Senior athletes recognized at an annual awards ceremony
By Alison Fleck
With hot pink leather boots, bell-bottoms and Afro wigs, the Santa Clara women's soccer team boogied to the classic hits of the 1970s to start off the 2003-2004 Senior Awards Banquet held in the Brass Rail on Tuesday night.
"We host 140 events in one year and this is by far my favorite," Director of Athletics Cheryl Levick said in her opening remarks. "Not only do the seniors shine, but the sophomores and juniors get to dance."
Santa Clara placed second behind Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference Commissioner's Cup for the third year in a row and won the Rivalry Series against San Jose State for the second-consecutive year.
The awards not only recognized Santa Clara's 46 graduating seniors, but also credited several individual and team academic performances. Eleven of the 17 teams received a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The men's cross country team won the highest men's team GPA with a 3.08, but lost to the women's team, which scored a GPA of 3.50. Individual awards went to Michael Newman of men's cross country and Jaime Forman-Lau of women's softball.
Logan Gee from the men's water polo received the Carroll Williams Award, which is presented by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council to the student-athlete who best exemplifies leadership and community service.
"Here's a lesson for life: Some of you were born rich and will remain rich," Gee said humourously in his speech, "but for all the rest of you, go after those rich boys and give it to them. Remember, they can buy anything, but they can't buy a new backbone!"
"I really liked the awards this year, especially with the theme," women's basketball player Quinn Thomas said. "It made it not as formal and shorter too."
The rest of the night consisted of team recognitions for all 17 sports and more notable awards.
Becky Potter of the women's volleyball team received the Henry Schmidt award, which honors the school's top female student-athlete selected from the sports of basketball, soccer or volleyball. Potter finished her career nationally-ranked with 1,812 kills.
Jim Howell, of men's basketball, won the Victor Corsiglia Award, which honors the top male student-athlete from baseball, basketball or soccer.
Chardonnay Poole, women's soccer, and Benjamin Gauen, men's cross-country, received the Pat Malley Awards, which honor the student-athletes who best demonstrate attitude, desire and competitive spirit.
"The things I will miss most about being an SCU athlete are the everyday things I did with teammates, the competition and being in the best physical shape of my life," Gauen said.
The James D. Farwell Awards were given to Forman-Lau, who had a 3.85 GPA, and Erich Chen, captain of men's tennis. This award is given to the student-athlete who best combines academic and athletic excellence.
Lindsay Myrback of media relations received the Jim Jennings Award, which is presented annually to a non-athlete for most distinguished service to the athletic department. Myrback interned in the External Services department and helped many student-athletes throughout the year.
The Bronco spirit awards, given to the most spirited teams, went to women's volleyball and men's cross country.
The final award of the evening was the Bronco Inspirational Award. J.R. Patrick from men's basketball received this for his courage, perseverance and his spirit to overcome adversity.
The evening concluded with a video slide show of each sport and an athletes' address by Poole.
"Being a college athlete prepares you for life," she said. "All athletes persist a goal, resist defeat and assist their teammates."
Continued Poole, "Trust, judge and challenge yourself without a coach to do it for you. Never regret. If it's good, it's great, and if it's bad, it's experience."
û Contact Alison Fleck at (408) 554-4852 or afleck@scu.edu.