# Tewaaraton Award

The Tewaaraton Award is an annual award for the most outstanding American college lacrosse men's and women's players, since 2001. It is the lacrosse equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy. The award is presented by The Tewaaraton Foundation and the University Club of Washington, D.C.
Lacrosse is the oldest sport played in North America and the award honors the Native American heritage of lacrosse in the name of its award, "Tewaaraton," the Mohawk name for their game and the progenitor of present-day lacrosse. The Tewaaraton Award has received the endorsement of the Mohawk Nation Council of Elders. Each year, the award recognizes one of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy: the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora tribes.

## Trophy

The award winners each receive a trophy of a bronze sculpture depicting a Mohawk native playing lacrosse. It was designed and created by Frederick Kail with the assistance of Thomas Vennum, Jr., a Native American lacrosse historian and author.
Replicas of the trophy are given to the winners each year. The original castings of the trophy are part of a permanent collection and are currently on display at the University Club of Washington, D.C.

## Nomination and selection process

Players are nominated for the award by coaches, and winners chosen by selection committees made up of coaches.
In addition to recognizing the top men’s and women’s collegiate lacrosse players, the Tewaaraton Award in the past has also recognized the High School All-Tewaaraton team for both boys and girls lacrosse. This was a regional team which was composed of the best players from both private and public schools in the Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia area. Although no such list has been released since 2010 and there is no mention of it on either the Tewaraaton Awards website nor the University Club of Washington, D.C.'s website.

## Ceremony

Each year the ceremony takes place at the National Museum of the American Indian. Anyone can purchase a ticket to attend the ceremony.

## USILA versus Tewaaraton

There is debate in the lacrosse community as to whether the Tewaaraton Award is an outstanding player award or whether it should be called a postseason award. The controversy stems from the fact that the award is usually given to a male player who plays well during the season-ending NCAA tournament and from a team which is the winner or runner up in the NCAA Tournament. The Lt. Raymond Enners Award is the USILA Outstanding Player of the Year Award selected by the NCAA coaches, and the Tewaaraton Award recipient was not the same as the Raymond Enners Award recipient in 5 out of the first 11 years that the Tewaaraton was awarded. Since then, the two awards have agreed almost exactly; in each season but one from 2012 through 2022, both awards were won by the same individual. The only exception in this span was in 2014, when the Enners Award went to one of the two brothers who shared the Tewaaraton Award.

## Tewaaraton Award recipients

| Year | Men's winner | School | Position | Women's winner | School | Position |
| 2001 | Doug Shanahan | Hofstra | Midfield | Jen Adams | Maryland | Attack |
| 2002 | Mike Powell | Syracuse | Attack | Erin Elbe | Georgetown | Attack |
| 2003 | Chris Rotelli | Virginia | Midfield | Rachael Becker | Princeton | Defense |
| 2004 | Mike Powell | Syracuse | Attack | Amy Appelt | Virginia | Attack |
| 2005 | Kyle Harrison | Johns Hopkins | Midfield | Katie Chrest | Duke | Attack |
| 2006 | Matt Ward | Virginia | Attack | Kristen Kjellman | Northwestern | Midfield |
| 2007 | Matt Danowski | Duke | Attack | Kristen Kjellman | Northwestern | Midfield |
| 2008 | Mike Leveille | Syracuse | Attack | Hannah Nielsen | Northwestern | Midfield |
| 2009 | Max Seibald | Cornell | Midfield | Hannah Nielsen | Northwestern | Midfield |
| 2010 | Ned Crotty | Duke | Attack | Caitlyn McFadden | Maryland | Midfield |
| 2011 | Steele Stanwick | Virginia | Attack | Shannon Smith | Northwestern | Attack |
| 2012 | Peter Baum | Colgate | Attack | Katie Schwarzmann | Maryland | Midfield |
| 2013 | Rob Pannell | Cornell | Attack | Katie Schwarzmann | Maryland | Midfield |
| 2014 | Lyle Thompson | Albany | Attack | Taylor Cummings | Maryland | Midfield |
| 2014 | Miles Thompson | Albany | Attack | Taylor Cummings | Maryland | Midfield |
| 2015 | Lyle Thompson | Albany | Attack | Taylor Cummings | Maryland | Midfield |
| 2016 | Dylan Molloy | Brown | Attack | Taylor Cummings | Maryland | Midfield |
| 2017 | Matt Rambo | Maryland | Attack | Zoe Stukenberg | Maryland | Midfield |
| 2018 | Ben Reeves | Yale | Attack | Sam Apuzzo | Boston College | Attack |
| 2019 | Pat Spencer | Loyola | Attack | Megan Taylor | Maryland | Goalie |
| 2020 | No Awards Due to COVID-19 | No Awards Due to COVID-19 | No Awards Due to COVID-19 | No Awards Due to COVID-19 | No Awards Due to COVID-19 | No Awards Due to COVID-19 |
| 2021 | Jared Bernhardt | Maryland | Attack | Charlotte North | Boston College | Attack |
| 2022 | Logan Wisnauskas | Maryland | Attack | Charlotte North | Boston College | Attack |
| 2023 | Brennan O'Neill | Duke | Attack | Izzy Scane | Northwestern | Attack |
| 2024 | Pat Kavanagh | Notre Dame | Attack | Izzy Scane | Northwestern | Attack |

