Seniors, Team Award Winners Honored at #CougAwards
4/20/2016 1:06:00 AM | Women's Soccer
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Team award winners and 94 seniors across all 19 varsity sports and support groups were honored at the 2016 College of Charleston Athletics “Coug Awards” Sports Banquet sponsored by The Cougar Club and catered by Taziki's on Tuesday night at TD Arena.
Most Valuable Player Award recipients included sophomore Rio Speller-Drews (Aurora, Ontario, Canada) of women's soccer, sophomore Leland Archer (Port of Spain, Trinidad) of men's soccer, junior Cara Butcher (North Massapequa, N.Y.) of women's cross country, sophomore Crew Kosiorek (Boiling Springs, S.C.) of men's cross country, junior Mara Argyriou (Limassol, Cyprus) of women's tennis, junior Rodrigo Encinas (Santiago, Chile) and sophomore Juan Estevarena (Buenos Aires, Argentina) of men's tennis, junior Laura Fuenfstueck (Langen, Germany) of women's golf and junior William Rainey (Charlotte, N.C.) of men's golf.
The CofC women's soccer team won the 2016 Cougar Cup, which is presented annually to the team with the most participation points in the NCAA Student-Athlete Development commitment areas of athletic excellence, academic excellence, personal development, career development and service.
The inaugural Chad Effect Community Service Award was presented to head coach Amy Seago and the CofC women's cross country and track & field team. The award, named in memory of former CofC men's basketball student-athlete Chad Cooke, will be given annually to the athletic team that earns the most Cougar Cup points in the area of community service continuing Cooke's legacy of giving back to others in the community.
Senior defender Claire Newman (Greensboro, N.C.) of women's soccer was honored with the prestigious J. Stewart Walker Cup, which the highest award given by the athletics department to a deserving student-athlete. The award is named after J. Stewart Walker, Jr., a 1978 CofC graduate, who was very active in athletics until his death in 1983.
She is one of three Newman sisters to be honored with the award next to older sisters, Caroline and Christin, who both played on the CofC women's tennis team and were recipients in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The other three finalists for the award included junior Cara Butcher of women's cross country and track & field, senior Melissa Morello (Milwaukee, Wis.) of volleyball and senior Victoria Bauer (Santa Clarita, Calif.) of equestrian.
Academically, 288 student-athletes and trainers were named scholar-athletes this school year. To qualify, a student-athlete must earn a term grade-point average of at least a 3.0 during the spring and fall 2015 terms.
The CofC women's golf team turned in the highest annual average team GPA in 2015, while the men's soccer team had the most improved annual average team GPA. Junior Canyon Barry (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who holds a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in physics and computer science, earned the Academic MVP Award given to the graduating senior with the highest cumulative GPA at the end of the fall prior to graduation.
2016 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON ATHLETICS “COUG AWARDS” SPORTS BANQUET
April 19, 2016
TD Arena
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Men's MVP: Crew Kosiorek
Men's Coaches Award: Tyler Wood
Women's MVP: Cara Butcher
Women's Coaches Award: Victoria Churchill
Seniors: Tyler Wood, Elizabeth Catoe, Kornelia Kostka and Aisha Maddox
MEN'S SOCCER
Kirk Kessler Team MVP: Leland Archer
Aaron Olitsky Most Improved: Kevin Shields
Glaucos Diamantino Best Attitude Award: Tucker Coons
Seniors: Tucker Coons, Adam Purvis and Alex Young
