Cavaliers Now

Virginia's Gretchen Walsh Named 2024 ACC Female Student-Athlete of the Year

Matt Newton

Virginia swimmer Gretchen Walsh was named the 2023-2024 ACC Female Athlete of the Year, just the third Cavalier in history to win the award.
Virginia swimmer Gretchen Walsh was named the 2023-2024 ACC Female Athlete of the Year, just the third Cavalier in history to win the award. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY

Gretchen Walsh became the third Cavalier ever to win the Mary Garber Award, presented annually to the most outstanding female student-athlete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Walsh joins a distinguished trio of athletes in former UVA women's soccer star Morgan Brian, who won the award in 2015, and former Virginia women's basketball star Dawn Staley, who repeated as the Mary Garber Award winner in 1991 and 1992.

Walsh received 31 votes to win the award, beating out Virginia Tech's Liz Kitley (13 votes) and Boston College's Sydney Scales (6 votes).

The award is named after Mary Garber, one of the first female sports journalists in America and the first woman to be inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame.

2024 has been a legendary year for Gretchen Walsh, who during the NCAA swimming season was named the ACC Women's Swimmer of the Year, the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Swimming & Diving, the Honda Sport Award winner for swimming & diving, and the Collegiate Swimming & Diving Coaches of Association Swimmer of the Year. Walsh won seven individual ACC titles and four ACC relay titles to help Virginia win its fifth-consecutive ACC Championship and won three individual NCAA titles and four NCAA relay titles to lead the Cavaliers to their fourth-straight NCAA Championship, garnering Swimmer of the Meet honors at both of those championship meets. Walsh broke seven American records between those two meets as well.

That momentum has carried into the summer and the international level, as Walsh qualified for her first Olympic Games by winning gold in the 100 butterfly and taking second in the 50 freestyle. Walsh, who will also swim as part of Team USA's relay teams in Paris, set the world record in the 100 fly in the semifinals.

Gretchen Walsh is one of six current, former, or future Cavalier swimmers representing Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics, including her sister and UVA teammate Alex Walsh.

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Matt Newton

MATT NEWTON

Managing Editor and Publisher, CavaliersNow Email: mattnewton@virginia.eduTwitter: @mattynewtssWebsite | LinkedIn | Instagram Matt Newton is the managing editor and publisher at CavaliersNow. He has been covering UVA athletics since 2019 and has been the managing editor at CavaliersNow since launching the site in August 2021. Matt covers all things UVA sports, including Virginia basketball and football news and recruiting, former Wahoos in the pros, and coverage of all 23 of the NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. A native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Matt grew up a huge Philadelphia sports fan, but has also been a UVA sports fanatic his entire life thanks to his parents, who are alums of the University of Virginia. Matt followed in his parents' footsteps and attended UVA from 2017-2021, graduating with a degree in Media Studies and a minor in Economics in May of 2021.Â