The 2009 Senior Student-Athlete Class

Athletic Department Honors 41 Seniors at Annual Banquet

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FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College Athletic Department paid tribute to its 41 graduating seniors from its 19 varsity teams and one club team Sunday at the Whitaker Campus Center.

Each head coach of staff representative shared memories and offered well wishes to each of their respective senior student-athletes. Then 12 outstanding senior student-athletes were presented with departmental honors in seven categories, including Coach's Award, Dean's Award, Kim Servedio Award, President's Award, Scholar-Athlete Award, Trustees' Award and Most Outstanding Student-Athlete Award.

Below is a list of the departmental award winners.

Coach’s Award
The Coach’s Award is given to a current male and female student-athlete who personifies the philosophies of being a Division III student-athlete and the Hood College athletic motto: mind, body and spirit.

This year’s male recipient has been a member of Hood’s men’s basketball team for four years. A native of Hancock, Md., he has appeared in 87 games for Hood, starting 32 times. He had the most productive season of his four-year Blazer career this season and finished his career with 430 points, 265 rebounds and 28 blocks. He was also a member of the first Blazer men’s basketball squad to go to the NCAA Tournament during his sophomore year and will graduate with a degree in biology. The male Coach’s Award goes to Jeff Willison.

This year’s female recipient has been a member of the softball team since 2005. She hails from Walkersville and has played most of her 115 career games at second base. She owns a .316 lifetime batting average and is third all-time in basehits with 99. She enjoyed her most productive season as a junior when she hit .359 with 28 basehits and 10 RBI. She led the team in runs scored this season with 20 and in 2008 put together a nine-game hit streak. A political science major with a minor in history, she plans to go into the intelligence field after graduation, pursuing a career with the NSA, CIA or the FBI. She also wants to coach softball eventually and become certified in personal training. The female Coach’s Award goes to Katherine Law.

Dean’s Award
The Dean’s Award is given to a current male and female student-athlete who embodies all of the desirable characteristics of a good teammate and friend.

This year’s male recipient is a native of Walkersville, Md., and was a four-year member of Hood’s swim team and three-year member of the track and field team. This senior will leave Hood with his name attached to eight school records in the pool and two more for his efforts in the javelin and hammer throw. He was named Hood College Athlete of the Week twice this season and set a school record on each day of three three-day CAC championships. He earned CAC Athlete of the Week honors for track & field back in March and is a former member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s Executive Board. The male Dean’s Award goes to Matt Haynes.

This year’s female recipient is a four-year member of Hood’s volleyball and softball teams. She has been the Blazers’ workhorse in the circle the last four years, and has won more games, struck out more batters, worked more innings and registered more shutouts than any other pitcher to ever wear the Hood uniform. She is also a four-year starter on the volleyball court who helped the Blazers advance to the championship match of the AWCC tournament back in 2006. She served as the vice-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee this year. An elementary/special education major, she plans to pursue a career in elementary/special education after graduation. The female Dean’s Award goes to Jamie Gardner.

Kim Servedio Award
The Kim Servedio Award is given in honor of a former women’s soccer player who passed away tragically in 1998. The award is given to a current student-athlete who best embodies Kim’s characteristics of sincerity, selflessness and optimism.

This year, the award goes to a member of the field hockey team. A midfielder from Frederick, Md., she attended Urbana High School where she led the field hockey team to the Monocacy Valley Athletic League Chesapeake Division title in 2003. Over the past four years at Hood, she has recorded two goals, two assists, 29 shots and 11 defensive saves. As a freshman, she was named All-AWCC honorable mention and helped Hood capture the 2005 AWCC tournament title. A management major with a concentration in accounting and a global economics minor, she is also the treasurer of Hood’s commuter council. She plans to get an MBA with a focus on accounting after graduation. This year’s Kim Servedio Award goes to Crystal Parker.

President’s Award
The President’s Award is given to a current male and female student-athlete who has given outstanding service to his or her team, the athletic department, the Hood College community and the student body.

The male recipient has been an integral part of Hood’s track and field team, which moved to varsity status two years ago. This senior from Lanham, Md., transformed himself from an average athlete into an elite performer for the Blazers during his junior and senior years. He ran legs on both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay squads which set school records last spring. He also once held the school record in the long jump and in his junior year competed with the 4x400 meter relay team at the prestigious Penn Relays. Off the track, he maintained a stellar 3.64 GPA majoring in math and was inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma athletic honor society earlier today. He also served on the editorial board of the school newspaper, The Blue & Grey Today, as Co-Sports Editor for three years. During spring break this year, he traveled with head coach Brent Ayer and other students to North Carolina to perform community service work at the Franklinton Center at Bricks. This year’s male President’s Award winner is Tomilayo Komolafe.

