The 2013 SUNY Cortland C-Club Athletic Awards Ceremony, held April 29 at the College's Corey Union, honored the top student-athletes from among the 600-plus who competed on Cortland's 25 men's and women's intercollegiate teams during the past academic year.
 

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The SUNY Cortland C-Club Male Senior Athlete of the Year Award was presented to wrestler Jared Myhrberg (Queensbury) and the C-Club Female Senior Athlete of the Year Award was presented to co-winners Maria Di Fato (Camillus/West Genesee) of the women's lacrosse team and Sarah Nadrowski (Buffalo/Kenmore East) of the women's gymnastics team. The awards were sponsored by the C-Club and were voted upon by Cortland athletic administrators.

Myhrberg earned a pair of All-America honors with third-place finishes at 197 pounds at both the 2012 and 2013 NCAA Div. III Wrestling Championships. He finished 33-1 with a school single-season record 17 pins as a junior and was 39-2 with 16 pins as a senior. His career record of 117-20 ranks him second at Cortland in career victories, and he's the school's career leader with 51 pins.

Di Fato earned All-America honors as both a freshman and junior and, to date, is a three-time All-SUNYAC player. She's the second player in school history to reach the career 300-point mark with totals of 227 goals and 81 assists for 308 points, including 44 goals and 13 assists this spring, through April 29.

Nadrowski won National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Div. III individual titles this past winter on vault and in the all-around. She completed her four-year Red Dragon career as a 12-time All-American and was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Div. III Gymnast of the Year as both a junior and senior.

Other finalists for Male Senior Athlete of the Year were baseball shortstop John Adornetto (Commack), men's lacrosse goalie Mike Kaminski (Sayville), and basketball guards Jeremy Smith (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy) and Jesse Winter (Rockville Centre/South Side). Other Female Senior Athlete of the Year finalists were volleyball setter Kristen Guercio (Smithtown/Smithtown East), softball second baseman Lucia Meola (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) and field hockey midfielder Sara Woodward (Ancram/Pine Plains).

Winter received the Carl "Chugger" Davis Award, which is given to a final-year male athlete for strong leadership skills and athletic achievement. Winter is Cortland's men's basketball career scoring leader with 1,525 points. He earned First Team All-East and All-SUNYAC honors as a senior and was a three-time all-conference honoree. Davis was Cortland's head football coach from 1932 to 1962 and also coached baseball, basketball and golf.

Women's soccer defender Kelly Wanser (East Northport/Northport) received the M. Louise Moseley Award, which goes to a final-year female athlete who has demonstrated both strong leadership skills and athletic achievement. Wanser was a two-time All-SUNYAC performer and earned All-East and All-ECAC recognition during her junior season. She helped Cortland advance to the 2011 NCAA Elite Eight and 2012 Sweet 16. Moseley was Cortland's Director of Women's Athletics from 1966-78. A pioneer for women's athletics, she played an integral role in the start of women's intercollegiate athletics at Cortland in the late 1960s.

Field hockey midfielder Erin Carrino (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) earned the Whitney T. Corey '43 Award, which is presented to the senior female student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average. Carrino is a fitness development major with a 4.12 overall GPA entering the spring semester. Corey coached men's basketball at Cortland in the 1950s and early 1960s and also served as the school's vice president for academic affairs. The main gymnasium in Cortland's Park Center bears his name.

Baseball pitcher Zachary Badanes (Syosset) won the Robert J. Weber Award as the senior male student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average. Badanes is a biology major with a 3.98 GPA prior to the spring semester. Weber was Cortland's director of athletics for 12 years and the Chairman of the Men's Physical Education department for 15 years. He worked at Cortland from 1952-85.

Senior women's swimmer Jessica Evans (Hamburg) and senior men's basketball guard Harrison Hefele (Greenlawn/Friends Academy) each received the Peter J. Cahill '66 Award. The award, named for Cortland's former swimming and diving and women's tennis head coach, is presented to either a current student-athlete for involvement in activities outside of sports, or to a current non-athlete student for contributions to the Athletics Department.

Evans and Hefele are co-presidents of Cortland's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and represent student-athletes on the Cortland Intercollegiate Athletic Board. They spearheaded Cortland's National Student-Athlete Day Event in early April and helped organize the Bridges for Kids Toy Collection program for the local YWCA that Cortland Athletics held last fall. In addition, they both represented Cortland as the SUNYAC SAAC Conference and initiated Cortland's partnership with the Syracuse Chapter of the Special Olympics, and they were involved with Leaf Raking Day and Thanksgiving Food Drive projects last year.

