Colorado University Athletics
CU Honors Its Best At 11th Annual CUSPYs
April 26, 2011 | Cross Country, Football, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Golf, Tennis, Track and Field, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Skiing
BOULDER - A dozen major awards were presented here Tuesday night as the University of Colorado honored its best at the 11th annual CUSPY Awards (CU Sports Performers of the Year).
Over 300 student-athletes, coaches, staff and C-Club members attended the year-end banquet at the Coors Events Center, organized by CU's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to honor athletic accomplishments for the 2010-11 athletic year.
The Male Athlete of the Year Award was presented to sophomore basketball player Alec Burks, who earned honorable mention All-America honors and was a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 Conference performer. Burks led the team and the Big 12 in scoring with a 20.5 per game average, the first Buff to average over 20 per game in 17 years. He set a school record for points scored (779), and was the first player in school history to score over 500 points, grab 200 or more rebounds and have at least 100 assists in a single season. He led the Buffs in scoring in 26 of 38 games, scored in double figures 36 times, averaged 6.5 rebounds per game, shot 46.9 percent from the field and 82.5 percent from the free throw line. He helped lead CU to a school record 24 wins, including three over Kansas State and one each over Missouri and Texas, all ranked teams, and to the semifinals of the NIT. Burks announced last week that he would enter this June's NBA draft.
The two other finalists were Nate Solder (football) and Reid Pletcher (skiing).
Junior skier Eliska Hajkova earned the Female Athlete of the Year Award honor, turning in one of the most dominant seasons in CU history. She capped her season by winning the 15K Classical race at the NCAA Championships in Stowe, helping the Buffs build an insurmountable lead en route to winning the national title. She finished second in the 5K freestyle race, thus earning two first-team All-America honors. She won both the freestyle and classical individual races at the RMISA Championships, again helping the Buffs to a team championship. She won three out of the four individual races in the postseason, and for all 12 races on the winter, she won three, finished second six times and third twice, or 11 podium (top three) appearances; she finished fourth in her other race.
Hajkova edged Brittany Spears (basketball) and Jessica Wallace (golf) for the honor.
The selection committee does leave open the possibility that the Athlete-of-the-Year awards could be shared once the spring sport seasons are complete (golf, outdoor track, tennis) in fairness to those sports that still have important portions of their seasons ahead of them. At present, the committee will keep a watchful eye on what Wallace does in the NCAA regional and/or finals, and also monitor track performers such as junior Emma Coburn, who has the bulk of the outdoor season still ahead of her.
Spears didn't walk away empty-handed, however, as she was honored with the Female Career Athletic Achievement Award, claiming the honor over fellow finalists Abbie Probert (tennis) and Alexa Turzian (skiing).
Colorado's all-time leading scorer with 2,185 points, Spears is prominent in nearly every team career statistical category. She started all 127 games of her career, a school record, plus she is CU's all-time leader field-goal attempts (1,889) and double-figure scoring games (111). A two-time All-Big 12 Conference selection - first team in 2011 and second team in 2009 - Spears' name can be found in 18 career Colorado top 10 lists, most notably the above plus ranking second in minutes played (4,202), scoring average (17.2) and field-goals made (796), third in blocked shots (156) and 3-pointers made (237) and fourth in rebounds (997) and double-doubles (31). Additionally her 2,185 points rank seventh on the Big 12's all-time list and broke Colorado's former mark of 2,065, held by Lisa Van Goor (1980-85) for 26 years. Spears recently was selected by the Phoenix Mercury with the 19th overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft.
The Male Career Athletic Achievement Award went to basketball player Cory Higgins. A three-time All-Big 12 Conference third-team selection (2009-10-11), Higgins is the only player in school history to record at least 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 150 steals. He is CU's all-time leader in games played (132), starts (131), free-throws made (570), double-digit scoring games (107) and minutes played (4,478). Higgins shares the school's career scoring mark at 2,001 with Richard Roby, a figure that is also the sixth-best all-time in the Big 12. At Colorado, he ranks third in steals (192), fifth in free-throw percentage (.825), sixth in field-goals made (653) and attempted (1,397), seventh in 3-point attempts (360), ninth in 3-pointers made (125) and 10th in assists (320). A 2011 USBWA All-District VIII First Team pick, Higgins logged 32 games of scoring 20-plus points and had five 30-plus point performances.
The other finalists were Scotty McKnight (football) and Gabriel Rivas (skiing).
The Male Freshman Athlete of the Year Award was split between Andre Roberson, who had an outstanding debut season on the men's basketball team (and the honor Burks claimed last year), and Paul Richardson, runner-up for the Big 12's Conference's Offensive Freshman of the Year for football.
