Radford University’s Ameek Batth (women’s tennis) and Adam Downs (men’s cross country) have each been awarded the 2023 Big South Conference Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence, the league office announced on Friday.
The prestigious honor is given to the male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers.
Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female undergraduate student-athlete for the annual Christenberry Award. The honor is named for George A. Christenberry, the former President of Augusta College (now Augusta University) and one of the founders of the Big South Conference. A member of the Big South Hall of Fame, Christenberry served as the league’s first President from 1983-86.
Batth has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a Media Studies major at Radford. During her collegiate playing career, she earned nine singles wins and five doubles wins.
Downs also achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA as a Highlander, majoring in Mathematics and Cybersecurity. He ran in five races in his career, including four during his sophomore season.
The duo becomes the 17th and 18th Highlanders to ever receive the distinction. Radford has now had at least one student-athlete earn the award in each of the last three years.
2023 Christenberry Award Recipients
Ameek Batth, Radford (women’s tennis)
Adam Downs, Radford (men’s cross country)
Kendall Goldfarb, Presbyterian (women’s lacrosse)
Lili Jaraczewski, Presbyterian (women’s cross country)
Camryn Johns, Campbell (women’s lacrosse)
Megan Kratzer, High Point (volleyball)
Atley Livingston, Winthrop (volleyball)
Victor Putter, Gardner-Webb (men’s tennis)
-Radford Uiversity Athletics
