Moon Township, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University athletic department honored its student-athletes for the 2006-07 school year Sunday afternoon at its 13th annual All-Sports Banquet, held at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
Led by master of ceremonies Chris Shovlin, the radio play-by-play voice of Colonial athletics for the last 20 years, Robert Morris presented most valuable player plaques to its 23 intercollegiate sports, while four individuals were also honored with the Presidential Scholar-Athlete, Co-Most Outstanding Senior Female and Most Outstanding Senior Male awards. The Colonial women's rowing team was honored for the second straight year with the Team GPA award. On the 2005-06 academic year the squad posted the highest cumulative grade point average among RMU's 23 programs by compiling a GPA of 3.57 on a 4.0 scale.
Garnering the Presidential Scholar-Athlete, presented by Robert Morris University President Dr. Greg Dell'Omo, was senior Lisa Jaszka (Lancaster, N.Y. / Lancaster) of the Colonial women's volleyball team. Jaszka carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average as an elementary education major and was a four-year letterwinner at the opposite position. She garnered ESPN The Magazine District II Academic All-America honors in 2006.
Named football's defensive most valuable player, senior Ray Gensler (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Keystone Oaks) was also awarded the Outstanding Senior Male award, presented by RMU Director of Athletics Craig Coleman, M.D. As a manufacturing engineering major, Gensler carries a 3.91 cumulate grade point average, which helped him garner ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors for the second straight year in 2006. On the field Gensler finished fourth on the Colonials in tackles with 65, including 23 for losses that totaled 106 yards. He led the Northeast Conference in sacks (11) in 2006, which also tied the Robert Morris single-season record. His 11 sacks also pushed his career total to 19, establishing a new Colonial career record. For those efforts he was named to the All-NEC First Team, an FCS/I-AA Mid-Major All-American by The Sports Network and a third team FCS/I-AA Third All-American, also by TSN.
Coleman also presented senior shortstop Jill Spargo (Warren, Pa. / Warren Area) and senior forward Sugeiry Mosac (Villa Maria, Dominican Republic / Arizona Western J.C.) with Co-Outstanding Senior Female awards. Monsac concluded a three-year career with totals of 1,177 points and 689 rebounds, which rank 10th and fifth, respectively, in the Colonial career record book. Named the 2005 NEC Player of the Year, Mosac averaged 16.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game during the 2006-07 campaign, helping lead RMU to its third NEC Tournament championship and inaugural appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Spargo, who owns two of the top five batting averages in single-season history, established a new career record for hits earlier this season when she went 3-for-4 in a 4-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson (4/2/07) in the first game of a doubleheader. She enters this week's action with 200 career hits, becoming the first Colonial in school history to eclipse the career 200-hit plateau. During the 2005 campaign, Spargo helped lead Robert Morris to its first NCAA Tournament appearance by hitting .387 with single-season records for hits (72) and at bats (186).
A total of 28 student-athletes were honored with Most Valuable Player plaques at the 2007 All-Sports Banquet, with a total of seven repeat winners from 2006. Included in that list is junior guard Tony Lee (Boston, Mass. / Charlestown) of the men's basketball team, junior Ali Cox (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) of the pom team, sophomore goaltender Brianne McLaughlin (Sheffield Village, Ohio / Ohio Flames) of the women's ice hockey squad, sophomore Nick Paganetti (The Woodlands, Texas / McCullough) of the men's tennis team, senior Psyche Butler (Fort Worth, Texas / New Mexico J.C.) of the women's basketball team, sophomore Rachael Malenich (Alexandria, Va. / Hayfield) of the women's golf squad and junior Adam Woodford (Downington, Pa. / Downington) of the men's outdoor track and field team.
The following is a list of MVP award winners at the 13th annual All-Sports Banquet:
