Schofield and Joseph are named LSSU senior athletes of the year

Athletic Banquet Photo Gallery

SAULT STE. MARIE – A guard who has accomplished what only two others have done during the 37-year history of the Laker women’s basketball program and a forward who has already made a statement in the professional hockey ranks received senior athlete of the year awards during Lake Superior State’s annual athletics awards banquet held Wednesday at the Cisler Center.

Emily Jospeh (Sterling Heights, Mich.) received the Deb McPherson Female Athlete of the Year Award, while Rick Schofield (Pickering, Ont.) was named the Cliff Everett Male Athlete of the Year.

After averaging 14.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this season, Joseph became the third Laker woman to be named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. The four-year starting guard scored 1,183 career points, finished second on LSSU’s all-time assist list with 440, was fourth in career free-throw percentage (361-449, .805) and sixth in career three-point field goals with 134. She is a three-time GLIAC All-Academic selection with a 3.6 grade point average and one of only three Laker women to finish among the top 15 in career scoring and top 10 in career assists. Against GLIAC competition this season, she was the only player to rank among the league’s top five in scoring and assists. Joseph also received Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Kodak All-America Honorable Mention and was named to the DII Bulletin All-America Second Team.

Laker hockey fans held their breath last summer when Schofield was invited to two NHL tryout camps and were thankful to see him wearing the Laker anchor this season. He went on to lead LSSU in points with 17 goals and 18 assists. He ranked ninth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in overall points and was fifth in overall power-play points with six goals and nine assists. He scored 20 or more points during all four collegiate seasons, and finished his impressive career with 51 goals and 53 assists in 144 games. He is the second Laker to total more than 100 career points during the past decade and has the most career goals by a Laker since Joe Blaznek scored 57 goals from 1994-98. He earned All-CCHA Honorable Mention in 2011 and was LSSU’s nomine for the CCHA Scholar-Athlete Award for three straight years while maintaining a 3.49 grade point average in business. He recently returned from playing for the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch where he totaled three goals and two assists in eight games, and he already has a contract for next season.

The Bud Cooper Coaches Awards were presented to junior Mike Boylan (Grayling, Mich.) of the men’s basketball team and senior Kimberlee Booms (Harrison, Mich.) of the women’s track and field team. Goaltender Kevin Kapalka (Mississauga, Ont.) and tennis player Kaitlynn Hutchinson (Cadillac, Mich.) received the Terry McDermott Freshman of the Year Awards.

The female honoree of the Cooper Coaches Award was also a nominee in 2010 and last year’s inaugural winner of the 25K Challenge Award/Dillon Menard Scholarship. Booms placed 15^th in the shot put and 17^th in the weight throw at the 2011 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. Last Saturday in Big Rapids, she placed fifth in the hammer throw and seventh in the discus throw. She is a GLIAC All-Academic honoree majoring in nursing, and a senior athlete of the year candidate. Boylan continues to expand his role on the team and importance to the LSSU athletics program. The 6-10 center, who represented LSSU at a GLIAC SAAC leadership conference last spring, became a favorite among elementary school students on National Reading Day. He played a sixth-man role this season and appeared in 23 games.

LSSU’s outstanding female freshman athlete is a tennis player who finished 11-3 in singles, including a perfect 10-0 mark at the No. 6 singles spot, and was 8-6 in doubles. Hutchinson received All-GLIAC honorable mention, and was one of conference six rookies to earn all-conference recognition. For the third straight year, a member of the Laker hockey team received the outstanding male freshman athlete of the year award. Kapalka emerged as LSSU’s No. 1 goaltender due to senior Brian Mahoney-Wilson’s season-ending injury and went on to finish among the top six in every single-season goaltending category in the Laker Hockey record book. His overall save percentage of .924 ranked second in the CCHA this season, including first among goaltenders who played regularly, ranked ninth nationally and was fourth on LSSU’s all-time list. He was a unanimous pick on the CCHA All-Rookie Team.

Recipients of other special honors were senior distance runner Kayla Nowak (Alpena, Mich./Kiwanis Academic Achievement Award), sophomore golfer Brent Vizina (Indian River, Mich/Harry Pike Award), junior center Cassy Schemberger (Park Falls, Wis./Ray Chelberg Outstanding Science Scholarship), freshman distance runner Mark List (Lansing, Mich./Chris Yanni Memorial Award), freshman distance runner Jake Dean (Hudsonville, Mich./Dillon Menard Scholarship), and senior guard Nicole Marshall (Frankfort, Mich./Christina Comito Award).

The Chris Yanni Memorial Award is named in honor of the former NCAA All-Region cross country standout from Sault, Ontario, who died in a cycling accident in 1992. This year’s recipient was the Lakers’ No. 2 runner at the NCAA Cross Country Regional meet and their No. 3 runner at the GLIAC Championships. List recently placed ninth in the men’s 5,000-meter run at the track team’s outdoor season opener at Michigan State, and followed that with a second-place finish Saturday during his first career 10K at the Duke Invitational in Durham, North Carolina.

The Dillon Menard Scholarship is named in memory of the cross country and track team’s beloved teammate, who died unexpectedly this fall. This scholarship is funded by the proceeds of events dedicated to Menard’s memory combined with contributions to the 25K Challenge, which was established by LSSU vice-president Ken Peress in 2009. Dean competes in the pole vault, and he has an indoor season best of 13 feet and placed 10^th with a vault of 12-5 at Big Rapids last weekend.

The Kiwanis Award is presented to the LSSU senior student-athlete who attains the highest academic competence. Nowak is an athletic training major and GLIAC All-Academic honoree with a 3.87 grade point average. She was the Lakers’ No. 1 or 2 runner on the women’s cross country team this fall. She placed 105th at the GLIAC Cross Country Championships and 21^st in the women’s 3,000-meter run at the GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. She was a senior athlete of the year nominee.

The Christina Comito Memorial Award recognizes the member of the Laker women’s basketball team who most exemplifies the determination, commitment and competitive nature of former Laker guard Chris Comito, who played at LSSU from 1988-92. Chris, who is still ranked among the top 10 in career free-throw shooting and assists at LSSU, was killed in an automobile accident in 1994. Like Comito, Marshall never took a minute on the basketball court for granted. She overcame two back surgeries in order to compete this season. She averaged 12.3 points and 2.3 assists per game and holds LSSU’s single-season record for three-pointers with 55. She is ranked third on the career three-pointers list with 159.

The Dr. Harry Pike Scholarship is presented to an athlete in a non-fully funded sport. The award is based on financial need, and academic and athletic merit. Vizina owns the Lakers’ lowest scoring average of 79.6 strokes per round. The Marion and Ray Chelberg Award is presented to the outstanding student-athlete majoring in any of the sciences while excelling in a varsity sport. Schemberger is a biology major with a 3.65 grade point average. She is a GLIAC All-Academic honoree from Park Falls, Wis., and averaged 10.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for the Lakers this season. She led the GLIAC in field-goal percentage at 64 percent and ranked sixth in rebounding.

The Bud Cooper Endowment is divided equally among LSSU’s non-fully funded sports based on NCAA and award criteria. This year’s recipients were sophomore Hans Riedel (men’s track and field), junior Mike McPherson (men’s cross country), junior Jamie Wick of the women’s cross country and track teams, junior Brittany Cousino (softball), junior Travis Toth (men’s tennis), junior Erin Wiethoff (women’s tennis), sophomore P.J. Dienes (men’s golf).