USOC reveal winners of Team USA Paralympic awards for 2015

Wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden was named Female Paralympic Athlete of the Year at the Team USA Awards ©Getty Images

Wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden, cyclist Joe Berenyi and the men’s national ice sledge hockey team claimed the top prizes for Paralympic athletes at the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Team USA Awards.

McFadden was named Female Paralympic Athlete of the Year after she enjoyed another dominant year as she reigned supreme in all four world marathon majors in London, which doubled as the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships, Boston, Chicago and New York to earn her third straight grand slam.

The 26-year-old also set world records in the T54 400 metres, 800m and 1,500m races and ensured she would compete at her fifth Paralympic Games by securing a Rio 2016 berth.

Berenyi, Paralympic gold medallist at London 2012, scooped the men's prize as he was also in superb form in 2015, clinching two titles at the International Cycling Union Para-cycling Track World Championships.

He claimed victory in the C3 three kilometres individual pursuit event as well as the time trial race, while he took home three golds at the Parapan American Games in Toronto.

The veteran cyclist also proved too strong for the rest of the field in the pursuit and time trial competitions at the US Paralympics Road Cycling Nationals.

The men’s ice sledge hockey side, the Paralympic champions, continued their reign of dominance as they remained undefeated throughout the year to reassert their status as the world’s top team in the sport and clinch the team prize.

The men's ice sledge hockey team took home the Paralympic Team of the Year prize ©Getty Images

They secured the IPC Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool title on home ice in Buffalo, New York in May after recording a 3-0 victory over arch-rivals Canada in the gold medal contest.

Declan Farmer, Dan McCoy and Josh Pauls all got their names on the scoresheet as the American outfit cruised to a record-equalling third crown.

The Sochi 2014 gold medallists also sealed the 2015 World Sled Hockey Challenge for the second time in three years with a 2-1 overtime triumph against Russia.

The recipients were given their prizes at a ceremony held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Houston Hall in Philadelphia.

Award winners were 50 per cent determined by online fan voting, where nearly 200,000 votes were cast, while members of the Olympic and Paralympic Family, including a panel of journalists, accounted for the other half.