May 1, 2012
RENO, Nev. - Brett Roy and Mallary Darby have been named the 2011-12 Doc Martie & Ruth I. Russell Award winners as the University of Nevada's top male and female senior student-athletes, Director of Athletics Cary Groth announced Tuesday.
"Brett Roy and Mallary Darby are very deserving recipients of our department's most prestigious awards," Groth said. "Brett and Mallary turned in outstanding careers and have left their mark in the Nevada record book. They are both great representatives of what student-athletes should be on the field, in the classroom and in the community."
The awards are named for J.E. "Doc" Martie, a former Nevada men's basketball coach and administrator, and Ruth I. Russell, a former director of women's athletics. Student-athletes are nominated by their head coaches and must be in their final year of eligibility and in good academic standing. The award winners are chosen in a vote by the athletics department staff.
A defensive lineman from Yucaipa, Calif., Roy earned first-team All-America honors from Sports Illustrated in 2011, the only player from a non-BCS conference school on the first team. He led the Western Athletic Conference in tackles for loss (18.5) and sacks (10) in 2011. A first-team All-WAC honoree, Roy ends his career tied for third on the Nevada single-season list for tackles for loss (18.5), eighth in career TFLS (33.0) and tied for fourth in both career and single-season sacks (18 career and 10 in 2011). He helped the Wolf Pack to bowl games in each of his four years as well as a 13-1 record and a WAC co-championship in 2010 as a junior. A starter in all games in each of his last two years, he was second on the team with 14.5 TFLs and 8.0 sacks in his breakout junior year. He won the team's Blackout Award as a junior and was named the Outstanding Special Teams Player as a sophomore in 2010.
"Brett was an absolute pleasure to coach. As an All-American and now the senior athlete of the year, he will always represent the very best about our university and program," Wolf Pack football coach Chris Ault said.
A pitcher from Sparks, Nev., Darby is second on the team with a 3.56 ERA and she leads the Wolf Pack with 10 wins and 15 complete games so far in 2012. She also paces the team in appearances, starts, innings pitched and strikeouts. She paced the Wolf Pack staff in almost every major pitching category, including innings pitched, wins, appearances, strikeouts and ERA last year. She won 12 games in 2011, going the distance 24 times. She also recorded two shutouts, including her second career no-hitter against Boston College at Hixson Park on March 6, 2011. Darby ranks third in the Nevada career record book in nearly every pitching category, including wins (44), appearances (134), starts (105), complete games (62), shutouts (10), innings pitched (654.2) and strikeouts (552), while her two career no-hitters are also the best in school history. She produced the finest freshman season by a Wolf Pack pitcher in 2009, turning in a 12-8 record with a 3.11 earned-run average and 177 strikeouts on the year. She also tossed the first no-hitter of her career and the third in school history with an 8-0 shutout of Boise State on April 11, 2009.
"Winning the prestigious Ruth Russell Award is a great honor for Mallary Darby and is a wonderful culmination to a great career at Nevada," head softball coach Matt Meuchel said. "Mallary has achieved many great things in the classroom, on the diamond and in the community during her career at the University of Nevada, and it is nice to see her honored for that commitment."
