Lyndon honors athletes

The Lyndon Department of Athletics honored its top student-athletes for the 2010-11 school year Friday with its annual Athletic Awards Ceremony.

In one of the highlights of the evening, Josh Grant, a sophomore runner with the Hornets' men's cross country team was named the Dudley Bell Male Athlete of the Year for a second straight year by virtue of his outstanding performance throughout the 2010 cross country season.

Grant, a native of Nashua, N.H., placed second, covering an eight-kilometer in 26:46.35, to lead the Lyndon State men's cross country team to its third-consecutive North Atlantic Conference team title on October 31, 2010. For his efforts, Grant was once again named to the All-NAC First Team.

One week later, at the 2010 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship Meet at Roger Williams College in Bristol, R.I., Grantfinished to a 10th-place finish overall, covering the eight-kilometer course in a personal-record time of 26:32.  His performance propelled the Hornets to a 24^th-place finish in a field of 44 teams.

Grant closed out his stellar sophomore season with an 83^rd-place finish at the NCAA New England Regionals held Nov. 13, at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.

In addition to the Bell Award, he also received the prestigious Green and Gold Scholar-Athlete Award, presented to the male and female student-athlete with the highest grade-point-average (3.96) as well as the Lyndon men's cross country program's Most Valuable Runner Award.

Naomi White, a junior from Danville, Vt., was also awarded the Dudley Bell Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year Award for a second consecutive year for her efforts on both the Lyndon women's soccer and basketball teams.

White turned in a solid defensive effort for the Lady Hornets' soccer team and was often asked to mark many of the NAC's top scorers. On the basketball court, she averaged 12.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest while shooting an impressive .796 from the free throw line throughout the 2010-11 season.

Earning the Green and Gold Female Scholar-Athlete Award, was junior Michelle Wilcox of the Lyndon women's soccer team. The Sheldon, Vt., who is majoring in Electronic Journalism Arts, has accumulated a GPA of 3.84.

Rounding out the list of specialty award winners on the evening was senior Natalia Shams of the Lyndon women's soccer and softball programs. She received the Champions of Character Award, which is presented to the student-athlete that best exemplifies the values of respect, integrity, responsibility, servant leadership and sportsmanship.

Other award winners on the evening included:

Team Awards

Men's Soccer

Co-Most Valuable Players – Patrice Lumumba & Jason Gray        

Frank Spears Award – Phil Curll

Women's Soccer

Most Valuable Player – Morgan Sanderson

Coaches Award – Jesi Amsden

Men's Cross Country

Most Valuable Player – Josh Grant

Coaches Award – Wildens Fils

Women's Cross Country

Most Valuable Player – Nicole Brown

Coaches Award – Sarah Leclerc

Women's Volleyball

Most Valuable Player – Ally Ciaramitaro

Coaches Award – Christine Bailey

Women's Tennis

Most Valuable Player – Jenn Falsetti

Coaches Award – Kelsey Johnson

Men's Basketball

Michael Tessier Award – Michael Norcross

Women's Basketball

Most Valuable Player – Donna Lawson

Coaches Award – Shauna Buck

Baseball

Claude Piche Award – Robert Trucott

Softball

Most Valuable Player – Meghan Gadapee

Coaches Award – Chelsea Watson

Men's Tennis

Most Valuable Player – Jeremiah Powell

Coaches Award – Paul Thibault

Men's Lacrosse

Most Valuable Player – Ryan Brown

Coaches Award – Matt Reynolds

Hornet Academic Team Challenge Cup

• Women's Tennis - GPA of 3.33.

Male and Female Green & Gold Scholar-Athletes

• Josh Grant (Men's Cross Country) 3.96
• Michelle Wilcox (Women's Soccer) 3.84

Dudley Bell Male & Female Outstanding Student-Athletes of the Year

• Josh Grant (Men's Cross Country)
• Naomi White (Women's Soccer & Basketball)

Champions of Character Award

• Natalia Shams (Women's Soccer & Basketball)

LSC Scholar-Athletes

(Sophomore standing or minimum of 25 credits and overall 3.3 GPA)

• Josh Grant (Men's Cross Country)                                              
• Patrick Hilton (Baseball & Men's Soccer)   
• Margaret George (Women's Tennis)                          
• Erin Donnelly (Women's Tennis)
• Christine Bailey (Women's Volleyball)                                              
• Naomi White (Women's Soccer & Basketball)
• Jaclyn Brett (Women's Volleyball)   
• Kyle Waterman (Men's Soccer)        
• Melissa Rosato (Women's Soccer)
• Gabrielle Mathewson (Women's Cross Country)   
• Christian Henault (Men's Lacrosse)          
• Patrick Kelsey (Men's Cross Country)
• Michael Norcross (Men's Basketball)                     
• Ally Ciaramitaro (Women's Volleyball)
• Mary Gagne (Softball)    

NAC Scholar-Athletes

(Junior standing and a minimum overall 3.5 GPA)

• Michelle Wilcox (Women's Soccer) 
• Patrick Hilton (Men's Soccer & Baseball)
• Michael Muccilli (Men's Cross Country)
• Tyler Tinker (Men's Lacrosse)
• Sarah Leclerc (Women's Cross Country)
• Caleb Noble (Men's Lacrosse)
• Katelyn Willey (Softball)
• Luke Haskell (Men's Soccer & Lacrosse)
• Craig Johnson (Men's Cross Country)