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Retriever Student-Athletes Honored at Varsity Awards Ceremony 5/6/2008
BALTIMORE—Track and field standout Ashley Fauntleroy and men’s lacrosse star Terry Kimener were named UMBC Athletics’ Athletes of the Year at the annual awards ceremony held at the Retriever Activities Center on Monday. The 2007-08 Outstanding Senior Athletes went to Brian Hodges of men’s basketball, Dana Shepherd of softball and Ali Levendusky of women’s lacrosse. Junior Daniele Surkovich of women’s swimming and senior track standout Aaron James earned the Matt Skalsky Outstanding Scholar Athlete awards. Fauntleroy, a senior from Silver Spring, Md., has been a force in America East track and field since joining the Retrievers for the 2004-05 season. She claimed double-gold twice during the 2006-07 season, taking the indoor shot put and weight throw titles, and the outdoor shot put and discus throw crowns, and was named the Most Outstanding Female Field Performer of the conference championship outdoor meet, while breaking her own school record in the discus throw. This year Fauntleroy earned the Most Outstanding Female Field Performer honor for both the indoor and championships after claiming gold in the shot put and weight throw for the second consecutive year at the indoor meet and winning the crown in the shot put, discus throw and hammer throw at the outdoor meet. In addition, she broke her own school record in the discus throw for the third year in a row. Kimener, a senior midfielder from Oakton, Va., is one of the most decorated athletes in the program’s history. He was named America East Conference Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year after earning All-America and America East All-Conference First Team honors in each of the last two seasons. A team co-captain, he is the second-highest scorer as a midfielder in UMBC history, and he entered the 2008 season as the second-highest scoring midfielder in the nation. Kimener is also a finalist for the nation’s top lacrosse honor, the Tewaaraton Trophy, while he earned two America East Player of the Week awards during the season. He has scored points in 23 consecutive games and has produced multiple points in 12 in a row. Hodges, a senior guard from Upper Marlboro, Md., has performed brilliantly on the court and in the classroom during his four years at UMBC. He was a two-time America East All-Conference Second Team honoree and reached sixth on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 1,472 points, which is third in UMBC’s Division I history. He sunk 222 three-point field goals, fourth on the Retrievers’ all-time list, and scored in double figures in 69 career games. In the classroom, Hodges is UMBC’s first Division I graduate student to compete in the sport of men’s basketball, and he is currently pursuing his master’s degree in financial policy analysis. Shepherd, a senior middle infielder from Columbia, Md., has hit her way into the UMBC record book in almost every offensive category. The team co-captain, who last year broke the school record for doubles in a season, became just the sixth player in UMBC history to record 200 career hits earlier this season, and she currently stands fourth with 237. She also ranks second all-time with 170 runs scored, third with 44 doubles, fourth with 28 homers and 131 RBI and fifth with 51 stolen bases, and on Saturday she broke UMBC’s school record with her 80th career extra-base hit. A career .321 hitter, she has earned all-conference honors twice, and she is also a two-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District First Team pick. In addition, Shepherd was selected as one of 30 candidates nationally for the prestigious Lowe’s Softball Senior CLASS Award as a well-rounded student-athlete. This season, she is hitting .303 with nine home runs, 28 RBI and a team-best 40 runs scored. Levendusky, a senior attack from Baldwin, Md., had a stellar conclusion to an outstanding career on the Retrievers’ women’s lacrosse team. She has earned America East all-conference accolades all four years, including first team nods in 2006 and 2008, and she has earned four America East Player of the Week awards in her career. This year, she produced one of the best campaigns in UMBC history, tying the second-best single-season total for goals scored in UMBC history with 53, and her 59 points were the fifth-best season mark. She finished her career with 139 goals and 175 points, ranking fourth and seventh, respectively, on UMBC’s all-time list. Surkovich, a junior from Ellicott City, Md., has made quite a splash on the Retriever swimming record