Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University Department of Athletics honored its student-athletes for the 2017-18 school year Sunday at its 24th annual All-Sports Banquet, held for the first time at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport.
Led by master of ceremonies
Chris Shovlin, the radio play-by-play voice of RMU Athletics for the last 31 years, Robert Morris presented most valuable player plaques to each of its 16 intercollegiate sports, while 14 individuals and one team were honored with major awards.
Garnering the Presidential Scholar-Athlete, presented by Robert Morris University provost and senior vice president David Jamison, was Dana Davis of women's lacrosse, Megan Smith of women's basketball and Zachary Bryant of men's lacrosse. The Presidential Scholar-Athlete honor is bestowed to senior student-athletes who combined both athletic and academic excellence throughout their respective careers.
Davis became just the seventh player in women's lacrosse history to score 100 career goals when she turned the trick Sunday afternoon in a 12-5 victory at Central Connecticut. Named the 2017 Northeast Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's lacrosse, Davis is the program's career record holder ground balls. She was named to the 2015 All-NEC Rookie Team, earned second team plaudits as a sophomore in 2016 and garnered All-NEC First Team accolades in 2017. A nursing major, Davis owns a 3.91 cumulative grade point average (GPA).
Smith played in four NEC Tournament championship games during her career in an RMU uniform and helped the Colonials earn two automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. She owns the Robert Morris career record for games started (126) and is one of four student-athletes in program history to eclipse career totals of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists. Selected to the 2015 All-NEC Rookie Team, Smith earned third team all-conference honors in 2017 and was a first team selection in 2018. A sport management major, Smith owns a 3.59 cumulative GPA.
Bryant is a biology major who has compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.90 who helps anchor the defense for the Robert Morris lacrosse team. He has helped the Colonials earn a national ranking in the polls for eight consecutive weeks and currently ranks second in program history for caused turnovers (71) as well as third in caused turnovers per game (1.29).
Earning the honors for the Highest GPA Awards, which are bestowed to the senior student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point average and were also presented by Jamison, were senior Lindsay Feltz of rowing and Alex Dagnal of the men's ice hockey team. Feltz has compiled a GPA of 3.99 as a computer information systems major, while Dagnal studies biology and also owns a cumulative GPA of 3.99.
Claiming the Team GPA Award, presented RMU Head Athletic Trainer
Mike Vittorino, was the women's basketball team. During the 2016-17 school year, the Colonials compiled a team GPA of 3.724, the highest of RMU's 16 Division I programs. It marks the second consecutive year the women's basketball team claimed the award.
RELATED: 2018 RMU All-Sports Banquet Award Winners (PDF)
Taking home the RMU Athletic Department Appreciation Award, handed out by Senior Associate Athletic Director
Marty Galosi, was Jay Carson, the Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement, and
Matt Millet, the Vice President for Development. The RMU Athletic Department Appreciation Award is bestowed annually to an individual or individuals from outside the athletic department that display exemplary service.
Nicole Law of the RMU Center for Student Success gave out the second annual faculty award to Arif Sirinterlikci, Ph.D., the department head for engineering, and a special award to Scott Branvold, M.A., Ed.D., as the outgoing faculty athletics representative for the department of athletics.
RMU Associate Athletic Director for Event Management and Facilities,
Don Smith, presented the 2018 Outstanding Senior Male award to Brady Ferguson of the hockey team, while associate athletic director and senior woman administrator
Addie Muti awarded Brittany Howard of hockey the 2018 Outstanding Senior Female honor.
The winners of the 10th annual Strength & Conditioning Student-Athletes of the Year, presented to a male and female by RMU head strength & conditioning coach Todd Hamer, were awarded to Smith of the women's basketball program and DeLano Madison of the football team.
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) award for 2018, which was presented by Taylor Lord, was bestowed to sophomore Max Palmer of the golf squad.
A total of 19 student-athletes were honored with MVP plaques at the 2018 RMU All-Sports Banquet. To view the complete list of award winners, please
use the link associated with this article.
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