April 14, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Student-athletes from each of UCF's 17 varsity sports gathered on Monday evening for the first-annual End of Year All-Sports Banquet at the New UCF Arena. Members of each team were honored for a variety of academic and athletic accomplishments during the 2007-08 school year.
The event began with a special thanks to all senior student-athletes by Executive Associate Athletics Director David Chambers. Student-athletes and staff then dined on the arena's concourse before beginning the program on the arena court. Marc Daniels, the Voice of the Knights, served as the event's master of ceremonies.
Daniels began the event by speaking about all of the exciting adaptations and changes that have surrounded UCF athletics during the 2007-08 season. He noted the opening of the new Bright House Networks Stadium and the new UCF Arena, as well as the hiring of a number of talented new coaches.
"We've heard the word `change' used in politics over the past year, but it does not ring more true than here at UCF," Daniels said in opening the program. "We have had new coaches, new venues and new student-athletes. Everyone has had to adapt to our new surroundings, new styles of coaching and new people."
The event was a first-of-its-kind presentation for UCF Athletics. In the past, teams had gathered to begin each season and then teams held their own individual end-of-year recognition ceremonies.
"The all-sports banquet is a great opportunity for everyone to come together as an athletics family," said Jessica Reo, UCF's associate athletics director and senior woman administrator. "This is the first time that we have recognized all the teams and student-athletes together. We wanted to take the opportunity to do something different to recognize our student-athletes and tonight was just a stepping stone for this event in future years."
Each team recognized its student-athletes with five different awards: The Iron Award, the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Newcomer of the Year, The Coaches Award and the Most Valuable Player. Each head coach presented his/her student-athletes with their awards.
"This was a great opportunity to recognize all of UCF's student-athletes for their accomplishments in the classroom and on the playing field," UCF head track and field coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. "Jessica Reo, David Chambers and our administration did a great job of putting on this event. The food was outstanding and everyone looked very nice."
In addition to those awards, five additional awards were granted to student-athletes and presented by Director of Athletics and Executive Vice President Keith R. Tribble. The Callerman Award, named for Dr. William Callerman, the Lapchick Award, named for Dr. Richard Lapchick, the student trainer of the year, the video student of the year and the equipment student of the year.
The evening concluded with a video highlighting the 2007-08 athletics season.
"This was a great experience for all of the athletes," senior women's basketball player Amber Long said. "It's great to see how far UCF has come in the four years that I have been here. Everything is completely different from when I started here. From our level of competition to the great facilities with the new arena and the nearby stores, I hope UCF keeps on building. It has been a great experience and everyone is doing a great job of putting UCF on the map."
A complete list of award recipients is below.
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Iron Athlete
Baseball - Chadd Hartmann
Men's Basketball - Kenrick Zondervan
Women's Basketball - Amber Long
Football - Josh Sitton
Men's Golf - Giwon Suh
Rowing - Laura Bacci
Men's Soccer - Mike Mattson
Women's Soccer - Jennifer Manis
Softball - Ashley Van Ryn
Sprit Team - Keegan Hubbard, Lauren Whitt
Men's Tennis - Johan Beigart
Women's Tennis - Anna Yakimchenkova
Women's Track and Field and Cross Country - Dione Thomas
Men's Cross Country - Matt Clements
Volleyball - Andrea Youngblood
Scholar-Athlete
Baseball - Nick Choto
Men's Basketball - Taylor Young
Women's Basketball - Jackie Akers
Football - Keith Shologan
Men's Golf - Preston Brown
Women's Golf - Katie Detlefsen
Rowing - Caitlin Pauls
Men's Soccer - Ryan Roushandel
Women's Soccer - Jennifer Manis
Softball - Shelly Frick, Cat Snapp
Spirit Team - Matt Lewis, Bianca Zuluaga
Men's Tennis - Brock Sakey
Women's Tennis - Anna Yakimchenkova
Women's Track and Field and Cross Country - Sheree Carter
Men's Cross Country - Daniel Conn
Volleyball - Jennifer Heppert
Newcomer of the Year
Men's Basketball - Jean Michel Yotio
Women's Basketball - Tia Lewis
Football - Bruce Miller
Men's Golf - David Johnson
Women's Golf - Jessy Tang
Rowing - Liz Robinson
Men's Soccer - Sean Johnson
Women's Soccer - Danielle dos Santos
Spirit Team - Preston Rogers, Matt Michael
Men's Tennis - Claudio Romano
Women's Tennis - Jenny Frisell
Women's Track and Field and Cross Country - Lizzie Harris
Volleyball - Kristin Fisher
Coaches Award
Men's Basketball - Mike O'Donnell
Women's Basketball - Marshay White
Football - Keith Shologan
Men's Golf - Preston Brown
Women's Golf - Mayule Tomimbang
Rowing - Caitlin Pauls
Men's Soccer - Kamal Cudjoe
Women's Soccer - Kelsey Kravec
Spirit Team - Amy Winn
Men's Tennis - Tarek Ben Soltane
Women's Tennis - Jenny Carati
Women's Track and Field and Cross Country - Karen Kozub
Men's Cross Country - Dustin Hicks
Volleyball - Stephanie Serna
Most Valuable Player
Men's Basketball - Dave Noel
Women's Basketball - Amber Long
Football - Kevin Smith
Men's Golf - Greg Forest, David Johnson
Women's Golf - Stephanie Connelly
Rowing - Krystina Sarff
Men's Soccer - Ryan Roushandel
Women's Soccer - Jennifer Manis
Spirit Team - Ashley Cowan
Men's Tennis - Blaze Schwartz
Women's Tennis - Jenny Frisell
Women's Track and Field and Cross Country - Dione Thomas
Men's Cross Country - Paul Nielsen
Volleyball - Jennifer Heppert
Callerman Award
Allison Kime - Softball
Kyle Sweat - Baseball
Anthony Davis - Football
Lapchick Award
Ashley Van Ryn - Softball
Matt Lambert - Baseball
Virginia Traynor - Track and Field
Student Trainer of the Year: Megan Steirer
Video Student of the Year: Zak Kennedy
Equipment Student of the Year: Patrick Cole