WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, May 15, the Catholic University Athletic Department will hold its annual senior celebration in the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center. 

During the live event, the department will reveal the winners of its seven major awards. Today, we announce the nominees for our final award, the Departmental Dedication Award. This award is presented to a student who has provided a great level of service to the Athletic Department as a whole. This is the third year that the award will be handed out.

Student-athletes are nominated for this award by coaches and/or administrators and all nominees voted upon by the Senior Celebration Committee The winners will be announced live on May 15.

The six nominees for this year's award are Kat Bauer, Pablo Mazariegos, Abby Mitchell, Maggie O'Brien, Kathryn Phillips, and Toni Ruley. 

KAT BAUER

Bauer, a member of the women's soccer program, and Catholic Facilities & Operations staff, has been a constant presence at Catholic athletic events throughout her time. While not on the pitch herself, Bauer often found herself at the scorer's table, in the press box, or around the field. Her dedication to the department and its game day operations shone through constantly. Willing to work games off-site and to help set up and tear down, Bauer handled stressful in-game situations with little hesitation. "Kat's dependability for game day work is critical to the success of running top-level game day events," said women's soccer coach Casey Sommers.

PABLO MAZARIEGOS

Mazariegos, a four-year student worker for Catholic Athletic Communications and Operations, has been seen and heard at all manners of Catholic sporting events. Pablo's roles included game-day statistician, public address announcer, play-by-play broadcaster, stream production, and a number of other game day roles. Always willing to help out and lend his talents to the operation, Pablo's voice is instantly recognizable to anyone who has attended a Catholic basketball, lacrosse, or soccer game over the past handful of years. "Pablo was one of the first student workers I met when I started at Catholic in 2022," said Assistant AD for Athletic Communications Jeff Jezewski. "He made a great impression early on and continued to prove his worth to our operation day-in and day-out."

ABBY MITCHELL

Another constant presence at the scorer's table and in the press box, Mitchell has been a crucial member of the Facilities & Ops student worker staff during her tenure at Catholic University. From manning the table at lacrosse, field hockey, and soccer to working every volleyball game as the libero tracker, Mitchell has been integral. She also worked a number of football, basketball, and other sporting events. You could not have attended Catholic sporting events over the past few seasons and not recognized Mitchell. "We could not have run a single volleyball game over the last two seasons effectively without Abby Mitchell," said Assistant Director of Facilities and Operations Cullen Moore. 

MAGGIE O'BRIEN

Similar to Mitchell, you truly could not have spent any time around Catholic athletic events, paid attention, and not be familiar with O'Brien. "Maggie was a constant across sporting events during my time at Catholic," said Moore. "We could always trust Maggie to do the most important or stressful jobs." Always early and happy to stay late, Maggie held roles on the tables for basketball and lacrosse, ran the scoreboard during football games, and worked every other sport imaginable over her time at Catholic. She was a consummate pro and a truly key cog in the game day operations of Catholic Athletics. 

KATHRYN PHILLIPS

Every coach and athlete at Catholic University knows Kathryn Phillips. Even if you've never seen her in person, if you have been on the website, or follow any of the CatholicU_Cards accounts, you are familiar with Kathryn's work. Kathryn has roamed the sidelines, pool deck, or dugouts of a truly uncountable number of games over the past handful of years, capturing the essence of Catholic Athletics in the best way possible. Her time spent carefully editing her videos, coming up with fresh content ideas, and just being a friendly, smiling face has provided a great level of value to the department. "Kathryn has truly benefited Catholic Athletics at a level that is tough to put into words," said Jezewski. "While everyone sees the time she spends on the sidelines capturing photos and video, it is the time spent and effort she exerts to carefully craft tremendous photo and video content for us that shows just how dedicated she is." Phillips' immeasurable talent with a camera in hand has earned her an internship with the Denver Broncos starting this summer. 

TONI RULEY

A four-year member of the softball program, Ruley is a staple of the DuFour Center, working in the equipment room and for operations. Ruley handles the laundry for both her own program and multiple others in the Duf while spending countless hours on the sidelines for Catholic sporting events, working the table or on the sidelines. Ruley also holds a role within SAAC, showing her commitment to her fellow student-athletes as well. "Toni is extremely dedicated to the Duf and provides value not only to my program, but to the department as a whole," said softball coach Sophie Maccarone.