Kurtis Gosney/Sun Star Contributor
May 6, 2014
Last Friday night, all members of the UAF department of athletics and I gathered at the Westmark Hotel for the 2014 Alaska Nanooks’ All-Sports Banquet to celebrate the entire 2013-2014 season for all Nanook sports. At the end of the night it was freshman skier and Elementary Education student Nichole Bathe who won the award for Most Outstanding Athlete for the women’s side and sophomore Mechanical Engineering student rifleman Tim Sherry who won the Most Outstanding Athlete award on men’s side .
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it at all and is an honor to have received it,” Bathe said. “My freshman year was a really good one for me, I didn’t expect it to go the way it did, but am happy and grateful it did and I’m hoping next year will be even better.”
During her freshman season, Bathe earned praise as a First Team All-American at the NCAA Championships for coming in fourth place in the 5-kilometer classic race back on Mar. 6, and then placing 13th in the 15-kilometer mass start race two days later.
Bathe also earned the NCAA Central Region championship in the five-kilometer classic race back in February, as well as a spot on the All-Central Region team for placing eighth in the 10-kilometer mass start race. Finally, she was the top American finisher at the United States National Championships finishing in third place overall in the classic sprint race while also placing third in the College Cup women’s standings at the same event.
“It definitely means a lot,” Sherry said. “There were a lot of really good performances by everyone, so it’s a great honor to be recognized for the year I had.”
During his sophomore season, Sherry earned his first national championship after shooting a 452.1 in the smallbore discipline this past March at the NCAA Championships in Murray, Kentucky. One day later, he qualified for the final in the air rifle discipline finishing in seventh place. After the championships, Sherry was named a First Team All-American in both smallbore and air rifle disciplines by the National Rifle Association and Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association.
One other award of note was the Owen Tinker Fan of the Year award, which was given to me. I received the award not only for providing coverage for the Sun Star, but also for regularly attending Nanook home events, “never asking for anything in return”, exerting “a lot of energy,” and showing “the true meaning of school spirit,” according to alaskananooks.com.
The other award winners were as follows:
Nanook Athletics Advisory Committee Scholar-Athletes of the Year:
Senior volleyball player Keri Knight (Business Administration) and senior basketball player Stefan Tica (Business Administration)
Bart LeBon Humanitarian of the Year:
Sophomore hockey player Alec Hajdukovich (Business Administration)
Team Dr. William Wood Scholar-Athlete of the Year and MVP
Men’s Basketball: Stefan Tica (Scholar-Athlete)/Senior Justice student Andrew Kelly (MVP)
Women’s Basketball: Junior Accounting student Heidi Pichler (Scholar-Athlete)/Freshman Arts & Sciences student Jordan Wilson (MVP)
Cheerleading: Junior Elementary Education student Lindsey Dudley (Scholar-Athlete)/Junior Psychology student Chynna Sandgren (MVP)
Men’s Cross Country: Senior Civil Engineering student Tux Seims (Scholar-Athlete)/Junior Foreign Language student Ross MacDougall (MVP)
Women’s Cross Country: Freshman Biological Sciences student Dorothy O’Donnell (Scholar-Athlete)/Freshman Biological Sciences student Kali Striker (MVP)
Hockey: Junior Business Administration student Sean Cahill (Scholar-Athlete)/Senior Business Administration student Cody Kunyk (MVP)
Rifle: Junior Business Administration student Mats Eriksson (Scholar-Athlete)/Sagen Maddalena (MVP)
Men’s Skiing: Sophomore Mechanical Engineering student Michael Fehrenbach (Scholar-Athlete)/Junior Mechanical Engineering student (MVP)
Women’s Skiing: Senior Civil Engineering student Heather Edic (Scholar-Athlete)/Nicole Bathe (MVP)
Women’s Swimming: Sophomore Foreign Language student Linnea Doumas and junior Biological Sciences student Danielle Lyons (Scholar-Athlete)/Freshman Accounting student Victoria Adams (MVP)
Women’s Volleyball: Senior Business Administration student Keri Knight (Scholar-Athlete)/Sophomore Art student Sam Harthun (MVP)
One other award of note was the Owen Tinker Fan of the Year award, which was given to me. I received the award not only for providing coverage for the Sun Star, but also for regularly attending Nanook home events, “never asking for anything in return”, exerting “a lot of energy,” and showing “the true meaning of school spirit,” according to alaskananooks.com.
Before the night was over, Assistant Athletic Director for Operations and Media Relations Chris Brooks presented a five-minute season highlight video for everyone in attendance to see. This video was put together by Jaime Schwartzwald of Channel 13 CBS. The end of the video signified not only the end of the evening, but also the official conclusion of the 2013-2014 Nanooks sports season. See you guys next year.