Prairie View A&M Sports Honors: Peters, Horne, Niederhofer, Garcon Headline Awards

PRAIRIE VIEW, Tx. – Prairie View A&M Athletics named Lainey Niederhofer and Thierry Garcon its 2026 President’s Award winners and recognized standout performers across its varsity programs at the annual sports banquet, capping the most decorated year on The Hill in nearly two decades.

Niederhofer, a kinesiology major from the softball team, and Garcon, a finance major on the men’s track and field team, both posted 3.88 GPAs to share the President’s Award for top senior cumulative grade-point average. The award is presented each year by PVAMU President Dr. Tomikia P. LeGrande and Athletic Director Anton Goff.

The banquet closed a year that produced a 2025 SWAC football championship under head coach Tremaine Jackson, a SWAC volleyball regular-season title, and a men’s basketball run that delivered the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory. The Panthers won the SWAC Tournament as an 8-seed in March, beat Lehigh 67-55 in the First Four for the program’s first March Madness win, and pushed reigning national champion Florida onto the floor in the South Region opener.

Hunter & Thomas Awards anchor the night

Volleyball middle Kylee Owens earned the I.T. Hunter Award as Outstanding Female Athlete after powering the Lady Panthers to the SWAC regular-season championship. Men’s basketball MVP Dontae Horne took the I.T. Hunter Award as Outstanding Male Athlete after a senior season that ended with the SWAC Tournament MVP trophy and a 25-point performance against Lehigh.

The C.A. Thomas Spirit Team Award, which recognizes sportsmanship across an entire program, went to women’s volleyball. The G.E. Higgs Leadership Awards went to women’s track and field’s Sanai Kintchen, a back-to-back honoree, and men’s basketball’s Lance Williams, the senior point guard who scored 18 points in the SWAC title win and added 10 in the First Four upset of Lehigh.

Dec 13, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Prairie View A&M Panthers quarterback Cameron Peters (4) throws a pass against the South Carolina State Bulldogs in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Football: Cam Peters sweeps offensive honors

Cam Peters earned both Offensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors after leading the Panther offense through the SWAC championship season. Defensive Player of the Year went to Travor Randle.

Offensive Player of the Year: Cam Peters
Defensive Player of the Year: Travor Randle
Most Valuable Player: Cam Peters

Volleyball: SWAC champions take home the spirit award

The Lady Panthers’ SWAC regular-season title was reflected across the team’s individual honors. Kylee Owens earned Offensive Player of the Year on top of her I.T. Hunter Award. Leila Smalls took Defensive Player of the Year.

Coach's Award: Jade Coates
Spirit Award: Makinzie Taplin
Defensive Player of the Year: Leila Smalls
Offensive Player of the Year: Kylee Owens

Cory Wells and Dontae Horne | Credit: Kyle T. Mosley - HBCU Legends on SI

Men’s basketball: Cinderella run in full

Head coach Byron Smith’s roster delivered the program’s biggest postseason in modern history. Horne, the SWAC Tournament MVP, took the team MVP. Tai’Reon Joseph earned Offensive MVP. Cory Wells, who Smith called the best two-way player in the conference, claimed Defensive MVP.

Leadership Award: Lance Williams
Offensive Most Valuable Player: Tai’Reon Joseph
Defensive Most Valuable Player: Cory Wells
Most Valuable Player: Dontae Horne

Women’s basketball: freshman class makes the slate

Most Improved Player: Janya Polk
Freshman of the Year: Alana Shields
Leadership Award: Jacque Giron

Women’s track and field

Kintchen took the program’s Most Valuable Athlete honor in addition to the G.E. Higgs Leadership Award.

Most Improved: Maya Clark
Best Field Performer: Jaliyah Gray
Best Track Performer: Nikiyah Williams
Most Valuable Athlete: Sanai Kintchen

Men’s track and field: Garcon takes dual honors

Thierry Garcon closed his senior year with two pieces of hardware. The finance major earned the President’s Award for top senior male GPA at 3.88 and the program’s Most Outstanding Cross Country Runner honor. Detrevyon Goudeau took Most Outstanding Outdoor Runner. Bryce McFadden won the indoor honor.

