April 10, 2008

SAULT STE. MARIE - Megan LaMothe, who became Lake Superior State's career leader in women's tennis wins and win percentage, and multi-sport athlete Tom Thornton received senior athlete of the year awards at the annual LSSU Athletics Awards Banquet held Thursday at the Cisler Center.

LaMothe (Troy, Mich.), who received the Deb McPherson Female Athlete of the Year Award, was named to the All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team during her junior and senior seasons and was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Team for three straight years. She helped lead the Lakers to NCAA Tournament berths in 2006 and 2007.

LaMothe had a winning season during each of her four seasons, including an impressive 17-5 mark at No. 2 singles in 2006. This year, she moved up to the No. 1 spot and finished 12-6. She has a career record of 54-24 with a .692 win percentage. She shattered LSSU's previous win mark of 38-17 set by Lisa Kuckhahn from 1991-94. LaMothe, who has a 3.2 grade point average in accounting, will return to LSSU next year to finish her degree, but has completed her eligibility as the most-accomplished women's tennis player in the program's history.

LSSU Senior Male Athlete of the Year Tom Thornton (left) and presenter Bill Crawford

Thornton (Sand Lake, Mich.), who is expected to earn his sixth GLIAC All-Academic Team honor during this year's outdoor track season, has lettered in cross country, indoor and outdoor track, and men's basketball at LSSU. He was the Lakers' No. 1 runner on the cross country team, placing 49th at this year's GLIAC Championships and 88th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. He appeared in nine games after walking on the 2007-08 men's basketball team and earned three starts. He is a member of LSSU's school-record setting indoor distance medley relay team and placed eighth in the 5,000-meter run at last week's Bulldog Invitational, his first outdoor meet of the season. He is a history major with a 3.2 GPA.

The Bud Cooper Coaches Award went to seniors Danielle Makins and Jamie Groos, and sophomore Scott Perkins.

Makins (Grosse Ile, Mich.), who started at center for the LSSU women's basketball team this season, compiled a career scoring average of 5.1 points per game and an impressive field-goal shooting percentage of 53.2 percent while competing in 109 games. She is a two-time GLIAC All-Academic Team honoree with a 3.55 GPA in mathematics. Groos (Escanaba, Mich.), is a former walk-on who led the Laker volleyball team in blocks as a sophomore and junior and switched to an all-around position as a senior. She led the Lakers in kills and blocks, and was second in digs. She was an outstanding captain, earned All-GLIAC Honorable Mention, was a finalist for the GLIAC Commissioner's Award, and was LSSU's second-ranked senior athlete academically, posting a 3.96 GPA in computer engineering. She will be attending graduate school at Western Michigan University next fall.

Perkins (Perrysburg, Ohio), a sophomore guard, helped lead the LSSU men's basketball team to its first GLIAC Tournament semifinal appearance since 1996. He led the Lakers in assists and steals, was second in three-point field goals and averaged 10.9 points per game. Perkins posted a 3.3 GPA in liberal arts.

Emily Joseph (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and Pawel Wegrzyn (Mississauga, Ont.) received the Terry McDermott Freshman of the Year Awards. Joseph took over as the starting point guard early in the 2007-08 season and went on to finish third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.9 points per game. He was also third in assists, steals and free throws and ranked third in scoring among GLIAC freshmen, averaging 11.3 ppg in league play. Wegrzyn is a redshirt freshman playing No. 1 singles. He is 8-12 in singles and 5-14 at No. 1 doubles heading into Saturday's regular-season finale against Michigan Tech.

Senior Jason Blain (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.), senior Amanda Epolito (East Lansing, Mich.), sophomore Katie Scott (Mitchell, Ont.), sophomore Paul Davis (St. Ignace, Mich.), junior Rachel Hall (Southgate, Mich.), junior Luke Allen (Manistee, Mich.), sophomore Amanda Pieczynski (Defiance, Ohio), junior Helena Zandarski (Coloma, Mich.) and sophomore Weronika Lomacka (Warsaw, Poland) also received special awards on Thursday.

Blain, a center on this year's hockey team, received the Kiwanis Award for being the LSSU senior athlete attaining the highest academic competence. He will graduate this spring with a 4.0 GPA in finance and economics. He contributed two goals and six assists this season and was LSSU's nominee for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Scholar-Athlete Award.

The Christina Comito Memorial Award went to Epolito, a senior guard on the women's basketball team. The award honors the player who most-exemplifies the determination, commitment and competitive nature of Comito, a guard who played at LSSU from 1988-92 and was killed in a car accident in 1994. Epolito was a defensive specialist and back-up point guard. She is a GLIAC All-Academic honoree and Lake Superior State's nominee for Michigan College Athlete of the Year.

Scott, a standout long-distance runner, earned the Jim Fallis Award, which recognizes a student-athlete for academic and athletic excellence. The exercise science major with a 3.79 GPA is an academic All-American in cross country and track. So far in 2007-08, highlights include a ninth-place finish at the GLIAC Cross Country Championships, a third-place 5,000-meter run finish at the GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships and recent wins in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run during the outdoor track season. She earned All-GLIAC Second Team honors in cross country and first-team recognition in indoor track.

Davis, a sophomore sprinter who received the Harry Pike Scholarship, holds LSSU records in the indoor 55, 60 and 200-meter dashes, and recently broke his own record in the outdoor 200-meter dash. He finished fourth in the indoor 200 at the GLIAC Indoor Track Championships in February, missing All-GLIAC honors by one spot.

Allen, a long-distance runner, was presented with the Chris Yanni Memorial Award named in honor of the former NCAA All-Region standout killed in a cycling accident in 1992. Allen, a three-time GLIAC All-Academic selection, was the Lakers' No. 4 runner on the cross country team. He place 13th in the mile at the GLIAC Indoor Track Championships.

Hall, a biology major with a 3.7 GPA, was awarded the Marian and Raymond Chelberg Outstanding Science Athlete Scholarship. The Lakers' starting second baseman led the team in hitting during its recent spring break trip to Florida. She is currently batting .257 with 19 base hits.

Scott, Lomacka (tennis), Pieczynski (track) and Zandarski (softball) shared the Bud Cooper Endowment Award, which goes to female athletes in non fully-funded sports. Pieczynski holds LSSU records in the women's indoor and outdoor 200-meter dashes, while Lomacka plays No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles for the tennis team. Zandarski is the Lakers' starting left fielder.

Most-valuable player awards were presented to the following athletes in their respective sports: Tim VanOudheusden (men's basketball), Groos (volleyball), Thornton (men's cross country), Scott (women's cross country and women's track), Davis (men's track), Dana Skytta (men's field), Taylor Patton (women's field), Hall (softball), Wegrzyn (men's tennis), LaMothe (women's tennis). Hockey's MVP will be named at the Soo BlueLiners' Banquet on April 19, and the women's basketball MVP will be introduced at the upcoming basketball banquet.