June 8, 2008

Photo Gallery (Tim Zechar)

At its annual Academic and Athletic Recognition Banquet at the Hope Hotel Sunday, Wright State University honored student-athletes and staff with various awards of recognition.

The Don Mohr Male Athlete of the Year was given to baseball player Jeremy Hamilton, who was the Horizon League Player of the Year and a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award after batting .410 with nine home runs and 50 RBI along with 60 runs scored. The Peg Wynkoop Female Athlete of the Year was given to softball player Jherica Williams as she was the Horizon League Player of the Year and First Team All-Great Lakes Region after setting school records with 17 home runs and 73 RBI. Don Mohr was the school's first athletic director and Peg Wynkoop was the school's first senior woman administrator.

The Dr. Carl Benner Male and Female Scholar-Athlete Awards went three student-athletes in Alex Gutman, Tara Geegan and Jessica Weidert, all with perfect 4.0 grade point averages.

Gutman, a senior runner majoring in Mathematics, posted the team's second-best time in the 800 meter run and third-best in the 1500 meter run. Geegan, a senior middle blocker, was All-Horizon League as she recorded 310 kills and 129 blocks for the volleyball team and is majoring in Early Childhood Education. Weidert, a senior swimmer majoring in Modern Languages, was named the Horizon League Swimmer of the Meet and Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year as she set three League records in winning the 200 breaststroke and the 200 and 400 individual medleys.

This award has been named after Dr. Carl Benner, who was chair of the Athletic Council and long-time official scorer for the basketball team.

The Terry Hall WSU Coach of the Year award was presented to softball coach Mike Larabee, who led the Raiders to their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance along with their best record and League finish since 2001. Along the way, Wright State set 11 offensive records, including home runs in a season with 67. The award is named in honor of former women's basketball coach Terry Hall, who passed away in 1997.

The department's Angelo "Tony" Tononi Raider Award, given to someone who has contributed above and beyond, was presented to Dr. Michael Cusack for his 26 years of service as Wright State Athletics Director. This award has been named after Tony Tononi, a friend and booster who passed away six years ago.

Other awards included the department's Life SKILLS Award for community service, which was renamed in honor of Cusack and presented to Ryan Klasmeier of the swimming and diving team. Weidert was also recognized as both the Wright State and Horizon League nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year.

MVP and Raider Awards

Team	MVP	Hometown	Raider Award	Hometown
Baseball	Jeremy Hamilton	Cincinnati, OH	Ross Vagedes	Tipp City, OH
	Justin Parker	Fort Wayne, IN	John Kopilchack	Lima, OH
Men's Basketball	Vaughn Duggins	Pendleton, IN	Scottie Wilson	Middletown, OH
Women's Basketball	Sheylani Peddy	Boston, MA	Whitney Lewis	Lynchburg, OH
Men's Cross Country	Isaiah Kessio	Mosoriot, Kenya	Evan Firestone	Yellow Springs, OH
Women's Cross Country	Alyssa Glenn	Bowling Green, OH	Natalie Hopwood	Huber Heights, OH
Golf	Tyler Miskell	Heath, OH	Matt Crace	Piketon, OH
Men's Soccer	Carl Ebers	Malmo, Sweden	Brian Cothern	Galena, OH
Women's Soccer	Jess Rooma	Westfield Center, OH	Katie Comisar	West Chester, OH
Softball	Jherica Williams	Piqua, OH	Kristen Bradshaw	Portsmouth, OH
Spirit Unit	Kalee Maloy	Waverly, OH	Sabrina Salter	Mason, OH
	Fred "Rocky" Smith	Lebanon, OH	Kristina Lawrence	Waterville, OH
			Allison Lawson	Franklin, OH
			Kyle Jurick	Hicksville, OH
Men's Swimming & Diving	Nathan Demchuk	Edmonton, ALB	Dave Cruickshank	Aurora, ONT
	Warren Thompson	Boksburg, South Africa
Women's Swimming & Diving	Jessica Weidert	Spokane, WA	Stephanie Cox	Centerville, OH
Men's Tennis	Tony Teufel	Cincinnati, OH	Nick Camilleri	Melbourne, Australia
Women's Tennis	Jessica Lee	Canton, OH	Christa Ames	Springfield, OH
Women's Indoor Track	Tiffany Brigham	Springfield, OH	Nicole Kamann	Walbridge, OH
Men's Outdoor Track	Evan Firestone	Yellow Springs, OH	Kyle Fetters	West Milton, OH
Women's Outdoor Track	Tiffany Brigham	Springfield, OH	Natalie Hopwood	Huber Heights, OH
Volleyball	Tara Geegan	Algonquin, IL	Lindsey Frank	Menomonee Falls, WI

Departmental Awards

Award	Recipient	Hometown
Terry Hall Coach of the Year	Mike Larabee, Softball
Dr. Carl Benner Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year	Alex Gutman, Sr., Cross Country	Botkins, OH
Dr. Carl Benner Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year	Tara Geegan, Sr., Volleyball	Algonquin, IL
	Jessica Weidert, Sr., Swimming & Diving	Spokane, WA
Peg Wynkoop Female Athlete of the Year	Jherica Williams, Sr., Softball	Piqua, OH
Don Mohr Male Athlete of the Year	Jeremy Hamilton, Jr., Baseball	Cincinnati, OH
Tony Tononi Raider Award	Dr. Michael Cusack, Athletics Director
Dr. Mike Cusack Raider SKILLS Award	Ryan Klasmeier, Swimming & Diving	Cincinnati, OH