UB honors
athletes at annual awards banquet
Head
track-and-field and cross-country coach Dick Barry, who will retire at
the conclusion of the spring track-and-field season, was honored for 17
years of service to UB at the annual Athletic Awards Banquet.
Barry's
tenure at UB included 13 conference titles, five "Conference Coach of
the Year" honors and 10 All-Americans. His men's cross-country team earned
the Athletic Director's Award for its performance during the 2001-02 season,
while senior thrower Sarah Fletcher, a member of the women's track-and-field
team, earned honors as "Female Athlete of the Year."
Freshman
wrestler Kyle Cerminara was named "Male Athlete of the Year" after going
unbeaten in the Mid-American Conference and earning a berth to the NCAA
Championships in his first season of collegiate competition.
The
men's cross-country team jumped from 10th place in the MAC in 2000 to
a fifth-place finish this past fall. Junior Jerimie Slick earned first-team
All-MAC honors and qualified for the Division I National Championships,
the first UB cross-country athlete to do so in more than 30 years.
In
addition, teammate Todd Ludden earned second-team All-MAC honors.
Fletcher,
meanwhile, may still have the best to come as she completes her senior
season. Already a three-time MAC champion (two indoor 20-pound weight
throw titles and the 2000 outdoor hammer title), she recently broke the
MAC and UB all-time record in the hammer with a distance of 187-10 at
the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia, finishing second. That mark
provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Division I Championships at LSU
at the end of May, with the MAC Championships still to come, beginning
today and running through Saturday.
This
season, Fletcher broke the discus and hammer records at UB and led the
Bulls to the women's championship at the nine-team McDonald's Invitational
at Ohio University.
Cerminara,
meanwhile, became the first person to earn "Athlete of the Year" honors
in his or her first year at UB since women's swimmer Inger Rooneem (1997-98).
He earned the recognition after a 26-13 regular season in which he captured
the 197-pound title at the MAC Championships as the No. 1 seed after sweeping
all five of his conference matches in the regular season. He is the second-straight
wrestler to earn the award after heavyweight John Eschenfelder took home
the trophy last year.
At
the NCAA Championships in Albany, Cerminara went 1-2 and nearly went the
distance with Iowa State's Cael Sanderson, the only wrestler in NCAA history
to go unbeaten for four seasons.
Other
major award winners included:
- Clifford
C. Furnas Post-graduate Scholarship: Carrie Quinlan, swimming
- Intercollegiate
Athletics Board (IAB) Student Athlete Leaders: Male (tie), Gabe Cagwin,
basketball and Joe Freedy, football; Female, Larissa LaCour, volleyball
- Unsung
Hero Award: Rebecca Ashare, volleyball
- Blue
and White Club Community Service Award: Larissa LaCour, volleyball
- Athletes
for Athletes Attendance Award: Women's swimmingcaptains Gigi Tapia
and Carrie Quinlan
The
sport-by-sport award winners:
Men's
Cross Country
Top Newcomer: Steve Strelick
Most Improved: Eric Czubaj
Coaches Award: Jerimie Slick
MVP: Todd Ludden
Women's
Cross Country
Top Newcomer: Jenny Koeppel
Most Improved: Jessica Moldovan
Coaches Award: Hollie Rhodes
MVP: Melissa Burrows
Football
Top Newcomer: J.J. Gibson
Most Improved: Chad Bartoszek
Coaches Award: Joe Freedy
MVP: Chris Shelly
Dominic Grossi Award: Tim Hedges
Women's
Soccer
Top Newcomer: Brenna McJury
Most Improved: Paula Sinclair
Coaches Award: Robin Aparo
MVP: Devon Russell
Men's
Soccer
Top Newcomer: Dave Pidgeon
Most Improved: Dan Wielechowski
Coaches Award: Mike Peplinski
MVP: Kevin Pitra
Women's
Volleyball
Top Newcomer: Katie Henry
Most Improved: Becky Ashare
Coaches Award: Alexis Bouie
MVP: Lindsay Matikosh
Women's
Basketball
Top Newcomer: Allison Bennett
Most Improved: Rachel Martin
Coaches Award: Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe
MVP: Jessica Kochendorfer
Men's
Basketball
Top Newcomer: Turner Battle
Most Improved: Kevin Swoffer
Coaches Award: Clement Smith
MVP: Darcel Williams
Women's
Indoor Track and Field
Top Newcomer: Charisse Everett
Most Improved: Faith Thompson
Coaches Award: Laura Olson
MVP: Christina Keck
Men's
Indoor Track and Field
Top Newcomer: Pete Zaccariello
Most Improved: Steve Esler
Coaches Award: Joe Loiacono
MVP: Joe Clark
Women's
Swimming
Top Newcomer: Tracy Hoover
Most Improved: Bethany Miller
Coaches Award: Katrina Sinclair
MVP: Jennefer Brankovsky
Men's
Swimming
Top Newcomer: Aviv Oren
Most Improved: Jon Yarger
Coaches Award: Alan Lowe
MVP: Aviv Oren
Wrestling
Top Newcomer: Kyle Cerminara
Most Improved: Garrett Bontempo
Coaches Award: Ben Cooper
The Bob Rich Outstanding Wrestler Award: Kyle Cerminara
Baseball
Top Newcomer: Phil VanHorne
Most Improved: Adrian Daniels
Coaches Award: Tim Sova
MVP: Brandon DiCesare
Women's
Crew
Top Newcomer: Kali Spoto
Most Improved: Michelle Schwach
Coaches Award: Karey Smollar
MVP: Sarah Viera
Softball
Top Newcomer: Stacey Evans
Most Improved: Ann-Marie Magur
Coaches Award: Melissa Pace
MVP: Breanna Nasti
Men's
Tennis
Top Newcomer: Nick Zieziula
Most Improved: Randy Rocchio
Coaches Award: Justin Brtko
MVP: Fery Kasiman
Women's
Tennis
Top Newcomer: Michelle Kollarova
Most Improved: Jen Wong
Coaches Award: Shani Amarasinghe
MVP: Karen Maynard
Men's
Outdoor Track and Field
Top Newcomer: Bryan Weinstein
Most Improved: Tom Abbey
Coaches Award: Ben Cady
MVP: Byron McKinney
Women's
Outdoor Track and Field
Top Newcomer: April Pabilonia
Most Improved: Meagan Rogers
Coaches Award: Alison Laske
MVP: Sarah Fletcher
Cheerleading
Top Newcomer: Bryan Aweh
Most Improved: Kara Teske
Coaches Award: Candace Faubert
MVP: Nick Greiner
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