### Men's awards by university

| Rank | School | Number of Awards | Winning Years |
| T-1 | Maryland | 3 | 2017, 2021, 2022 |
| T-1 | Syracuse | 3 | 2002, 2004, 2008 |
| T-1 | Virginia | 3 | 2003, 2006, 2011 |
| T-1 | Duke | 3 | 2007, 2010, 2023 |
| T-4 | Cornell | 2 | 2009, 2013 |
| T-4 | Albany | 2 | 2014 (2x), 2015 |
| T-7 | Hofstra | 1 | 2001 |
| T-7 | Brown | 1 | 2016 |
| T-7 | Colgate | 1 | 2012 |
| T-7 | Johns Hopkins | 1 | 2005 |
| T-7 | Loyola (MD) | 1 | 2019 |
| T-7 | Notre Dame | 1 | 2024 |
| T-7 | Yale | 1 | 2018 |

### Women's awards by university

| Rank | School | Number of Awards | Winning Years |
| 1 | Maryland | 9 | 2001, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 |
| 2 | Northwestern | 7 | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2023, 2024 |
| 3 | Boston College | 3 | 2018, 2021, 2022 |
| T-4 | Duke | 1 | 2005 |
| T-4 | Georgetown | 1 | 2002 |
| T-4 | Princeton | 1 | 2003 |
| T-4 | Virginia | 1 | 2004 |

## Notable achievements

* 2014 was the first year that the award was given to a Native American player. It is also the first, and so far only time the award has been given to two players to share: Lyle Thompson and Miles Thompson, who are both part of the Onondaga Nation, won the award that year.
* In 2016, Taylor Cummings became the first and so far only three-time recipient of the award.

## Tewaaraton Legend Award

Since 2011, the Tewaaraton Legend Award has been presented to one recipient each year who played collegiately prior to 2001 when the first Tewaaraton Award was presented, whose performance during their college years would have earned them a Tewaaraton Award had the award existed when they played. All awardees received the Enners Award when they played except for Jim Brown and Jimmy Lewis whose playing days preceded the first Enners Award in 1969. In 2016, the foundation began presenting both a men's and women's Legend Award.
Tewaaraton Legend Award Recipients :
| Year | Men's Winner | School | Women's Winner | School |
| 2011 | Jim Brown | Syracuse | - | - |
| 2012 | Eamon McEneaney | Cornell | - | - |
| 2013 | Joe Cowan | Johns Hopkins | - | - |
| 2014 | Jimmy Lewis | Navy | - | - |
| 2015 | Brad Kotz | Syracuse | - | - |
| 2016 | Frank Urso | Maryland | Candace Finn Rocha | Penn State |
| 2017 | Peter Cramblet | Army | Cherie Greer Brown | Virginia |
| 2018 | Larry Quinn | Johns Hopkins | Amanda Moore O'Leary | Temple |
| 2019 | Tom Sears | North Carolina | Kare Emas Borbee | Delaware |
| 2020 | No Awards due to COVID 19 | No Awards due to COVID 19 | No Awards due to COVID 19 | No Awards due to COVID 19 |
| 2021 | No Awards due to COVID 19 | No Awards due to COVID 19 | No Awards due to COVID 19 | No Awards due to COVID 19 |
| 2022 | Dave Pietramala | Johns Hopkins | Kelly Amonte Hiller | Maryland |
| 2023 | Doug Schreiber | Maryland | Kathleen Geiger | Temple |
| 2024 | Bill Miller | Hobart | Francesca DenHartog | Harvard |