boards, holding parts of seven all-time marks. She was named the Most Outstanding Female Rookie at the America East championship meet as a freshman. During her sophomore season, she etched her name into history seven times as she claimed gold in the 50-freestyle, silver in the 100-freestyle and 100-butterfly, gold as part of three relays and silver in the 200-freestyle relay at the America East Championships, setting school records in all seven events. This past year she won the 500-freestyle with a new America East Championship meet record and NCAA provisional qualifying time and was part of the gold medal-winning 200-freestyle and 400-medley relays which set new school records. James, a senior from Glen Dale, Md., has consistently ranked in the top of the America East in both his athletic and academic achievements and has also represented UMBC on the national stage. He has been named to each of the America East Winter All-Academic Squads since the teams were instituted during the 2005-06 season, he has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA once during his time at UMBC, and he has been named to the Dean’s List on two occasions. After finishing third in the 55m and 110m hurdles during his freshman season, he claimed the 55m hurdle title at the 2006 indoor championships and then set a new school record in the same event at the 2007 indoor championships. This year, he finished second in the 55m hurdles at the indoor championships and was third at the IC4A Championships in the same event. Juniors Kara Dorr (women’s lacrosse) and Josh Okoniewski (cross country/track and field) earned the Retriever Club Scholarship Award to be used for their senior seasons. Dorr, a midfielder from Bel Air, Md., has scored 60 goals and tallied 13 assists for 73 points, and she was a 2005 America East All-Rookie Team selection. Okoniewski was a part of the distance medley relay team that claimed silver at the league indoor championships, where he also finaled in the 800-meter run, placing sixth. Below is the list of UMBC’s most valuable athletes, most improved athletes and unsung heroes for each sport, chosen by that team’s coaches: Men’s Soccer Most Valuable Athlete: Bryan Moffa Most Valuable Athlete: Philippe Bissohong Unsung Hero Award: Dan Bulls Women’s Soccer Most Valuable Athlete: Morgan Warrington Most Improved Athlete: Naomi Opaleye Unsung Hero: Christine Sadowski Volleyball Most Valuable Athlete: Ashley Oscars Unsung Hero: Angela Anderson Unsung Hero: Marisa Gross Men’s Cross Country Most Valuable Athlete: Paul Zwama Most Improved Athlete: Colin Haser Unsung Hero: Andrew Madison Women’s Cross Country Most Valuable Athlete: Alex Hyland Most Improved Athlete: Suzanne Gabriel Unsung Hero: Suzanne Richards Women’s Basketball Most Valuable Athlete: Carlee Cassidy Most Valuable Athlete: Chantay Frazier Unsung Hero: Morgan Hatten Men’s Basketball Most Valuable Athlete: Ray Barbosa Most Valuable Athlete: Cavell Johnson Most Valuable Athlete: Brian Hodges Men’s Swimming and Diving Most Valuable Athlete: Justin Bronson Most Improved Athlete: Fred Deal Unsung Hero: Adam Eiben Women’s Swimming and Diving Most Valuable Athlete: Tina Cantwell Most Improved Athlete: Lindsey Engler Unsung Hero: Carly Fitzpatrick Men’s Indoor Track and Field Most Valuable Athlete: Aaron James Most Improved Athlete: Josh Okoniewski Unsung Hero: Antonio Thomas Women’s Indoor Track and Field Most Valuable Athlete: Ashley Fauntleroy Most Improved Athlete: Tawana Wilson Unsung Hero: Alex Hyland Men’s Tennis Most Valuable Athlete: David Jackson Most Improved Athlete: Logan Bricker Unsung Hero: Fernando Ferreira Women’s Tennis Most Valuable Athlete: Pascaline Cette Most Valuable Athlete: Cornelia Carapcea Unsung Hero: Joy Adewumi Men’s Lacrosse Unsung Hero: David Coker Unsung Hero: Conor Devlin Unsung Hero: Brandon Mathias Women’s Lacrosse Most Valuable Athlete: Ali Levendusky Most Improved Athlete: C.J. Durham Unsung Hero: Kelly Burgoyne Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Most Valuable Athlete: Aaron James Most Improved Athlete: Antonio Thomas Unsung Hero: Dominic Devaud Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Most Valuable Athlete: Ashley Fauntleroy Most Improved Athlete: Kierra Gregory Unsung Hero: Toni Boyd Baseball Most Valuable Athlete: Joe Fowler Most Valuable Athlete: Will Delawter Most Valuable Athlete: Scott Peddicord Softball Most Valuable Athlete: Dana Shepherd Most Valuable Athlete: Kali Shirk Most Valuable Athlete: Ashley Gray Sports Medicine Most Valuable: Joe Palmer Most Improved: Shannon Covington Unsung Hero: Jessica Rozinak
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