Friday, April 29, 2011
Leach and LaGrange named top USI athletes
(L-R) Patty Marcum, Trevor Leach, Danielle LaGrange, Mohamed Ntumba, and Lauren Meneghetti.
The Integra/USI Male Student Athlete of the Year, Leach has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of USI baseball. The management major, who was named honorable mention All-American last season, was named All-Midwest Region by three different organizations and was first team All-GLVC when he set a USI single-season record for wins. This season, Leach has set the USI career record for victories, appearances, innings pitched, and strikeouts. He also is the only USI pitcher to ever record double-digit wins in two straight seasons. The Danville, Indiana, native has a team-best 8-2 record this season with a 2.91 ERA in 11 games. He also has five complete games and struck out 59 hitters. Previous winners of the award were Duncan Bray (2003 and 2004, soccer), Matt Keener (2005, baseball), Chris Thompson (2006, men's basketball), Melvin Hall (2007, men's basketball), Paul Jellema (2008 men's cross country/track), Shaun Larsen (2009, baseball) and Jamar Smith (2010, men's basketball). The Integra/USI Female Student Athlete of the Year, LaGrange helped lead the volleyball team to an 18-12 overall record, 10-4 in the GLVC, and an appearance in national tournament for the first time since 2004. LaGrange was named first-team All-Region by Daktronics and by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA). In 2010, the first team All-GLVC performer dominated the opposition as she finished second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with 3.53 kills and 4.11 points per set. She also was fifth in the GLVC in attacking percentage (.333) and was among the league leaders in blocks per set (0.71). LaGrange, an exercise science major, was named to the NCAA II Midwest Region All-Tournament team after racking up 13 kills and a .310 attacking percentage in USI's three-set loss to top-seeded Hillsdale College. She had eight of her 13 kills and a .727 attacking percentage in USIs 28-26 loss in the third and final set. Previous winners of the award were Shannon Wells (2003, volleyball), Jenny Farmer (2004, cross country/track), Heather Cooksey (2005, cross country/track), Laura Ellerbusch (2006, volleyball), Allison Shafer (2007 cross country/track), Kristin Eickholt (2008, softball), and Mary Ballinger (2009, 2010 cross country/track). Meneghetti and Ntumba were named the male and female recipients the Integra/USI Screaming Eagles Pride Award. The award winners are selected in a vote by the Athletic Department staff. Meneghetti is one of the most dynamic personalities among all of the USI student athletes. The president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Meneghetti has been a prime example of what it means to be a student athlete as she has excelled both on the court, in the community, and in the class room where she will graduate in May with a degree in nursing. On the basketball court, Meneghetti was fifth on the team with 6.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. The native of Munster, Indiana, finished her career by averaging 6.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 108 games as an Eagle. Ntumba not only excelled on the basketball court where he was named honorable mention All-America by the Division II Bulletin, but he has been one of the most visible student-athletes at all of USI's home sporting events throughout the last two years. On the court, Ntumba earned rist-team All-District honors by the ABCA and was second-team All-Midwest Region by Daktronics. The first-team All-GLVC performer ranked second on the team with 14.0 points per game and grabbed a team-high 8.3 rebounds per contest. He recorded 11 double-doubles this year and was twice named the GLVC Player of the Week. Previous winners of the Pride Award were Ginnie Roberts (softball, 2003) Mike Arnold (men's basketball, 2004) Brian Kendall (men's cross country/track, 2005) Angie Davis (softball, 2006) Geoff Van Winkle (men's basketball, 2007) Kathy Wood (softball, 2008) Austin Inge (men's track, 2009) and Brittany Neuman (women's basketball, 2009) Jeron Lewis (men's basketball, 2010) and Sara Loete (softball, 2010). Patty Marcum, an instructor in the Physical Education Department, was presented the Dr. Jane Davis Brezette Award. The award is presented to a USI faculty member, who has contributed to the success of USI Athletics by mentoring student athletes and helping them to achieve their goals in the classroom and beyond. Previous winners of award were Dr. Jane Davis-Brezette, the former chair of the Physical Education Department, and Tim Mahoney, an instructor in economic and marketing. |
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