This past Sunday, the Belles athletics department alongside the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representatives put together a yearly event known as Belles Awards. This event highlights student-athletes on different sports teams at Saint Mary’s.
The evening started with recognizing all of the SAAC representatives from each team. The softball representatives include senior shortstop McKenna Myers and sophomore pitcher and outfielder Sam Mikitka. The cross country team includes senior Amanda Tracy and sophomore Isabelle Auch. For volleyball, senior setter Karla Rigan and junior middle hitter Shay Theile. The tennis representatives are senior Katie Hunter and sophomore Emma Kealy. For golf they are junior Joanna James and sophomore Breana Harrington. The representatives from lacrosse are junior midfielder Valentina Rubio and sophomore attacker Alyssa Grant. For soccer they are junior goalkeeper Riley Lindsey and junior midfielder Grace Barresi. And last, but certainly not least, for basketball they are senior forward Mary Kate Gareau and junior guard Lauren Gumma.
Awards
The next part of the event included different awards made by the SAAC representatives. Each team nominated a player on the team for each award, and then the coaches of each team decided on the winner for the team.
The first award was the “SMC With Spirit Award.” This award was given to the athlete who not only attended their own events but also went and supported other teams’ events. This award was given to sophomore middle and outside hitter Grace Braselton from the volleyball team. This year, Braselton played a total of 33 sets over the 15 matches played during the fall. Braselton finished the season with 51 kills, 49 digs, 12 blocks and six service aces.
The second award given out was the “Smarty Pants Award.” This award was specifically given to a senior who not only showed intelligence on the court or field but also in school. This award was given out to senior guard Elle Deardorff from the basketball team. This past season, Deardorff started 24 games, leading the Belles with 12.9 points per game, 62 made 3-pointers and an 82.5 free-throw percentage.
The third award given out was the “Busy Bee Award.” This award was given to a student-athlete who competed in their sport but also stayed busy by being a part of a lot of campus clubs. This award was given to junior Georgie Kersman from the golf team. Kersman recently opened her spring season with an eighth-place finish at the Trine Spring Classic.
The fourth award given out was the “Hunger Games Award.” This award was given to the student-athlete who would be most likely to win the Hunger Games. This award was given out to softball’s graduate student second baseman and pitcher Caitlin Traxler. No player on the softball team has taken more at-bats this season than Traxler, who has driven in seven runs with four doubles and a triples. In the circle, she owns a 3.89 earned run average in 27 innings with three complete games.
The fifth award given out was the “Little Miss Positivity Award.” This award was given to the student-athlete who always stayed positive even when things seemed hard. This award was given to sophomore midfielder Brynn Stauffacher from the soccer team.
The sixth award was the “Team Mom Award.” This award was given to the player that always had anything that another player needed such as medical supplies or snacks. This award was given to junior goalie Emma Zmudzinski from the lacrosse team. Zmudzinski has started all eight games for the Belles this season, making 71 saves.
The seventh award was the “Against All Odds Award.” This award was given to the player who was able to bounce back from something that may have happened to them in the past. This award went to senior Sarah Harman from the cross-country team. This season, Harman posted a 22:02.4 at the Olivet 5k for her season-best time.
The eighth award that was voted on by the student-athletes was the “110% Award.” This award was given to an athlete who always comes to practice, giving 110% and always pushing other players to do their best. This award was given out to junior Alayna Campbell from the tennis team. As the Belles’ No. 1 single player, Campbell went 2-0 in her matches this past Saturday at Calvin.
The final award, decided on by the coaches, was the “Up and Coming Award.” This award was given to a freshman on each of the sports teams that the coaches decided were giving their all as someone that the other teams in their conference should look out for. Freshmen Mary Charniak (softball infielder and ptitcher), Anna Gardener (tennis), Annie Restovich (basketball guard), Cecilia Conrad (cross country), Colleen Hand (golf), Rachel Speckhard (lacrosse attacker), Margret Slove (soccer midfielder), and Caroline Carens (volleyball middle hitter) earned this award.
Belles athletics has a busy week ahead. On Wednesday, softball plays two games at home against Wheaton College at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., lacrosse plays at home against Alma at 6 p.m. and tennis travels to Hope College and plays at 4 p.m. On Thursday, golf travels to Trine for the MIAA Jamboree at 1 p.m.
Saturday is also a busy day for the Belles, as golf travels to Illinois for the Wesleyan Kathy Niepagen Spring Fling, softball hosts Kalamazoo at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., tennis hosts Kalamazoo at 1 p.m. and lacrosse hosts Adrian at 7 p.m.
