April 15, 2000
KALAMAZOO -- WMU's Division of Intercollegiate Athletics honored outstanding achievement on the field and in the classroom at the fourth annual Olympic Sports Banquet held April 12 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel. The banquet combined the award ceremonies of 17 WMU sports teams for a night of recognition with over 400 student-athletes in attendance.
Team awards were presented in the areas of Most Valuable, Rookie of the Year and the Coaches Award (see lists below). Rings were also presented to four-year letterwinners in all 20 varsity sports.
Highlighting the program was the presentation of WMU's top male and female scholar-athletes the most prestigious honor available in Bronco Athletics. Senior tennis player Jeff Brink (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and junior middle distance runner Kylie Schultz (Clare, Mich.) were this year's recipients.
Brink, a biomedical science major, has maintained a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point average in his seven semesters at Western Michigan. He was named a GTE Academic All-American in 1999, earning Mid-American Conference All-Academic and ITA Scholar-Athlete honors in the process. On the court, Brink has broken into the top 10 list for career wins at WMU and recorded the title-clinching point at last year's MAC Championships, helping the Broncos to their first team title in 18 seasons.
Schultz, an art major, carries a 3.94 overall GPA as a member of the cross country and track and field teams. She is a past recipient of the MAC Commissioner's Award and the MAC Academic Honor Roll. She was a MAC All-Academic Honorable Mention selection during the 1998 cross country season and was WMU's Rookie of the Year in 1997. Schultz' selection marks the third straight year a cross country/track athlete has won the top scholastic award under coach Diane Russo.
Football, hockey and volleyball each hold separate awards banquets.
Men's basketball
Most Valuable: Rod Brown (Dallas, Texas) Finished fourth on
WMU's career assists chart (291); was second in the MAC in assists
(6.07); had 10 or
more assists in three games, including a season-high 13 versus
Marshall; pumped in 22 points at Northern Illinois; started all
28 games.
Newcomer of the Year: Taylor Bro (Rockford, Mich.) Placed third among MAC freshmen in scoring (6.1 ppg); reached double-figures in points on eight occasions; cleared season-high 13 points along with 14 points for a double-double against Marist.
Coaches Award: Brad Van Timmeren (Allendale, Mich.) Appeared in 111 career games, second on WMU's all-time list; started 27 games; produced 15 points at Oakland; led WMU in rebounding 11 times; earned fourth varsity letter.
Women's basketball
Most Valuable: Shelsea Erving (Peoria, Ill.) Finished her career
No. 2 on WMU's all time scoring list with 1,735 points; named
to the All-MAC First Team
for the second consecutive season; led MAC in scoring; the conference's
all-time leading scorer during 1999-2000 season; just the 12th
MAC player to ever score 1,700 points or more.
Rookie of the Year: Kristin Koetsier (Grandville, Mich.) The 2000 MAC Rookie of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection; scored a school-record 559 points in her first collegiate season; Women's Basketball News Service All-Freshman First Team pick; owns school and MAC freshman scoring records.
Coaches Award: Dionne Lassila (Seymour, Wis.) Posted best collegiate season as a senior; ranked among MAC leaders in 3-point field goals made and 3-point percentage; valuable player as a starter or off the bench for the Broncos during 1999-2000 season.
Coaches Award: Brooke Gallert (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Led the MAC in assist-turnover ratio; was ranked among national assists leaders; listed among WMU's all-time assists leaders.
Coaches Award: Brianne Gallert (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Ranked among MAC leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio in assists; No. 5 on Bronco career assists list with 303; nailed at least one 3-point basket in 21 straight games; has led WMU to 25 MAC wins combined in two seasons.
Coaches Award: Danielle Mueller (Lakewood, Ohio) Named to the All-MAC Honorable Mention roster; scored 1,000th point of her career Feb. 14; ranks No. 13 on WMU's career points list; ranked among MAC leaders in field goal percentage and rebounding; owns one of WMU's top career field goal percentages.
Men's cross country
Most Valuable: Damian Sherck (Elkhart, Ind.) WMU's top finisher in six meets; captured first place at Kent; earned second place at the MAC Championships and Michigan Intercollegiates; third at Central Collegiates.
Most Improved: Jason Musgrave (Grand Haven, Mich.) Competed
in each of the team's seven meets; claimed 16th at the Central
Collegiates; was 29th at the
Michigan Intercollegiates.
Coaches Award: Tim Morehouse (Clawson, Mich.) Posted season-best
time of 23:50 at Kent; eighth at the Central Collegiates and 17th
at the MAC
Championships; established himself as the team's third-best runner.