WOMEN'S SOCCER
MVP: Rio Speller-Drews
C.H.A.M.P. Award: Michaela Herrmann
Seniors: Michaela Herrmann, Nicole Koretsky, Claire Newman, Allison Sender, Jane Vardzel and Hope Walker
VOLLEYBALL
Defensive Award: McKala Rhodes
Impact Award: Melissa Morello
Leadership Award: Krissy Mummey
Seniors: Melissa Morello, Grace Rebarchak and Kayla Tronick
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Warrior Award: Kayla Tronick
J-Dash Award: Kennedy Madison
Seniors: Melissa Morello and Kayla Tronick
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Offensive Player of the Year: Jarrell Brantley
Defensive Player of the Year: Payton Hulsey
Most Improved: Cameron Johnson
Seniors: Canyon Barry, James Bourne and Harrison Bowne
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Scholar Athlete Award: Jackie Luna-Castro
Most Improved Award: Brianna Sullivan
MMOC: Breanna Bolden
Seniors: Shannon Hines, Jackie Luna-Castro and Kelsey Booth
BASEBALL
Seniors: Eric Bauer, Nathan Helvey, Alex Pastorius and Morgan Phillips
EQUESTRIAN
Laura Carr Horsemanship Award: Hannah Bentz
Team Sportsmanship Award: Mikaela Zak
Leadership Award: Victoria Bauer
Seniors: Victoria Bauer, Taylor Bibbiani, Annie Carr, Ruth Elgren, Victoria Gonzalez, Olivia Gotwald, Rachel Hyland, Audrey Kallman, Kelsey LeBuhn, Catherine Rodda, Jenna Terribile, Easton Veremis and Haleigh Wayman
MEN'S GOLF
MVP: William Rainey
Coaches Award: Josh Lorenzetti
Seniors: John Jonas, Josh Lorenzetti, Jackson Moore and Shane Rogan
WOMEN'S GOLF
MVP: Laura Fuenfstueck
Coaches Award: Morgan Webber
Seniors: Mary Chandler Bryan, Julie Neumann, Louise Olsson, Stacey Tomlinson and Morgan Webber
SAILING
Team Captain: Ryan Davidson
Team Captain: Beka Schiff
SAAC Representative: Kyle Sutter
SAAC Representative: Michaela Reynolds
SAAC Representative: Sean Donahue
Offshore Team Captain: Stefan Kuehn
Seniors: Reed Baldridge, Ryan Davidson, Charles Essi, Brandon Folkman, James Greenfield, Hanna Horan, Jack Jorgensen, Stefan Kuehn, Dodge Rees, Jake Reynolds, Kyle Sutter, Alex Whipple, Katie Dowling, Sarah Mackey, Seppie McAdams, Michael Reynolds, Charlotte Saxe, Beka Schiff and Emily Stuart.
SOFTBALL
Seniors: Valerie Cassell, Chandler Frisbie, Carly Hansis and Rebecca Mueller
MEN'S TENNIS
MVP: Rodrigo Encinas and Juan Estevarena
Most Improved: Zack Lewis
Cougar Claw: Josh Record
Seniors: Matt Daly, Charlie Ghriskey, Garrett Gordon, Zack Lewis and Josh Record
WOMEN'S TENNIS
MVP: Mara Argyriou
Coaches Award: Sarah Zschunke
Most Improved: Helena Nyikos
Seniors: Brooke McAmis and Katherine Schofield
WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Seniors: Elizabeth Catoe, Alexa Chiarelli, RoShani Glover, Ciera Holston, Kornelia Kostka, Rachel Leder, Aisha Maddox, Brianna McDonald, Alexia Neal and Sarah Specter
CHEER
MVP: Jordan Devlin
Rookie of the Year: Samantha Pairet
Game Day/Most Spirited Award: Niki Bedenbaugh
Seniors: Niki Bedenbaugh and Jordan Devlin
DANCE
Most Improved: Dana Van Houten
Coaches Award: Taylor Schuman
On The Prowl: Josh Bristow
Seniors: Melissa Whiting and Taylor Schuman
ATHLETIC TRAINING
Trainer of the Year: Courtney Birch
Seniors: Annabelle Herron, Melanie Luck, Tory Holmes, Kelsey Mazzocco and Emily Morris
2016 COUGAR CUP
Women's Soccer (4,155 points)
THE CHAD EFFECT COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Women's Track & Field / Women's Cross Country
ACADEMICS
Highest Annual Average GPA 2015
Women's Golf
Most Improved Annual Average GPA 2015
Men's Soccer
Senior Highest Cumulative GPA (end of Fall 2015)
Canyon Barry (Men's Basketball)
STUDENT FAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Wes and Zach Traylor
CHARLIE POST AWARD
Bailey Ober (Baseball)
J. STEWART WALKER CUP AWARD
Claire Newman (Women's Soccer)
