PHOTO ALBUM | HIGHLIGHT VIDEO
The Case Western Reserve University Department of Athletics announced its annual award winners at the all-sports banquet on Monday night.
Seniors Cody Calhoun of the football team, Jennifer Eurich of the women's swimming & diving team, James Gibson of the men's cross country and track & field team, Rachel Laveson of the women's cross country and track & field teams, Ondrej Maxian of the men's swimming & diving team, Claire Plunkett of the women's cross country and track & field team, and Katie Wede of the softball team all received the Patricia B. Kilpatrick Award, presented to the four-year varsity participant with the highest cumulative grade point average. All seven had perfect 4.0 GPAs during their collegiate careers.
The winner of the 2017-18 Nancy Gray Rookie of the Year Award, presented annual to a first-year female student-athlete who has made an outstanding contribution to her sport during her first year of competition, was Caitlyn VonFeldt of the women's swimming & diving team. She qualified for and competed in seven events at the NCAA Championships, earning an All-America honorable mention with a 14th-place finish as a part of the 200-yard medley relay team. She also earned an All-UAA honor in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a third-place finish at the conference championships, and set school records in five events during the year – individually in the 200 yard backstroke and as a part of the 200-yard medley, 400-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Ignas Masiulionis of the men's basketball team was named the Robert Del Rosa Rookie of the Year Award winner (renamed this year in honor of the late, long-time CWRU wrestling coach). He was one of the top players in the conference during his freshman season, earning an honorable mention to the All-UAA team, becoming just the fourth first-year player in program history to accomplish the feat. Masiulionis was second on the team with 11.6 points per game during the season, shooting 38.6% overall and 34.8% from three-point range, and his 55 three-pointers during the year were tied for the ninth-most in a single season in program history, and sixth among UAA players during the campaign.
Junior Hillary Hellmann of the women's basketball team received the Dorothy L. Hoza Award, given to the female freshman, sophomore or junior student-athlete, who has made a strong contribution to the women's intercollegiate sports program, maintained a high level of academic achievement, shown leadership in the team, and contributed to the Department and the University. She started each of the team's games during the year, leading the squad with 16.1 points per game. Her 52 made three-pointers were the sixth-most in a single season in program history, while her 387 points during the campaign were the 11th-most ever by a Spartan player. She became the 15th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career, and ended her junior campaign with 1,156 career points, the eighth-most by a CWRU player. She also ranks third in program history with 171 made three point shots over her career, eight shy of the program's all-time record, and is 10th among all active NCAA Division III players with a 40.3% career mark on three-point attempts. In addition to her success on the court, she is a member of the Phi Mu Fraternity, the Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity, the Clarke Tower President, a Case Alumni Association Junior-Senior Scholarship Award Recipient, a Mechanical Engineering Teaching Assistant and a Proctor & Gamble Intern.
The 2017-18 Arthur P. Leary Award winner, presented to the outstanding freshman, sophomore or junior male student-athlete who has demonstrated leadership in the team, maintained good academic standing in the University, demonstrated good sportsmanship, and made a contribution to the department and University, was junior Rocco Maue of the baseball team. Maue broke the program record with 11 home runs this season, blowing past the previous school record of nine, while batting .353 with a team-high 43 runs, 32 runs batted in and 19 stolen bases. He has started each of the team's 34 games, playing outstanding defense at second base throughout the season, and has been named the UAA Player of the Week twice and selected to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week once. In addition, Maue carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average and is a two-time UAA All-Academic honoree, while also cooking dinner and socializing with families at the Ronald McDonald House, and assisting in raising funds for the Seidman Cancer Center during Sigma Chi's annual Derby Days philanthropy event. He is also a Sigma Chi Pledge Educator and a Teaching Assistant for Computers in Mechanical Engineering.
The Emily R. Andrews Award was given to senior Neha Cheemalavagu of the women's soccer team, for making a strong contribution to the program, maintaining a high level of academic achievement, showing leadership in team, and contributing service to the department and University. She is a three-time All-UAA honoree, including a first team selection as both a junior and a senior. She has also claimed All-Ohio honors twice and All-Region selection once during her collegiate career. Cheemalavagu has served as a team captain, playing in 59 games and starting 51 over her career, finishing her time as a Spartan with four goals and an assist, and seeing time at numerous positions on the field. She is a three-time Academic All-UAA selection, while earning a spot on the Dean's High Honors List, and working as a Student Researcher and a Student-Assistant. She has also worked extensively as a volunteer crisis coordinator with the Crisis Text Line, assisting people seeking help for issues such as suicide, self-harm and abuse.