Women's cross country
Most Valuable: Kim Edwards (Muskegon, Mich.) WMU's top finisher
at the MAC Championships with a 17th-place effort; earned third
overall at the Jeff
Drenth Invitational; placed seventh overall at UW-Parkside Invitational.
Rookie of the Year Gwen Ottenweller (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Competed
in six of the team's meets; finished 16th overall at the Jeff
Drenth Invite; recorded
personal-best mark of 19:03 to place 17th at the UW-Parkside Invitational.
Coaches Award Kim Lorenz (Aurora, Ill.) Team's top finisher in five events; finished in first place at the Jeff Drenth Invitational; placed second at the UW-Parkside Invitational; earned fourth at the Pre-MAC Invitational.
Gymnastics
Most Valuable: Lori Gerhardt (Warren, Mich.) Second Team All-MAC selection; represented WMU at the NCAA Regionals; set school record for all-around score (39.175) and all-around season average (38.377).
Rookie of the Year: Annmarie Adkins (Grosse Ile, Mich.) Regular member of the Bronco uneven bars unit after recovering from an early season injury; posted high score of 9.775 on the bars against Pittsburgh.
Coaches Award: Jennifer Gleissner (Lenexa, Kanas) Fifth-place finish in the all-around at the National Invitational Tournament earned her All-NIT First Team honors; competed in every event in all meets this season.
Coaches Award: Andrea Ruhe (Ottawa, Ohio) Finished second on the bars at the National Invitational Tournament; represented WMU at the NCAA Regionals; posted highest score ever (9.925) by a Bronco gymnast.
Men's soccer
Most Valuable: Eric Pogue (Troy, Mich.) Second Team All-MAC selection; started all 17 games in which he appeared; posted two shutouts on the year, including a 1-0 win over nationally-ranked Notre Dame; second team MVP award.
Team Defensive: Brendan McCarthy (Rochester Hills, Mich.) One of only two players on the team to start all 20 games; fifth on the team with 17 shots; responsible for marking the opponent's top offensive player.
Team Offensive Pat Morrison (Portage, Mich.) Finished second on the team in points, scoring two goals and assisting on a pair of others; tallied scoring plays against Illinois-Chicago and Akron.
Women's soccer
Most Valuable: Katie Markey (Troy, Mich.) Named to the 1999 Great Lakes Region Second Team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America; third-straight selection to the All-MAC First Team; finished the season with five goals, giving her a program-record total of 23 career scoring plays; owns 16 school records.
Rookie of the Year: Jennifer Wiles (Troy, Mich.) One of only
five player to see action in all 20 games for WMU, earning 11
starting nods; tallied lone goal
of the season at Valparaiso.
Coaches Award: Megan Ramey (Sylvania, Ohio) Posted 5-0 record and 0.55 goals-against-average in five starts; allowed only three goals in almost 500 minutes between the pipes.
Synchronized skating
Most Improved: Shannon Uthoff (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Competed in all six collegiate competitions; member of gold medal squad at the Tri-States Championships.
Rookie of the Year: Margaux Cory (Marquette, Mich.) Skated on both the senior and collegiate teams; captured first place in the senior dance individual competition at the Bronco Challenge Cup.
Coaches Award: Kadie Bilodeau (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) Member of collegiate squad that captured a fourth-place pewter medal at the U.S. National Championships; also saw time on the senior team.
Baseball
Joe Langschwager, Joe Seestadt
Men's basketball
Brad Van Timmeren
Women's basketball
Shelsea Erving, Dionne Lassila, Daniele Mueller
Women's cross country
Kim Edwards, Kim Lorenz
Football
Calvin Harley, Jeremy Johnson, Charlie Knapp, Tim Lester, Jake
Moreland, Scott Niles, Eric Nunlee, William Reed, Steve Wark
Gymnastics
Lori Gerhardt, Rachel Smith
Hockey
Daryl Andrews, Jeff Lukasak, Corey Waring
Men's soccer
Brendan McCarthy, Pat Morrison, Eric Pogue
Women's soccer
Hollie Bonnema, Jennifer Haller, Angela Pandoff, Kerri Verardi
Men's tennis
Jeff Brink, Kyle Gernhofer
Women's tennis
Kendra Becker, Cyra Malik
Men's track and field
William Henagan
Women's track and field
Audrey Jelenek, Justina Phillips, Jennifer Schmidt
Media contact: Daniel Jankowski, 616 387-4122; daniel.jankowski@wmich.edu
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