Some of the student-athletes to win awards at the eighth annual Tiger Awards Banquet show off their new hardware.
Springfield, Ohio – The eighth annual Tiger Awards, recognizing excellence in athletic and academic performance by Wittenberg University student-athletes during the 2012-13 school year, were handed out during a banquet on April 28.
Hundreds of student-athletes attended the banquet, which is organized and led annually by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Voting by SAAC members resulted in 19 different team and individual awards encompassing a wide range of athletic, academic and extracurricular achievements during the 2012-13 school year. The goal of the annual event is to highlight and showcase accomplishments across the department of athletics.
In addition to the Tiger Awards, 27 inductees into Wittenberg's chapter of the national student-athlete honorary Chi Alpha Sigma were recognized, as were senior lacrosse/field hockey standout Kellen Morrissey (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill) and senior men’s golfer Craig Osterbrock (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington), Wittenberg's 2013 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Scholar Athlete award-winners.
The event’s first awards given out were Most Outstanding Men’s and Women’s Team of the Year. The men’s honor went to the golf team, which has won six of 10 tournaments in the 2012-13 school year and has spent the entire year ranked in the top 15 nationally. The lacrosse team took the award on the women’s side after posting a 12-3 regular season record and running its NCAC regular season winning streak to 14 in a row, dating to the end of the 2011 season.
The awards for Overall Performance by an Individual went to Zach Finke (Maineville, Ohio/St. Xavier), who has an earned run average below 2.00 and a 5-2 record as the Tiger baseball team’s No. 1 starter in 2013, and Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas), who earned her second straight NCAC Libero of the Year award in 2012, in addition to first-team all-conference, first-team all-region and second-team All-America honors.
Tiger Spirit Awards are given annually to one male and one female who best supports and encourages Wittenberg student-athletes. In 2013, the awards went to Certified Athletic Trainer Molly Hopkins and junior men’s lacrosse midfielder Jack Bornhofen (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh).
Two Collegiate Achievement Awards were also distributed. Craig Osterbrock capped his career by winning the men’s award in recognition of his tremendous career in the Red & White, which included back-to-back NCAC Championships and All-America honors in 2011 and 2012. The women’s award went to Kellen Morrissey, who earned multiple All-NCAC and all-region awards in both field hockey and lacrosse during her phenomenal two-sport collegiate career.
The Male and Female Newcomer of the Year Awards went to a freshman volleyball right-side hitter Kara Seidenstricker (Plain City, Ohio/London) and freshman men’s lacrosse standouts Thomas and Andrew Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln). Seidenstricker put together the greatest freshman season in Tiger volleyball history, earning NCAC Newcomer and Player of the Year honors before also garnering Great Lakes Regional Freshman of the Year and NCAA Division III Freshman of the Year honors. Thomas and Andrew Fuss were the leading scorers for the Wittenberg men’s lacrosse team.
Extracurricular Male Athlete of the Year went to senior Trevor Grandy (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) of the track and field and cross country teams, and Extracurricular Female Athlete of the Year was awarded to senior soccer defensive back Kelly Brothers (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) in recognition of their outstanding performance in the classroom, involvement in honoraries, clubs and organizations outside of varsity athletics, and excellence in competition.
Men’s golf Head Coach Jeff Roope took home the Men’s Coach of the Year and women’s basketball Head Coach Sarah Jurewicz garnered Women’s Coach of the Year. The men’s golf team has been nothing short of sensational in the 2012-13 season, with the Tigers the favorite to win a fourth consecutive NCAC championship and NCAA Division III Tournament berth. The women’s basketball team won the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic and earned a spot in the NCAC Tournament semifinals during the 2012-13 season, led by Jurewicz, who has been a tireless advocate for students in the classroom and as a member of various campus committees.
Sean Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) was named Record-Breaking Male Athlete of the Year after repeatedly etching his name into the Tiger football records. Williams holds numerous kicking records, including career field goals, career field goal percentage and career PAT percentage. The Record-Breaking Female Athlete Award went to Christina Gilene, who finished her career with 2,235 digs, the fourth-highest total in program history. She earned back-to-back NCAC Libero of the Year honors in 2011 and 2012.
Academic-Athlete Awards went to men’s soccer junior Kevin Bond (Bexley, Ohio/Bexley), men’s swimming junior Taylor Burmeister (Blue Island, Ill./Dwight Eisenhower) and Craig Osterbrock. For the women, Academic-Athlete Awards were given as women’s soccer junior Erin Rowell (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Twp.), women’s basketball senior Sarah Skidmore (Troy, Ohio/Miami East) and softball junior Rachel Ross (Westerville, Ohio/South).
The Most Improved Team award went to the Tiger women’s soccer squad, which won the second NCAC regular season championship in program history. The Tigers earned their fifth NCAA Division III Tournament and finished with records of 11-5-3 overall and 7-0-1 in the NCAC.
The event marked the final SAAC meeting of the 2012-13 school year. SAAC is an organization that represents and advocates the interests of Wittenberg student-athletes to the rest of the university community. Through bi-weekly meetings, student-athletes are able to network and organize events.
Written By: Ryan Maurer