Record-Setters Mena Scatchard, Roko Pozaric Named Top Athletes

Princeton athletics had a landmark year in 2024-25, winning an unprecedented 17 Ivy League championships and capturing a national title in early June when the women’s lightweight crew rowed to victory in Camden, New Jersey. The senior athletes honored at the Gary Walters ’67 Princeton Varsity Club Awards Banquet on May 22 made major contributions to that run of success.

Mena Scatchard ’25, who won the Von Kienbusch Award, presented to the top women’s athlete, was part of three Ivy championship teams (cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field) and finished runner-up in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She completed her career as the Princeton record holder in five different distances.

Roko Pozaric ’25, who won the Roper Trophy as the top men’s athlete, set a Princeton water polo career record with 281 goals. He led the Tigers to the NCAA quarterfinals as a senior and won four straight Northeast Water Polo Conference titles.

The Chris Sailer Leadership Award, for athletes who demonstrate exceptional leadership and a commitment to serving others, went to Mia Coene ’25, a two-year captain of women’s ice hockey, and Thomas Rosini ’25, a two-year captain of men’s squash.

Caroline Zhao ’25, a coxswain for the men’s lightweight crew and chemical and biological engineering major, won the Class of 1916 Cup, awarded to the senior letter-winner with the highest academic standing. Issa Mudashiru ’25 (men’s soccer) and Maddie Seltzer ’25 (women’s swimming and diving) shared the Art Lane ’34 Award for selfless contribution to sport and society. The softball team received the Ford Tiger Game Changers Award for volunteer work in the local community.

Kara Nortman ’97, a rowing alumna who invests in women’s sports franchises as a managing partner of Monarch Collective, was this year’s Class of 1967 PVC Citizen-Athlete Award honoree, and Momo Wolapaye, assistant dean for student life at Whitman College, was honored with the Marvin Bressler Award.