Most Outstanding Outdoor Runner: Detrevyon Goudeau
Most Outstanding Indoor Runner: Bryce McFadden
Most Outstanding Cross Country Runner: Thierry Garcon
Most Outstanding Field Indoor: Devin Miller
Most Outstanding Field Outdoor: Darryl Muckelroy

Baseball: Duson takes hitting and MVP

Ryland Duson swept the program’s hitting honors, taking both Most Outstanding Hitter and Most Valuable Player. Isaac Herrera was named Most Outstanding Pitcher.

Most Outstanding Hitter: Ryland Duson
Most Outstanding Pitcher: Isaac Herrera
Most Valuable Player: Ryland Duson

Softball: Panthers honor co-pitchers

Niederhofer’s senior season closed with the President’s Award. Mia Nunez took team MVP. The pitching staff produced a co-honor for Kayla Adams and Yasmyn Stewart.

Most Improved Player: Jade Uresti
Co-Pitcher of the Year: Kayla Adams
Co-Pitcher of the Year: Yasmyn Stewart
Freshman of the Year: Morgan Stewart

Most Valuable Player: Mia Nunez

Soccer

Panther Award (Leadership, Service, Dedication): Jayla Roashe
Most Improved Player: Emely Reyes
Defensive Player of the Year: Nenah Jackson
Offensive Player of the Year: Niasia Goodwin

Men’s golf

Panther Award: Ethan Aleman
Most Improved Player: Kolawole Abudu
Most Valuable Player: Marshall Meredith

Women’s golf

Panther Award: Briann Briggs
Most Improved Player: Fernanda Rendon
Most Valuable Player: Neveah Figueroa

Bowling

Champion of Heart: Nevaeh Brown
Unbreakable Spirit Award: Caroline Lewis

Support staff and spirit programs

The athletic training, equipment, cheer, dance, and sports information programs were also recognized.

Athletic Training

Most Improved Athletic Training Student Aide: Chanel Weeks
Athletic Training Service Above Self: Brylee King
Most Outstanding Athletic Training Student Aide: Camren Corbin

Equipment Managers

Most Outstanding Female: Breanna Love
Most Outstanding Male: Kierron Ardoin

Cheerleaders

Most Valuable Performer Female: Mya Armstrong
Most Valuable Performer Male: Camron Harris

Panther Dolls

Most Improved Performer: Kai Stewart
Most Valuable Performer: Savannah Sylvester

Sports Information

Most Outstanding Sports Information Student: Kyndal White
Most Media Impacted Sports Information Student: Kandice Holman

*The marching band honors were not released.

Why this banquet matters

The 2025-26 athletic year delivered the rare convergence at Prairie View. Football won the SWAC. Volleyball won the SWAC regular season. Men’s basketball won the SWAC Tournament and the program’s first NCAA Tournament game.

The award slate reflects the depth that produced those results – from Cam Peters under center to Kylee Owens at the volleyball net to a senior backcourt of Horne and Williams, who closed their careers in Tampa against the defending national champions.

Athletic Director Anton Goff, who has spoken openly about the resource gap PVAMU closed without NIL packages, used the banquet to mark the work. The Panthers built the run on grit, on returning talent, and on a culture that coach Byron Smith summarized in March: “job’s unfinished.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the 2026 PVAMU President’s Awards?
Lainey Niederhofer (women’s softball, kinesiology, 3.88 GPA) and Thierry Garcon (men’s track, finance, 3.88 GPA) earned the Senior Female and Senior Male President’s Awards.

Who won the 2026 I.T. Hunter Awards?
Volleyball’s Kylee Owens (Outstanding Female Athlete) and men’s basketball’s Dontae Horne (Outstanding Male Athlete).

What did Prairie View A&M accomplish in 2025-26?
Football won the 2025 SWAC championship. Volleyball won the SWAC regular-season title. Men’s basketball won the 2026 SWAC Tournament as an 8-seed, beat Lehigh in the First Four for the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory, and reached the South Region first round against top-seeded Florida.

Who is the PVAMU athletic director?
Anton Goff serves as Director of Athletics at Prairie View A&M University.

Kyle Mosley is the founder and managing editor of HBCU Legends on SI. Follow @ktmoze and @HBCULegends on X.

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