Senior Sam Merriman of the men's cross country and track & field teams received the 2016-17 the Philip K. "Nip" Heim Award, presented annually to the senior male student-athlete who has made the most outstanding contribution to Case Western Reserve University through the athletics program. Merriman is a two-time All-American, including this season, when he placed 11th at the NCAA Division III Championships, the fifth-best finish by a Spartan ever at the national championship meet, and completing the 8K course in a career-best time of 24 minutes and 37 seconds. Also during the year, he placed fourth at the NCAA Regional Meet, and earned an All-UAA First Team honor with a sixth-place finish at the conference meet. During the indoor track and field season, he claimed the conference title in the 5,000-meter run, and was the runner-up in the 3,000-meter run to claim a second All-UAA honor. In addition to his athletic achievements, Merriman was an NCAA Elite 90 winner and an Academic All-American as a junior, a nine-time Academic All-UAA honoree, a UAA Presidents-Council Scholar Athlete, and USTFCCCA All-Academic Award winner over his career.
The Glenn and Peggy Nicholls Female Athlete of the Year Award, presented annually to the female student-athlete who has made outstanding contributions to her sport, was given to senior Nithya Kanagasegar of the women's tennis team. Kanagasegar has qualified for the NCAA Championships each of her first three seasons with the team, and is on pace to do so again this year. As a sophomore, she was named the UAA Player of the Year, the first player in program history to claim the honor. As a result, she was the only CWRU player selected to the UAA 30th Anniversary Women's Tennis Team. She was selected to the 2017 All-UAA First Team for her play at first singles and doubles, and currently ranks third in program history in singles wins and is the team's all-time leader with 75 career doubles victories. She is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and UAA All-Academic honoree, and is a finalist for ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award in 2018, which was created to honor a collegiate tennis player who has demonstrated excellence on and off the court, leadership on her team as well as on her college campus and in her community.
Senior Gage Blair was named the Dr. David Hutter Male Athlete of the Year, following his outstanding season for the football team this past season. Blair was named to the All-America Second Team, becoming just the seventh player at his position in program history to claim the honor. He was also named to the All-Region Team for the second time in his career, while becoming the first CWRU player ever to earn All-PAC Selection all four years of his career, and the 10th CWRU player to earn All-UAA selection for four-straight seasons. He helped lead the football team to an 11-1 overall record, while winning PAC and UAA Championships, and reaching the second round of the NCAA Playoffs for just the second time in program history. With his anchoring of the offensive line, the Spartans set a program record with 479 points during the campaign, and totaled over 5,000 yards of offense.
The Bill Sudeck Outstanding Student-Athlete Award honors the individual who best exemplifies the attributes of the Case Western Reserve University student-athlete in the spirit of legendary coach, mentor and friend William "Bill" Sudeck. Coach Sudeck spent more than half his life - 46 years - shaping the young minds of cross country, basketball, and track and field athletes. The award is given to the student-athlete that has demonstrated and achieved significant athletic accomplishments, academic achievements, engagement in campus activities, and has shown leadership in athletics and in the classroom. Considered the program's most important award, senior Drew Hamilton of the men's swimming & diving team claimed the 2017-18 honor. Hamilton qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships all four years of his career, earning five total All-America honors as a Spartan. At this year's NCAA Championships, he received the NCAA Elite 90 Award, presented to the athlete at the meet with the highest GPA, becoming the first CWRU swimmer to win the award, the third athlete overall in CWRU history, and just the 16th athlete in UAA history. He has added 16 All-UAA honors over his career, including this season in the 400-yard individual medley. As a sophomore, he helped lead the 800 Freestyle Relay team to a conference title, becoming the first CWRU team to win a UAA relay championship. He has also claimed the UAA Rookie of the Year award as a freshman in 2015. He will graduate with six individual and two relay program records. In addition, he is a three-time Academic All-UAA honoree, a CSCAA Scholar All-American, and has a 3.947 cumulative grade point average at CWRU.
The CWRU Association of Student-Athletes presented the Ultimate Spartan Awards, given to the varsity athletes who best represent the spirit of a CWRU. Winners this season included Danny Souza (baseball), Michael Hollis (men's basketball), Christian Grimme (men's soccer), Logan Smith (men's swimming & diving), Kara Hageman (women's basketball), Elle Zadina (women's soccer), Nicole Cardwell (women's tennis), Jennifer Eurich (women's swimming & diving), Emma Briggs (volleyball), Katie Dzierwa (softball), Nimi Gupta (women's track & field), Rachel Laveson (women's cross country), Earl Hsieh (men's tennis), Michael Hradesky (men's track & field), Aaron Aguilar (football), Ben Whitman (men's cross country) and Cito Balsells (wrestling).
In addition, Head Men's Tennis Coach Todd Wojtkowski presented awards to participants with perfect attendance in the CWRU leadership training group known as 'The Program,' including Matthew Chen, Anthony Kanam and Jonathan Powell of the men's tennis team, Ian Parker, Benjamin Resnick, Zach Roshon and Ben Whitman of the men's cross country team, Jennifer Hoffmann, Madeline Lindemann and Isa Torres-Padin of the women's cross country team, Nicole Doyle and Katie Wede of the softball team, Toni Alloy, Angelina Batty and Megan Masterson of the women's soccer team, and Cito Balsells, Gavin Dersh-Fisher, Connor Gordon, Alec Hoover, Andrew Hoover and Nick Tommas of the wrestling team.
The banquet concluded with the 2017-18 CWRU Athletics highlight video, which can be seen below.
To view the photo album from the event, click here.
