PHOENIX – At Wings of Gold on Monday night, women's swim and dive senior Charli Brown and beach volleyball head coach Kristen Glattfelder earned the top awards to highlight the fundraising event, which was held at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix.
The highlight of the event were the two big awards given: the Heather Farr Award, which Brown won, and the Linda Vollstedt Coach of the Year, which Glattfelder won. Brown is a member of the Sun Devil Women's Swim and Dive Big 12 Championship team as well as a Big 12 individual title champion in the 200 IM, 400 Free Relay, and 800 Free Relay. Glattfelder has lifted the beach volleyball team to an impressive 17 ranked wins and took the team to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history in 2024.
After the silent auction prior to the event, emcee Lina Washington, a sports reporter for 12 News in Phoenix and an ASU alumnus, first recognized the successes of the women's sports programs at ASU throughout the recent athletic seasons. She mentioned the two Big 12 Championships won by volleyball and swim and dive, the first ASU Big 12 win by soccer, back-to-back volleyball NCAA tournament appearances, the welcoming of two new coaches Jamea Jackson of tennis and Molly Miller of basketball, and the numerous academic accomplishments by the female student-athletes.
Former tennis head coach Sheila McInerney was then honored after an impressive 40-year tenure with the Maroon and Gold. Under her leadership, she won close to 600 matches and earned 37 NCAA Tournaments (including her final 36).
The Heather Farr Award was then awarded to Brown and was presented by Farr's sister, current Sun Devil women's golf head coach Missy Farr-Kaye. The award was named in honor of one of the most successful female student-athletes in school history. Farr passed away in November 1993 after a long, valiant fight against breast cancer. This award honors her legacy of what it means to be a great Sun Devil student-athlete.
"This is the most incredible honor and I'm very humbled to be standing here," said Brown. "To be recognized for this award that embodies the spirit of Heather Farr, who touched so many people and left a mark on not just the golf community, but the entire ASU community, is something I will cherish forever."
After the award presentation to Brown, the Linda Vollstedt Coach of the Year award was presented to Glattfelder. The 2024 recipient and women's volleyball head coach JJ Van Niel presented the honor. The award is given to the Sun Devil women's coach who most exhibits the four pillars of the Sun Devil Way: integrity, championship performance, graduation and tradition.
"Linda [Vollstedt] has been such a great mentor for me this year, and to even be recognized for this award is, I don't even know if I have words, but this is also a program award. We have a great group of student-athletes that work their butts off every day," said Glattfelder. "I could not be more thankful to be here at ASU. There is something really, really special in this community, this university, and with our fans. Graham [Rossini], you've been amazing. Thank you so much for all the support you've given our program. I've never felt more support at a university than I do right now, and it's a huge reason for our success."
The Wings of Gold fund supports the rich tradition of women's collegiate athletics at Arizona State by acting as an advocate and support system for all 14 Sun Devil women's athletic programs. The unrestricted dollars raised through the Wings of Gold fund are evenly distributed between the 14 programs and will be used for recruiting, academic and other essential needs necessary to compete at the highest level.
For more information, head to sundevilclub.com/wog. The story of Heather Farr and how her award came to be can be found here.
The highlight of the event were the two big awards given: the Heather Farr Award, which Brown won, and the Linda Vollstedt Coach of the Year, which Glattfelder won. Brown is a member of the Sun Devil Women's Swim and Dive Big 12 Championship team as well as a Big 12 individual title champion in the 200 IM, 400 Free Relay, and 800 Free Relay. Glattfelder has lifted the beach volleyball team to an impressive 17 ranked wins and took the team to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history in 2024.
After the silent auction prior to the event, emcee Lina Washington, a sports reporter for 12 News in Phoenix and an ASU alumnus, first recognized the successes of the women's sports programs at ASU throughout the recent athletic seasons. She mentioned the two Big 12 Championships won by volleyball and swim and dive, the first ASU Big 12 win by soccer, back-to-back volleyball NCAA tournament appearances, the welcoming of two new coaches Jamea Jackson of tennis and Molly Miller of basketball, and the numerous academic accomplishments by the female student-athletes.
Former tennis head coach Sheila McInerney was then honored after an impressive 40-year tenure with the Maroon and Gold. Under her leadership, she won close to 600 matches and earned 37 NCAA Tournaments (including her final 36).
The Heather Farr Award was then awarded to Brown and was presented by Farr's sister, current Sun Devil women's golf head coach Missy Farr-Kaye. The award was named in honor of one of the most successful female student-athletes in school history. Farr passed away in November 1993 after a long, valiant fight against breast cancer. This award honors her legacy of what it means to be a great Sun Devil student-athlete.
"This is the most incredible honor and I'm very humbled to be standing here," said Brown. "To be recognized for this award that embodies the spirit of Heather Farr, who touched so many people and left a mark on not just the golf community, but the entire ASU community, is something I will cherish forever."
After the award presentation to Brown, the Linda Vollstedt Coach of the Year award was presented to Glattfelder. The 2024 recipient and women's volleyball head coach JJ Van Niel presented the honor. The award is given to the Sun Devil women's coach who most exhibits the four pillars of the Sun Devil Way: integrity, championship performance, graduation and tradition.
"Linda [Vollstedt] has been such a great mentor for me this year, and to even be recognized for this award is, I don't even know if I have words, but this is also a program award. We have a great group of student-athletes that work their butts off every day," said Glattfelder. "I could not be more thankful to be here at ASU. There is something really, really special in this community, this university, and with our fans. Graham [Rossini], you've been amazing. Thank you so much for all the support you've given our program. I've never felt more support at a university than I do right now, and it's a huge reason for our success."
Linda Vollstedt Coach of the Year! ??
— Sun Devil Beach VB (@SunDevilBeachVB) April 1, 2025
Congrats to head coach Kristen Glattfelder for earning this award, which was presented at the annual Wings of Gold event last night and honors a Sun Devil coach of a woman's team ????#SandDevils /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/pEdID4zvqV
The Wings of Gold fund supports the rich tradition of women's collegiate athletics at Arizona State by acting as an advocate and support system for all 14 Sun Devil women's athletic programs. The unrestricted dollars raised through the Wings of Gold fund are evenly distributed between the 14 programs and will be used for recruiting, academic and other essential needs necessary to compete at the highest level.
For more information, head to sundevilclub.com/wog. The story of Heather Farr and how her award came to be can be found here.