The Case Western Reserve University Athletics Department hosted its annual student-athlete awards celebration on Monday, April 27 to honor the athletic and academic achievements of its athletes during the 2014-15 seasons.
The program was opened by CASA President Brooke Orcutt who welcomed and thanked everyone for their attendance. Orcutt introduced Director of Athletics, Amy Backus who continued the program by thanking everyone for a great first year and talking about leadership. Treasurer of the Spartan Club, Angel Rice, then spoke about ways student-athletes can give back to the athletics department and be involved after graduation.
Backus then returned to announce nine special awards as follows:
The Patricia B. Kilpatrick award was presented to Will Meador (baseball), Kerrigan Cain (baseball) and Chelsea Steen (women's basketball) all of whom were four-year varsity participants with the highest cumulative grade point average of 4.0.
The Nancy Gray Rookie of the Year Award was given to Nithya Kanagasegar of the women's tennis team for her outstanding accomplishments playing number one singles.
The Bill Sudeck Rookie of the Year was given to the Drew Hamilton who received Honorable Mention All-America honors as a freshman on the swimming and diving team.
For the second year in a row, the Dorothy L. Hoza Award was presented to Kelsey Aamoth for her strong contributions to the women's cross country and track and field teams while also maintaining a high level of academic achievement, showing leadership on the team and contributed service to the Department and University.
Next is the ARTHUR P. LEARY AWARD. The Arthur P. Leary Award was given to Chris Cvecko of the men's soccer team for his unmatched leadership, good academic standing, stellar sportsmanship, and contributions to the department and University.
The Emily R. Andrews award was given to two outstanding senior women for their strong contributions to their respective programs while maintaining a high level of academic achievement, showing leadership in team, and contributing service to the Department and University. This year's recipients were Brooke Orcutt from the women's basketball team and Abbey Smith from both the women's soccer team and women's basketball team.
The Philip K. Nip Heim award was presented to Billy Beecher of the CWRU football team for his most outstanding contributions to Case Western Reserve University through the athletics program. He was selected based on his demonstrated leadership in the team, good academic standing in the University, good sportsmanship, participation and loyalty to his team and University.
The Glenn and Peggy Nicholls Female Athlete of the Year award was given to Molly O'Brien of the softball team and the Dave Hutter Male Athlete of the Year Award was presented to CJ Krimbill from the men's tennis team.
The final award of the night, the Bill Sudeck Outstanding Student-Athlete award, was given to Dane McLoughlin from the men's basketball team for best exemplifying 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.
CASA then presented the Sparty Awards to one member from each varsity athletic program as well as presented faculty and staff with a token of appreciation.
The night ended with a video presented by CASA including highlights from this year's athletics events.
To view this year's photo gallery, click here.
