top time in the 200-yard backstroke.
- Kaycee McCoy earned the No. 2 time in school history in the 60m hurdle placing second at the 2026 Big 12 Indoor Championships and earned USTFCCCA Second Team All-America honors.
- Kingston Flemings had one of the most dominant freshman seasons in Houston history as he earned All-America honors from eight different organizations. He set the freshman single game and freshman single season scoring records and was the team leader in scoring, assists and steals.
- Koby Young notched a trio of career highs with four receptions and 56 receiving yards against West Virginia and a career-long 43-yard reception against Texas Tech. The freshman finished fifth on the team in receiving yards and led the Cougar receiving core with zero drops on the season.
- Blake Fields is one of three players to start every game this season and is second on the team in hits, runs and doubles. The freshman sits third on the team in multi-hit games while launching his first career home run at West Virginia.
- Zac Miller led the Cougars in every race during the 2025 Cross Country campaign and ran the third fastest mile in program history. Miller also owns the fourth fastest 3000-meter time in program history with 8:11.89.
- Dominic Harper got off to a fast start recording the fourth fastest 200m time in school history. His 20.64 time made him the first Cougars freshman and the only freshman in the country to run under a 20.70. Harper finished fourth in the 200m at the Big 12 Indoor Championships and helped the 4x400m relay team to a second-place finish.
- Swimming and Diving's Emma Overall had a standout year earning three Top 10 program times including the program record in the 1650 freestyle. Overall also finished third in the 1650 freestyle at the Big 12 Championships.
- Soccer's Samira Minor earned Big 12 All-Freshman and Second Team honors and led all Big 12 freshmen with six goals during the regular season. She was the first Big 12 soccer student athlete since 2021 to win multiple weekly awards in the same week with her Big 12 Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week honors.
- Swimming and Diving's Maisy Woloszyn won the program's first Big 12 Conference individual award as she captured the conference crown in the 3-meter.
- Track & Field's Shieana Hall broke the indoor triple jump school record landing 13.02 meters at the Big 12 Championships. She is the first female Cougars to record a jump over 13 meters in program history.
- Football's 2025 campaign tied for a nation-leading 6-win turnaround and capped the year with the program's 10th 10-win season with a victory over LSU in the Texas Bowl. The Cougars finished in the Top 25 in both the Associated Press and Coaches' Poll.
- Swimming and Diving finished third at the Big 12 Championships capturing its first individual conference crowns in program history with Alexia Duncan (100 back), Virag Peter (200 breast), Michelle McLeod (platform) and Maisy Woloszyn (3-meter) finishing on top of the podium.
- Men's Basketball finished tied for second in the Big 12 Conference including a third straight trip to the Big 12 Tournament Championship game. Houston punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 for a nation-leading seventh season in a row. The Cougars finished the season ranked in the Top 25 for the ninth straight season.
- Women's Tennis got off to its best start since 1990 with an 11-0 record including eight straight sweeps for the first time in program history. Houston reached its highest ranking since 2015 at #29. The Cougars concluded the season with 18 wins and finished sixth in the Big 12 Conference.
- Hudson Weibel's hole out from the fairway to win the Argent Financial Classic in a Playoff.
- Michelle McLeod contributed to Swimming and Diving's third place finish as she took home the platform title before being named Big 12 Diver of the Meet.
- Zac Miller running a sub-four-minute mile at the Charlie Thomas Invite.
- Conner Weigman's rushing touchdown at #25 Arizona State and pointing to the heavens following Coach Kurt Hester's death.
- Bre Reid and Olivia Klimis' kick-to-kill against Arizona State landed at No. 9 on SportsCenter.
- With the shot clock winding down, Kingston Flemings buried a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 4-point lead to defeat Texas Tech.
- After conceding a goal in the first half, soccer scored four unanswered goals in the second half to defeat Texas for the first time since 2000.
- Swimming and Diving finished third at the Big 12 Championships and captured four individual titles for the first time in program history. The Cougars also captured the Big 12's Diver and Freshman Diver of the meet.
- Football rallied from an early 14-0 deficit for a 38-35 victory over LSU in the Texas Bowl for the program's most points scored against an SEC foe since 2004.
- After trailing 9-4 entering the seventh inning, Softball hit three home runs, scoring six runs including the walk off blast from freshman RyLee Gardener.
- Battling back from a seven-run deficit, Baseball stunned #2 Texas, scoring nine unanswered runs to win 9-7 for the Cougars first Top 2 win since 2009.
- Ben Williams, Soccer
- Willie Fritz, Football
- Tanica Jamison, Swimming and Diving
- Kelvin Sampson, Men's Basketball
- Katarina Adamovic, Women's Tennis
- Lydia Lasprilla, Women's Golf
SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Athletics by providing NIL opportunities and by joining Cougar Pride which provides financial support for student-athlete scholarships and priority needs of the athletics department.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougars on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at Houston Athletics or on the team's Instagram page at @houstoncougars.
− UHCougars.com –
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