The female recipient of the President’s Award is four-year letterwinner on the swim team. A native of Omaha, Neb., she is a member of four school-record relay squads and this season posted Hood’s fastest times in both the 100 free and the 1000 free. Her dedication and leadership in all aspects of Hood College Aquatics has been invaluable. She served as a team captain, organized team bonding functions and even assisted in recruiting. A fixture at the Bubble the past four years as a lifeguard and swim lesson instructor, she also coached the Hood Hammerhead summer swim team and assisted with the Monocacy Aquatic Club, comprised of over 250 swimmers. A two-time member of the CAC all-academic team, she was one of the 17 inaugural inductees to the Chi Alpha Sigma athletic honor society earlier today. This year’s female President’s Award winner is Ashley Garyn.

Scholar-Athlete Award
The Scholar-Athlete Award goes to a current student-athlete who maintains outstanding academic achievement, demonstrates team and campus leadership and embodies the Division III philosophy.

This year’s recipient hails from Indiana, Pa., and is a four-year distance specialist on the cross country and track and field teams. She holds every class record in cross country and set program standards in the 3000, the 5000, the 10,000 and the marathon during her track and field career. She was Hood’s top finisher in 24 of the 26 cross country races she participated in since 2005. She is a two-time all-CAC honoree in cross country and also earned the distinction at the 2008 CAC track and field meet for her second place finish in the 10,000 meters. She was one of the 17 inaugural inductees into the Chi Alpha Sigma athletic honor society earlier today and has been named to the CAC all-academic team twice for maintaining over a 3.8 GPA throughout her four years as a student-athlete. This year’s recipient of the Scholar-Athlete Award is Danielle Sgro.

Trustees’ Award
The Trustees’ Award is given to a current male and female student-athlete who has shown outstanding leadership to the team, athletic department and the Hood College Community.

The male recipient is four-year letterwinner for the tennis team, but you have probably seen him on the sidelines at just about every home sporting event. From painting lines, to keeping stats, to raking dirt, to working the scoreboard, to singing the national anthem, this senior has been the right-hand man of the game operations staff over the past four years. No matter the task, he has shown unparalleled dedication and passion for the Hood College athletic department and does it all with precision, right down to the folding of the American flag. He is always the last one to leave the site of the game, just to make sure everything has been properly attended to. He’s going to be extremely tough to replace next year, and but hopefully he will be willing to come back for a cameo appearance on the microphone. The male recipient of the Trustee’s Award is Garrett Loomer.

The female recipient is a senior from Baltimore, Md., who has excelled as a two-sport athlete at Hood, playing soccer for four years and lacrosse for two. A four-year starter on the pitch, this defensive stopper has helped Hood record 29 shutouts since 2005 and has also been a factor up front, scoring seven goals and assisting on two others. She lettered for the lacrosse team as a freshman and sophomore and led the team with 29 goals in 2006 en route to being named AWCC Newcomer of the Year. She helped the Blazers advance to the championship game of the AWCC tournament in 2007 and was named the league’s Co-Most Outstanding Player. She also served as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee this season. The female recipient of the Trustee’s Award is Liz Rakowski.

Most Outstanding Student-Athlete Award
The Most Outstanding Student-Athlete Award is given to a current male and female student who has demonstrated exemplary athletic prowess throughout his or her career at Hood.

The male recipient made an immediate impact on the hardwood when he came to Hood in 2005, and was tabbed the Male Rookie of the Year for his stellar freshman season. He leaves the program with his name etched in the program’s top 10 in numerous categories, including games played, games started, points scored, three-point field goal percentage, free throws made, rebounds, assists and steals. He lists second all-time in assists with 285 and fourth all-time in scoring with 957 points. A local product from Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, he has represented the Blazers on three all-tournament teams. The male recipient of the Most Outstanding Student-Athlete Award is Tim Abercrombie.

The female recipient could arguably be dubbed the fastest woman in the Capital Athletic Conference. She has claimed six individual titles at the CAC championships the last two years, including four this year, and earlier this week was named the CAC Female Track & Field Athlete of the Year. She is a two-time conference champion in the 100 meter dash and became the first Hood woman to run an NCAA provisional time at this year’s meet. She has also participated in soccer and basketball the past two years, scoring nine goals in 25 games on the pitch and averaged nearly eight points per game on the hardwood. The female recipient of the Most Outstanding Student-Athlete Award is Jessica Parrish.