May 5, 2014
VERMILLION, S.D.--The South Dakota athletic department presented its 2013-14 awards on Sunday at the annual event sponsored by the Howling Pack. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) organized Sunday's ceremony, which recognizes Coyote individual and team accomplishments on the field and in the classroom, in addition to community service efforts.
Football defensive linebacker Tyler Starr and volleyball outside hitter Kendall Kritenbrink earned the Dr. John Van Why (Male Student-Athlete of the Year) and Catie Tobin (Female-Athlete of the Year) awards on Sunday.
A native of Little Rock, Iowa, Starr was the Missouri Valley Football Conference Player of the Year for his senior season. He also ranked ninth in voting for the Buck Buchanan Award (best FCS defensive player) and was named to All-America teams by Beyond Sports Network, The Sports Network and the Associated Press. Starr led the MVFC in sacks with 9.0, tackles for loss with 15.0 and forced fumbles with four. Among active FCS players, Starr finished first in career forced fumbles with 13, second in solo tackles for loss with 39 and third in career solo sacks with 27.
Kritenbrink, a junior from Gretna, Neb., was The Summit League's Player of the Year while also being named to the all-Summit League and all-tournament teams. She ranked first in the league in kills with 557, points with 645.5 and points per set with 5.4 this season. Additionally, she was second in the league in kills per set with 4.64 and service aces with 38. Kritenbrink moved into second on South Dakota's all-time kill list with 1,426.
Track athletes Brandon Kovash, from Harrisburg, S.D., and Bethany Firsick from St. Louis, Mo., were named the male and female scholar-athletes of the year, respectively. The scholar-athlete award is reserved for accomplished senior student athletes with a minimum 3.2 grade point average.
Kovash, the Summit League Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, won the 60-meters and 200-meters at the Summit League Indoor Championships. At the championship meet, Kovash ran personal-best times of 6.87 seconds and 21.81 in his respective events.
Firsick earned All-America honors for the fifth time at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships after placing fourth in the pole vault with a season-high vault of 14-5 ¼. She was named to the Academic All-Summit League team and the South Dakota Athlete of the Year by the South Dakota Sportswriters.
This year's event was divided into three award sections: the SAAC awards, the athletic department awards and the team awards presented by coaches.
SAAC Awards
Rookie of the Year: Trevor Bouma, Football; Greysen Hertting, Women's Swimming & Diving
Courage Award: Dustin Gens, Men's Swimming & Diving; Hannah Veselik, Women's Swimming & Diving
Coach of the Year: Amy Williams, Women's Basketball
Outstanding Team of the Year: Women's Basketball
Coyote Character Awards: Brandon Kovash, Men's Track & Field; Tricia Watson, Women's Track & Field; Jake Knowles, Men's Swimming & Diving; Maggie Smith, Women's Swimming & Diving; Trevor Gruis, Men's Basketball; Lisa Loeffler, Women's Basketball; Jordan Rykal, Men's Golf; Janice Baumberger, Women's Golf; Jeff Mettler, Men's Cross Country; Kristin Steffen, Women's Cross Country; Keyen Lage, Football; Tori Kroll, Volleyball; Mackenzie Viktor, Soccer; Morgan Hancock, Softball; Yamini Reddy, Tennis
Coyote Cup: Women's Swimming & Diving
USD Athletic Department Awards
Dr. John Van Why Award (Male Student-Athlete of the Year): Tyler Starr, Football
Catie Tobin Award (Female Student-Athlete of the Year): Kendall Kritenbrink, Volleyball
Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year (senior with min. 3.2 GPA): Brandon Kovash, Men's Track & Field
Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year (senior with min. 3.2 GPA): Bethany Firsick, Women's Track & Field
Carl & Hazel Hoy Award (outstanding leadership, athletic and academic achievement): Jenny Teslow, Soccer; Jeff Mettler, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
Team Awards
Each coach was responsible for determining deserving individual student-athletes and presenting them with various team awards.
Cross Country: Isaac Allen, Megan Hilson, Jeff Mettler, Mubarik Musa, Stephen Nielson, Kristin Steffen, Britni Waller, Katie Wetzstein
Volleyball: Melissa Firtko, Kendall Kritenbrink, Tori Kroll, Natalie Walseth,
Soccer: Danielle Anderson, Shannon Keller, Kasha Meyer, Corey Strang, Jenny Teslow, Rebecca Torres, Mackenzie Viktor
Football: Kevin Earl, Austin Koch, Tyler Starr
Swimming & Diving: Mitch Baye, Ean Kiddoo, Nathanael Hardy, Greysen Hertting, Jacob Knowles, Molly Knowles, Jay Nelson, Paige Stavely, Rachel Svendson, Hannah Veselik, Brooke Zhorne
Men's Basketball: Brandon Bos, Jack Foley, Trevor Gruis, Karim Rowson
Women's Basketball: Raeshel Contreras, Polly Harrington, Tia Hemiller, Nicole Seekamp
Golf: Kylie Gaughenbaugh, Victoria Grasso, Brenna Lervick, Sam Matthew, Cody Seal
Tennis: Michelle Elkin, Rymma Maslova, Yamini Reddy, Yuliya Sidenko
Softball: Christine Broders, Rachel Cue, Allie Daly, Kassie Loe
Track & Field: Megan Glisar, Emily Grove, Brandon Kovash, Teivaskie Lewin, Jeff O'Connell, Cody Snyder, Danielle Waldner, Katie Wetzstein