### Legends awards by university

| Rank | School | Number of Awards | Winning Years |
| T-1 | Johns Hopkins | 3 | 2013, 2018, 2022 |
| T-1 | Maryland | 3 | 2016, 2022, 2023 |
| T-3 | Syracuse | 2 | 2011, 2015 |
| T-3 | Temple | 2 | 2018, 2023 |
| T-5 | Cornell | 1 | 2012 |
| T-5 | North Carolina | 1 | 2019 |
| T-5 | Delaware | 1 | 2019 |
| T-5 | Army | 1 | 2017 |
| T-5 | Navy | 1 | 2014 |
| T-5 | Virginia | 1 | 2017 |
| T-5 | Penn State | 1 | 2016 |
| T-5 | Harvard | 1 | 2024 |
| T-5 | Hobart | 1 | 2024 |

## Spirit of Tewaaraton

The Spirit of Tewaaraton is presented each year to an individual who has contributed to the sport of lacrosse in a way that reflects the spirit of the values and the mission of the Tewaaraton award. The award was first presented in 2003. Although there have been some years it was not presented, it has been presented each year since 2012 with the exceptions of 2020 and 2021.
Spirit of Tewaaraton Winners :
| Year | Winner |
| 2003 | A.B. “Buzzy” Krongard |
| 2003 | Diane M. Geppi-Aikens |
| 2005 | Sid Jamieson |
| 2009 | Roy D. Simmons, Jr. |
| 2010 | Dick Edell |
| 2012 | Richie Moran |
| 2013 | Bob Scott |
| 2014 | Brendan Looney |
| 2015 | Chief Oren Lyons |
| 2016 | Tina Sloan Green |
| 2017 | George Boiardi |
| 2018 | Welles Crowther |
| 2019 | Ethel “Feffie” Barnhill |
| 2022 | Bill Belichick |
| 2023 | Alfred "Alf" Jacques |
| 2024 | Chris Sailer |

## Native American Scholarship Program

Since 2006, The Tewaaraton Foundation has given over $130,000 in scholarships to Native American high school lacrosse players through its Tewaaraton Native American Scholarships program. The $10,000 scholarships are awarded annually on a highly competitive basis to one Native American female and one Native American male lacrosse player who are enrolled members of a U.S. tribe. All awards are not only based on the student's athletic performance, but also on their merit, academic achievement, and ambition.
Tewaaraton Native American Scholarship Recipients :
| Year | Boys' Winner | Nation | Girls' Winner | Nation |
| 2006 | Justin Gill | Oglala Sioux and Seneca Nation of Indians | Lindsey Steeprock | Mohawk Nation |
| 2007 | Alexander Jamieson | Seneca Nation of Indians, Wolf Clan | Mia McKie | Tuscarora Indian Nation, Turtle Clan |
| 2008 | Emmett Printup | Tonawanda Seneca | Corinne Abrams | Tuscarora Indian Nation |
| 2009 | Isaac "Ike" Hopper | Onondaga Nation | Trenna Hill | Mohawk Nation |
| 2010 | Kyle Henry | Tuscarora Indian Nation, White Bear Clan | Taylor Hummel | Tuscarora Indian Nation, White Bear Clan |
| 2011 | Christopher White | Oneida Nation | Kristiana Ferguson | Tuscarora Indian Nation |
| 2012 | Bradley Thomas | Tuscarora Indian Nation | Marissa Haring | Seneca Nation of Indians |
| 2013 | Robert McMicking | Cayuga Nation, Wolf Clan | Cassandra Minerd | Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan |
| 2014 | Kason Tarbell | St. Regis Mohawk Tribe | Alie Jimerson | Cayuga Nation, Bear Clan |
| 2015 | Chaunce Hill | Six Nations Seneca, Turtle Clan | Lynnzee Miller | Mohawk Nation, Wolf Clan |
| 2016 | Emerson Shenandoah | Mohawk Nation, Snipe Clan | Jade Haumann | Seneca Nation of Indians, Wolf Clan |
| 2017 | Liam Anderson | Tuscarora Indian Nation, Turtle Clan | Shayla Scanlan | Seneca Nation of Indians, Wolf Clan |
| 2018 | Lyle Warrior | Seneca Nation of Indians | Ivy Santana | Seneca Nation, Wolf Clan |
| 2019 | Isaiah Cree | Akwesasne Mohawk, Wolf Clan | Jacelyn and Mirabella Lazore | Akwesasne Mohawk, Wolf Clan |
| 2020 | Cobie Cree | Mohawk Nation, Bear Clan | Yanenowi Logan | Seneca Nation, Deer Clan |
| 2021 | Peter Thais | Mohawk Nation, Wolf Clan | Fantasy Jimerson-Kenjockety | Seneca Nation, Beaver Clan |
| 2022 | Crayton Cree | Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, Bear Clan | Savannah Swamp | Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, Bear Clan |