MAY 22, 2010
KING’S HONORS ITS FINEST AT THE NINTH ANNUAL SENIOR AWARDS LUNCHEON
WILKES-BARRE – The King’s College athletic department honored 81 student-athletes who wrapped up their collegiate athletic careers on Saturday with the ninth annual Senior Awards Luncheon in the Snyder Room in the Sheehy-Farmer Student Center.
Senior gifts were awarded to student-athletes from 17 teams while the college also presented a series of special awards, recognizing top seniors for their excellence in athletics as well as academics.
A total of 13 King’s student-athletes received Monarch Merit Awards, presented to deserving senior student-athletes who have demonstrated a high level of excellence in both academics and athletics. To be nominated for consideration, student-athletes must maintain a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average.
Those honored included Alex Henery (3.49), men’s soccer; Brittany Morgan (3.65), women’s soccer; Michelle Ray (3.88), field hockey; Eric Fay (3.76), football; Meaghan Galvin (3.75), softball; Matt Unger (3.61), baseball; Christy Rossowski (3.61), women’s tennis; Caleb Farrell (3.67) men’s swimming; Susan Hughes (3.40), women’s swimming; Kaitlyn Malshefski (3.61), volleyball; Chris Rash (3.15), wrestling; Mike Wagner (3.91), men’s basketball/golf; Shannon Ellis (4.00), women’s lacrosse; John “Rusty” Booth (3.19), men’s lacrosse.
The Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards recognizes the outstanding academic achievements of King’s student-athletes by choosing a male and female recipient and is based on the highest grade-point average.
The Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award was presented to Shannon Ellis. Ellis was a member of the King’s women’s volleyball and lacrosse teams. During the course of her career, Ellis excelled in the classroom, posting a perfect 4.0 grade-point average as a Biology and Spanish double-major.
A King’s Presidential Scholarship recipient, Ellis was named to King’s Dean’s List every semester. She is a member of Alpha Epsilon Sigma Pre-Health Honor Society, the Alpha Mu Gamma Spanish Honor Society, the Delta Epsilon Sigma Honor Society, and the Aquinas Honor Society. Ellis is a member of the King’s Biology Club (Secretary 2009) and the Pre-Health Club (Secretary 2009). She has served as a volunteer with the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen, the Kirby Family House, and works with the “Volunteers in Medicine” Free Health Clinic.
She has tutored approximately 50 King’s students in Genetics, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Immunology, Statistics, and Advanced Spanish. In 2008, Shannon worked as Summer Undergraduate Researcher in the Minden Laboratory at Carnegie-Mellon University. In 2009, she also served as an Undergraduate Researcher in King’s Ory Laboratory. Ellis was also the 2010 Middle Atlantic Conference Women’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
As an athlete, Ellis was a three-year starter in women’s lacrosse, having only played part of junior year due to academic commitments. She tied King’s school-record with 11 ground balls on April 14 versus Lycoming and posted 116 career ground balls, 32 draw controls and 66 caused turnovers during her career. In volleyball, she played in 120 matches during her four-year career, posted 710 digs as a defensive specialist while registering 62 service aces.
Mike Wagner was honored as King’s male Senior Athlete of the Year. Wagner was a four-year member of the Monarch basketball squad where he was a two-year starter at shooting guard. As a senior, he helped King’s reach the semi-finals of the Freedom Conference Tournament
Academically, Wagner owns a 3.91 grade-point average as an accounting major and was been named to King’s Dean’s List all eight semesters . A three-time MAC All-Academic selection, Wagner has been named to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
He is a Moreau Academic Scholarship recipient, a Kenneth L. Pollack Scholarship recipient, and a Shickshinny Business Association Scholarship recipient. A member of King’s golf team, Wagner is also a three-time MAC All-Academic selection. Additionally, he was named the 2010 MAC Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Wagner is a member of King’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the King’s Accounting Association. He has also served as a volunteer at St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen.
On the court, Wagner finished second on the Monarch squad in scoring with a 10.5 points per-game average. He ranked second in the Freedom Conference with a 2.54 three-point field goals per-game while also finishing second with 66 total three-pointers. Wagner was also third in Freedom Conference three-point field goal percentage at 43.7 (66-151).
As a member of the King’s golf team, Wagner placed eighth as a freshman in the 2007 Freedom Conference Championships. As a sophomore he finished 14th before placing 13th in the 2009 conference tournament. This season Wagner showed tremendous heart after missing a month of competition with mononucleosis. He returned without a single event under his belt to post a career-best seventh-place finish in the 2010 Freedom Conference Championships.
The Athlete of the Year awards are presented to the top female and male athletes at King’s, based on a vote of each head coach in the college’s athletic department.
Lindsey Hoerner was named King’s Female Senior Athlete of the Year. Hoerner helped lead the King’s softball team to three Freedom Conference championships in 2007, 2009, and 2010, along with NCAA Division III national tournament berths in each of those seasons.
At the plate, she posted a career .357 batting average with 124 base-hits in 337 at-bats. She also added 17 home runs, 27 doubles, three triples, drove in 96 runs, and scored 65 runs.
As a pitcher, Hoerner appeared in 93 games, the second most in King’s history while her 75 career starts is tied for the most in program history. She posted a career pitching record of 54 wins and 28 losses with a 2.03 earned run average, including a King’s career record 401 strikeouts while also setting another Lady Monarch record by pitching 514.2 innings in her career.
She was a three-time All-Freedom Conference first-team selection, first earning the honor in 2008 as a designated player. In 2009, she was selected as the Freedom Conference “Pitcher of the Year” and was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association East Regional All-American Team. This season, she was again named the Freedom Conference “Pitcher of the Year” after setting a King’s single-season school record of 162 strikeouts. Hoerner capped her career by being named to the 2010 NCAA Regional All-Toiurnament Team.
The Senior Male Athlete of the Year was presented to football standout Mike Verbitski. During his career at King’s, Verbitski played 30 games as a wide receiver. As a freshman, he played in eight games and had 12 pass receptions for 175 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 14.3 yards per-catch. As a sophomore, he started the year out strong before tearing an ACL in the second game of the year. In the six quarters he played that season, he caught nine passes for 125 yards and one touchdown.
As a junior, he enjoyed a solid year, making 35 catches for 539 yards and scored six touchdowns. He averaged 15.4 yards each catch and averaged 53.9 receiving yards per-game.
As a senior, he was one of the most dominant players in the Middle Atlantic Conference as he enjoyed a record-breaking year. He set a King’s single-season record with 57 catches and set another program record with 13 touchdowns receptions on the year. His 917 receiving yards also stands as the second most in one season in Monarch history. Additionally, he caught 23 touchdown passes during his time at King’s, setting another program career-record. His 113 career receptions is also the second most in King’s history.
He was a 2009 first-team MAC all-star and was also an ECAC All-Star choice. He also played in the Division III North-South Senior All-Star Classic in Salem, Va. on December 5.
The final presentation was the annual John Dorish Award, presented to a non-athlete from the King’s recognizing outstanding contributions to the athletic department. The 2010 Dorish award was presented to Bob Mangold of King’s Facilities department.