Five from Athletics Tapped into Iron Arrow

Five from Athletics Tapped into Iron Arrow

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Five members of the Hurricanes Athletics family were tapped into Iron Arrow Honor Society this week.

Football players Braxton Berrios and Demetrius Jackson, soccer player Phallon Tullis-Joyce, cross country runner Megan Brown and UM athletics’ medical director Dr. Lee Kaplan were each part of the 2017 Spring Tappings into the Iron Arrow Honor Society.

Iron Arrow Honor Society, founded in 1926 in conjunction with the University’s opening, is the Highest Honor Attained at the University of Miami. Based on Seminole Indian tradition, Iron Arrow recognizes those individuals in the University of Miami community who exemplify the five qualities of Iron Arrow: Love of Alma Mater, Character, Leadership, Scholarship, and Humility. The members of Iron Arrow assemble twice a year to select those to be tapped for membership into the Tribe.

Berrios has excelled in the classroom, on the football field and in the University community since arriving on campus prior to the 2014 football season. An outstanding student majoring in entrepreneurship and finance, he was named All-ACC Academic, earned a spot on the 2016 CoSIDA All-District team and is a two-time UM Scholar Athlete of the year. On the field, Berrios saw action in 13 games in 2016 and made three starts at wide receiver. He also served as the Hurricanes’ primary punt returner and ranked 11th nationwide in punt return average (11.3 yards per return). A native of North Carolina, Berrios is a member of the football leadership council, the Mortar Board Honor Society and Omicron Delta Kappa.

Jackson is another Hurricane football player making an all-around impact. As a defensive end, the Miami, Fla., native recorded 28 tackles in 2016, including six tackles for loss and two and a half sacks, while helping make Miami’s defense one of the best in the country. The redshirt junior also makes a major impact in his hometown, working as a mentor and public speaker with 5,000 Role Models and serving as a mentor and tutor with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Miami-Dade County. Jackson is also the creator and president of his own service organization, Big Brother to Little Brother. A leader in the community and on campus, he is a student-athlete member of the ACC Autonomy Committee, was named the 2016 UM Football Community Service Man of the Year and was received an ACC Top Six for Service: Community Service and Leadership Award.

A goalkeeper from Shoreham, N.Y., Tullis-Joyce set program records by allowing just 16 goals and tallying a 0.84 goals against average on the season. An NSCAA College Player of the Week and ACC Defensive Player of the Week honoree, Tullis-Joyce was tabbed to the All-ACC Academic Team. The Vice President of the UM Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Tullis-Joyce has maintained a stellar 3.724 GPA during her academic career as a marine science/biology major, earning Provost’s Honor Roll (min. 3.75 GPA) three times.

Brown was a four-year member of the Hurricanes’ cross country team, representing Miami at the ACC Championships, but her impact goes beyond the race course. She is currently the treasurer of the UM Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is an ACC/SAAC representative. A native of Churchville, N.Y., Brown is a senator in UM’s student government and has been inducted into the Phi Delta Epsilon medical fraternity. Like Jackson, she also received an ACC Top Six for Service: Community Service and Leadership Award and has been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll.

Dr. Kaplan has been an integral part of the Hurricanes’ athletic program, guiding the daily medical care of Miami’s student-athletes since taking over as the head of sports medicine for the Hurricanes in 2008. As Chief of UHealth Sports Medicine, a division of the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Kaplan leads the official sports medicine provider for the Miami Hurricanes. Dr. Kaplan is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Having earned an Undergraduate Degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1990 and his Doctor of Medicine degree from George Washington University in 1995, Dr. Kaplan completed his residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital in Orthopaedic Surgery in June 2000. Dr. Kaplan provides coverage for the University of Miami Football and Baseball teams and is the Medical Director & Team Physician for the Miami Marlins.

Berrios, Jackson, Tullis-Joyce, Brown and Dr. Kaplan join former Hurricanes quarterback Brad Kaaya and Miami head men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga, who were tapped in the fall, as members of the athletics program that have been tapped into Iron Arrow in the 2016-17 academic year.