GREENVILLE, S.C. — Addie Galek was named the recipient of the 2025-26 Murphy Osborne Award by the Conference Carolinas office Thursday morning. The Murphy Osborne Award is Conference Carolinas' Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete Award.

A women's soccer player, Galek carried a 3.98 GPA while earning her degree in Psychology from Belmont Abbey in December. She is going to continue her education at George Washington University to pursue her Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

"As the Faculty Athletic Representative, I have the great honor to nominate our top senior student athlete each year for this prestigious award," said Dr. Julia Beeman, "Addie's nomination packet was filled with not only stellar grades and top-performing athletic accomplishments, but her personal essay beautifully conveyed her servant leadership not only to her team, but the wider community as well."

"When we say we educate "Body, Mind, and Soul", she is the epitome of that holistic approach. We're excited about her future and her representation of all the Abbey and Conference Carolinas has to offer."

The Charlotte, North Carolina native was selected first team All-Conference Carolinas in 2025 and has garnered academic all-conference honors each of the last two years. She also garnered all-region honors from the Division II Conference Commissioners (D2 CCA) and United Soccer Coaches in 2025, earning first team honors from the D2 CCA and third team recognition from the United Soccer Coaches. She finished with eight goals and five assists on the season.

"We are excited for Addie being selected as the Conference Carolinas Murphy Osborne Outstanding Student-Athlete this year," Belmont Abbey women's soccer coach Mike Lynch said.

"During Addie's college soccer recruiting process, she immediately stood out as the type of "Both-And" recruits we wanted in our program ("Both" top performing soccer player "And" top academics/character). Addie did not disappoint, excelling as an All-Region and All-Confernece player on the soccer field, voted team captain leading the team and the locker room, and one of the school's top science majors in the classroom." 

She also earned academic awards from the College Sports Communicators (CSC) and the United Soccer Coaches, garnering CSC Academic All-District recognition and Scholar All-Region honors from the United Soccer Coaches.

"Addie's intellect, passion, strong work ethic, generosity, and a healthy wit is an unbelievably rare combination," sadi Richard Dell'Isola, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Belmont Abbey.
"She is an extremely well-rounded person who makes everyone around her better. She was a blessing to our students and faculty--we are so proud of her for this award, for all of her accomplishments, and most importantly, for the virtue she demonstrated in the classroom and on the playing field."
 
Galek is the third Belmont Abbey student-athlete to receive the Murphy Osborne award. The others were Maria Kuhlman from women's basketball in 2020-21 and Megan Nanney from women's soccer in 2015-2016.
 
The award is named for longtime educator and college and university administrator Dr. Murphy Osborne.

2025-26 Conference Carolinas Murphy Osborne Award Finalists
Jacob Oliver, Barton
Addie Galek, Belmont Abbey (Winner)
Dianna Rodriguez, Chowan
Madison Davis, Converse
Amanda Grimsley, Emmanuel
Savannah Koester, Erskine
Gerren Jones, Ferrum
Caroline Lucas, Francis Marion
Cassie Lowe, King
Rebecca Ryan, Lees-McRae
Eugenie Amidou, UNC Pembroke
Christina Gidney, North Greenville
Merritt Smith, Southern Wesleyan
Lilly Griffith, Young Harris