The 17th annual C-Club Coach of the Year Award was presented to women's lacrosse head coach Kathy Taylor, who led her team to the NCAA Div. III Final Four last season for the second straight year. Her team has a 16-1 record this season, through April 29.

Kristin Luther, one of Cortland's athletic trainers and the Red Dragons' strength and conditioning coordinator, was chosen as the Fraser Stokes Award winner for her dedication and service to Cortland Athletics. The Judson and Elise Taylor Team GPA Awards, named after the former SUNY Cortland president and his wife, were presented to the men's and women's athletic teams with the highest cumulative grade point averages. The men's cross country team (3.01 GPA) claimed the men's award for the fifth time since 2006 and the field hockey team (3.24 GPA) was the women's winner for the first time since 2009. The award was first given in 2003.

For the second straight year, Cortland's associate sports information director Dan Surdam presented the "Strictly Prohibited" Award. The award is a humorous and lighthearted approach toward recognizing some of Cortland's unique athletic plays and highlights from the past academic year.

"Finalists" for the award this year included golfer Kalin Merkley for her hole-in-one at a tournament this spring; women's ice hockey goalie Deanna Meunier for setting a team record for saves by a freshman; wrestler David Occhipinti for having all five of his victories during the season come by pin; men's lacrosse goalie Mike Kaminski for making 15 saves and allowing only one goal in a win at Union; and the women's soccer team for tying an NCAA Div. III single-season record with 10 overtime games.

The winner was Cortland's football defensive unit for its goal-line stand on 4th-and-1 in the final minute to preserve a 16-10 win over Ithaca College in the annual Cortaca Jug game last November. The players on the field for the final play were: Matt Ambrose, Troy Beddoe, Phil Bossman, Chris Bright, Dan Cancro, Joe DeLuca, Pete Furey, Clark Gregory, Vaughn Labor, Jesse Scanna and Andrew Tolosi. Former women's soccer goalie and current assistant coach Pam Monnier, who won the inaugural "Strictly Prohibited" Award last spring, helped present this year's award.

Each year, the Cortland head coaches select a Red Letter Award winner in their respective sports.  The Red Letter may be given for outstanding athletic skills, team leadership, personal development as a player, or for any combination of reasons.  The 2012-13 Red Letter Award winners, by sport, are as follows:

Baseball: Zack Graczyk, Sr. (Carmel)
Men's Basketball: Jeremy Smith, Sr. (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy)
Women's Basketball: Megan Touhey, Jr. (Maine/Maine-Endwell)
Men's Cross Country: Tom Hopkins, Sr. (Syracuse/West Genesee)
Women's Cross Country: Emily Cotey, Jr. (Norwood/Norwood-Norfolk)
Field Hockey: Liz DeWaters, Sr. (Lockport/Royalton-Hartland)
Football: Pete Furey, Sr. (Niskayuna)
Women's Golf:  # Kalin Merkley, Sr. (Sarasota, FL/Cardinal Mooney)
Women's Gymnastics: Elise Konikoff, So. (Hamburg)
Men's Ice Hockey: Chris Kaleta, Sr. (Hamburg/Lake Shore)
Women's Ice Hockey: Erika Osborne, Sr. (Sharon Springs/The Harvey School)
Men's Lacrosse: Doug Meehan, Jr. (Sayville)
Women's Lacrosse: Gina Campese, Sr. (East Syracuse/East Syracuse Minoa)
Men's Soccer: Anthony Marinello, Sr. (Port Jefferson/Sachem North)
Women's Soccer: Kiersten Jacobsen, Sr. (Massapequa/Plainedge)
Softball: Lucia Meola, Sr. (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse)
Men's Swimming and Diving: Judd Simon, Sr. (Oneida)
Women's Swimming and Diving:  # Sarah Culmo, Jr. (West Islip)
Women's Tennis:  % Loraine Jelinek, Sr. (Smithtown/Home School)
Men's Indoor Track and Field:  # Eric Banks, Sr. (Westbury)
Women's Indoor Track and Field:  $ Nikki Schafer, Sr. (Troy/Columbia)
Men's Outdoor Track and Field: Cody Amengual, Jr. (West Babylon)
Women's Outdoor Track and Field: Sarah Bonnell, Jr. (Norwich)
Women's Volleyball: Natalie Zacpal, Sr. (Islip)
Wrestling: Corey James, Sr. (Kingston)

# also won award in 2011-12
% also won award in 2010-11
$ also won award in 2009-10

(For information about individual award winners, please contact Cortland Sports Information Director Fran Elia at (607) 753-5673 or by e-mail at eliaf@cortland.edu)

Banquet Award Winners (since 1988)