PHOENIX – Monday night was the annual Wings of Gold event put on by the Sun Devil Club, and senior pitcher Kenzie Brown from softball and volleyball head coach JJ Van Niel earned the top awards to highlight the event, which was held at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix.
The two awards given at Wings of Gold each year are the Heather Farr Award, which Brown won, and the Linda Vollstedt Coach of the Year Award, which Van Niel won.
Brown is a member of the Sun Devil Softball team and last year won All-American honors. Van Niel coached the Sun Devil Volleyball squad to a second-straight Big 12 title in 2025, winning conference coach of the year for the third year in a row.
After the silent auction prior to the event, emcee Lina Washington, a sports reporter for 12 News in Phoenix and an ASU alumna, first recognized the successes of the women’s sports programs at ASU throughout the recent athletic seasons. She mentioned the three Big 12 Championships won by volleyball, swim and dive and tennis, and the numerous academic accomplishments by the female student-athletes.
The Heather Farr Award
The Heather Farr 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.
The three Heather Farr Award finalists, senior Naomi Ruff from triathlon, senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles from soccer and Brown from softball, who were written about earlier this month, were recognized with videos.
The award was then presented to Brown by Farr’s sister, current Sun Devil Women’s Golf Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye.
"Heather Farr represents the very best of what it means to be a female athlete, not only excellence in sport, but resilience, integrity, and unwavering strength of character,” Brown said.
“What makes this recognition especially meaningful is that it reflects something deeper than performance. It’s not just about results or accolades. It’s about who we are and the moments that don’t show up on a scoreboard. It’s about how we respond to challenges, how we support those around us, and how we choose to carry ourselves each day. Those are values I try to be intentional about, knowing they define us far more than any statistic ever could.”
Megan Bartlett, Kenzie Brown, Missy Farr Kaye and Graham Rossini posing after Brown won the Heather Farr Award at Wings of Gold on April 20, 2026.
Following the award presentation to Brown, the room was treated to an exciting round of trivia, both pop culture and Arizona State-related. That brought the energy up ahead of the final award announcement.
Linda Volldstedt Coach of the Year Award
Prior to the Linda Volldstedt Coach of the Year Award, the honor’s namesake was recognized. Volldstedt, who has worked in the Sun Devil Athletics department since retiring as a coach, is retiring as an employee. She spoke fondly of her memories as a Sun Devil, both as a coach and as staff.
“I loved every second of being here,” Volldstedt said. “When you love what you do, and you do what you love, it’s not a job. It just becomes part of you, and it becomes who you are, and it touches your soul. So every day when I would come out to ASU, I did it with love in my heart.”
The Linda Vollstedt Coach of the Year Award was presented to Van Niel. The 2025 recipient and beach volleyball head coach, Kristen Glattfelder, 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.
"It’s an unbelievable honor to win this award because of the standard that Linda set,” Van Niel said. “I tell other coaches I have the best staff in the country … We complement each other so well. There’s just zero chance that we’ve had the success that we’ve had without them.”
Linda Volldstedt, JJ Van Niel, Kristen Glattfelder and Graham Rossini posing together after Van Niel won the Linda Volldstedt Coach of the Year Award at Wings of Gold on April 20, 2026.
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.