Roberson made an immediate impact on the men's basketball team, adding depth in being asked to play several positions. He appeared in all 38 games, helping the Buffs to a program best 24 wins in leading the team in rebounding, blocks and steals. He became the first freshman to lead CU in those three categories and just the fourth in Big 12 history, joining the likes of Michael Beasley, Antoine Wright and Kevin Durant. He averaged 7.8 rebounds per game, fifth most among freshmen in the nation, and he had five double-doubles with two coming in the postseason, one in the Big 12 Tournament and one in the NIT. His 15 rebounds at Iowa State set a CU freshman record and he followed that up the next game against Nebraska with 14 boards.
Richardson finished third on the team in receptions with 34 as a true freshman in 2010, but was second in both yards (514) and touchdowns (6) in averaging a team-best 15.1 yards per catch. He had a hand in four of CU's top seven longest plays of the season (three of the top five), all passes caught from Cody Hawkins that covered 62, 60, 55 and 50 yards. He set CU freshman single-game records for the most catches (11) and yards (141) at Kansas, also tying the overall mark for most receptions, and established the mark for frosh single-season yardage and TDs. He posted two of the five all-time 100-yard games by Buff freshmen (the other was 121 versus Iowa State).
The other finalist was Andreas Haug (skiing), the only freshman to participate at the NCAA Championships for the Buffaloes this winter.
Soccer goalie Annie Brunner captured the Female Freshman Athlete of the Year Award, as she became just the fourth freshmen in CU soccer history to secure the starting goalkeeper position. She led the Buffs to shutting out five opponents in 2010. CU beat No. 6 Texas A&M 2-1 in overtime in College Station, Texas for the first time ever. Brunner also led the Buffs to a 1-0 double-overtime victory over future Pac-12 opponent UCLA at home when they were ranked at No. 10. After her first season at CU, she is tied for sixth with five shutouts and eight wins on CU's all time charts. Brunner also earned the most individual awards for the season. She was named to the Big 12 Newcomer team, and during the season, she earned a pair of Big 12 Player of the Week honors, as well as a Primetime Player of the Week award from College Soccer 360, a website recognizing all Division I soccer athletes.
Brunner bested Megan Beckwith (volleyball) and Jenny Coleman (golf) in claiming the honor.
SAAC members selected several award winners.
A new award was created, called the CU Sports "Moment of the Year." The winning moment was Pletcher emerging with the lead with less than a kilometer to go in the men's 20k classical race at the NCAA Championships. Runner-ups were the women's golf team winning their own tournament just hours after four team members sustained concussions in a car accident just outside Colorado National Golf Club, and the men's basketball team rally from 22 points down to defeat No. 5 Texas, 91-89.
Faculty Athletic Representative and professor in chemical and biological engineering Dr. David Clough was recognized as the staff member of the year; he is also In citing him for the award, the selection committee noted that he is, "an amazing professor and on top of his teaching, he never misses a home game for any team. He is a true Buff who really takes the time out to get to know all student-athletes."
The Student Athlete Support Award was given to Speed-Strength and Conditioning for the department's hard work and research to make sure that each team is doing specific training for their sport and that everyone is training at their highest potential.
The prestigious Buffalo Award of Distinction, given to student-athletes of each gender for outstanding contributions to his or her team, their peers and the athletic department overall, were presented to Katie Hartman (skiing) and Brian Lockridge (football). Both participated in several CU community outreach projects, including Buffalo Hugs, Read With The Buffs and the Holiday Angel Tree, as well as other community activities.
The SAAC Distinguished Service Award, presented to senior members who contributed significantly to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, was given to eight seniors: Hartman, Probert, Chelsea Dale (basketball), Kristin Martell (volleyball), Luke Symons (golf) and Alex Von Hagen (cross country & track). Two football players who will graduate this fall also received the award, Lockridge and Ryan Miller.
The Spencer Nelson Buffalo Spirit Award, formerly the Athlete's Choice Award, was renamed for the CU skier died in a tragic hiking accident last August; it is presented to the student or students who demonstrated outstanding spirit, enthusiasm and leadership while overcoming adversity. This year's was fittingly presented to the entire ski team, which dedicated the season to Spencer and set the goal of winning the national championship to honor him. The Buffaloes did that this past March, and did so in convincing fashion, running away from all others in winning the school's 18th national championship in the sport.
The Speed, Strength & Conditioning Awards for the "lifters of the year" were awarded to Levi Knutson (men's basketball) and Emily Hunsaker (women's track).
Originally created in 2001, the annual event is one of the most popular among the athletes, as they have tailored the function to be the final social gathering solely amongst themselves for the last time before finals and summer vacation, if not for a longer period of time for those graduating. It is believed to be one of the only events in the country almost entirely organized by the student-athletes, and certainly was among, if not, the first.
CU's SAAC would like to recognize and sincerely thank the food and beverage sponsors for the 11th Annual CUSPY's; all items were donated:
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Bank of the West |
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Centerplate |
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Chick-fil-A |
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Chipotle Mexican Grill |
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CU Conference Services |
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Gold Star |
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Hapa Sushi |
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K-M Concessions |
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Noodles & Company |
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Papa Romano's |
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Pasta Jay's |
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Pepsi |
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Safeway |
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White Wave Foods |
