Lakers vs. WMU
Ewer and Perkins are named LSSU senior athletes of the year
SAULT STE. MARIE – John Wooden Citizen’s Cup semifinalist Scott Perkins of the men’s basketball team and Jessica Ewer of the volleyball team were named Lake Superior State’s senior athletes of the year during the 2010 LSSU Athletics Awards Banquet held Thursday at the Cisler Center.
Perkins (Perrysburg, Ohio), who received the Cliff Everett Trophy, started 102 basketball games during his impressive four-year career – that’s an average of 25.5 starts per season. His impact at LSSU was as noticeable on the court as off, as this student-athlete strived to make a difference on campus, in the community, and, most importantly, among his teammates. He scored 1,282 career points and totaled 182 three-pointers to rank seventh on LSSU’s all-time list. He helped lead the Lakers to three straight GLIAC Tournament appearances, the program’s first GLIAC North Division title (in 2009), and its second NCAA Tournament appearance, which also occurred last season.
This season, Perkins overcame a broken nose and ankle injury to rank fifth in the GLIAC in scoring at 17.8 points per game, fourth in three-point field goals and 11th in assists. He was named to the All-GLIAC North Division First Team and National Basketball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region Second Team, and he was second in GLIAC Player of the Year voting. In November, he was one of 20 semifinalists for the 2009 John Wooden Citizen’s Cup, which is a prestigious award recognizing outstanding role models in sports. He was one of only four non-Division I athletes, male or female, representing all collegiate sports, to make the semifinal cut. He has been active in Student-Athlete Advisory Committee events, especially fund-raisers for the Make A Wish Foundation, and this week was named a GLIAC Commissioner’s Award recipient. He has maintained the basketball team’s highest GPA during the past four years.
Ewer (Amhurstburg, Ont.) was one of two female athlete of the year nominees on Coach Mark Engle’s volleyball team. She excelled at almost every position on the court during her career as a libero and outside hitter. The only position she didn’t dominate was played by a fellow senior Sara Hess, who led the Lakers in blocks for three seasons and was a fellow athlete of the year candidate. Ewer began her collegiate career as a libero and back-up setter. She ranked 10th in the GLIAC in average digs per game as a freshman and ranked third in the league as a sophomore. Her 41 digs against Gannon on Sept. 21, 2007, ranks second on LSSU’s all-time single-match list, and her 548 digs during the 2007 season and 1,307 career digs also rank second on LSSU’s all-time lists.
Ewer switched to outside hitter during her junior season and became a valuable all-around player. Last season she was third on the team in kills and second in service percentage. As a senior, she was second in kills, led the team in serving percentage, service aces and service reception percentage, and finished second in digs and service points. She is also a GLIAC All-Academic honoree.
Domenic Monardo (Oakville, Ont.) of the hockey team and Maria Blazejewski (Beulah, Mich.) of the women’s basketball team received the Terry McDermott Freshman of the Year Awards. The Bud Cooper Coaches Awards went to junior Nicole Carstensen (Maple Grove, Minn.) of the softball team and senior Steven Kaunisto (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) of the hockey team.
LSSU’s female freshman of the year was a GLIAC Rookie of the Year candidate. Blazejewski averaged 12.8 points per game to lead the Lakers and rank 11th in the GLIAC in scoring. She was also second on the team and 13th in the league in field-goal percentage. Monardo was the Lakers’ second-leading scorer among rookies with six goals and six assists. He received the CCM Rookie of the Week Award from the CCHA on Oct. 19 for his five-point weekend against Canisius. He also scored his first collegiate goal during that series.
The Bud Cooper Coaches Awards are presented to the LSSU athletes who display the character and determination, along with excellence in academics, citizenship and athletics that honor Cooper’s legacy. Carstensen is a GLIAC All-Academic honoree in softball and an active SAAC member. She was one of four softball players who played a major role in the Lakers’ GLIAC Pink Wave event, which raised more than $1,400 for Breast Cancer Awareness. Kaunisto has been a popular captain for the Laker hockey team and one of the most-successful collegiate players to come out of Sault Ste. Marie. This season, he was a co-leader in points by a defenseman with 15 and he totaled 14 goals and 45 assists in 154 games. Youngsters have always been drawn to him at local clinics, and his relationship with an autistic boy he met three years ago during LSSU’s inaugural “Hockey is Fun” Clinic was featured on CCHA All-Access.
Bud Cooper Endowment Awards, which are scholarships presented to athletes in non-fully funded sports, went to Carstensen for the second straight year, Kayla Nowak (cross country), junior Katie Watchorn (tennis) and Kate Winiarski (track and field). Samantha Periard (softball) received the Dr. Harry Pike Scholarship, which also goes to an athlete in a non-fully funded sport.
Junior distance runner Sean O’Mara, who is a biology major with a 3.6 grade point average, received the Marion and Ray Chelberg Award, which recognizes an outstanding student-athlete majoring in natural sciences. Junior Lucas Pease, who was this year’s No. 1 runner on the men’s cross country team, earned the Chris Yanni Memorial Award for the second straight year.
Junior Kimberlee Booms (Harrison, Mich.) is the first recipient of the 25K Challenge Award, which is an endowed scholarship recently established by Dr. Ken Peress, LSSU’s vice-president of student affairs. Booms is a thrower on the track and field team who recorded top-10 finishes in the shot put and hammer throw at last weekend’s Bulldog Invitational.
Senior sprinter Amanda Pieczynski (Posen, Mich.), a senior athlete of the year candidate who holds LSSU’s records in the indoor 60 and 200-meter dashes and outdoor 100 and 200-meter dashes, won the Kiwanis Award for being the senior athlete who achieves the highest academic competence. Pieczynsi is an exercise science major with a 3.9 GPA.
Junior guard Emily Joseph (Sterling Heights, Mich.) garnered the Christina Comito Memorial Award, which 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. Joseph was named to the All-GLIAC North Division First Team after ranking third in the league in assists, fifth in assist/turnover ratio, sixth in free-throw percentage, seventh in steals and 11th in scoring.
Most-valuable player awards were presented to LSSU athletes on teams that have completed their seasons. MVPs for 2009-10 are junior Rick Schofield (Pickering, Ont./hockey), Perkins (men’s basketball), Joseph (women’s basketball), Ewer and Hess (volleyball), Pease (men’s cross country), Nowak (women’s cross country), freshman Sergiu Laza (Toronto, Ont./men’s tennis), Watchorn (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich./women’s tennis); junior Jonathon Allen (Lansing, Mich./men’s track and field); and freshman Meredith Cleary (Ontonagon, Mich./women’s golf). Top point scorers in track and field were junior John Preczewski (Roscommon, Mich./men’s) and senior Jill Walton (Kingsley, Mich./women’s).
