Colorado University Athletics
SAAC members Derek McCartney and Lucy Newman flank Derrick White, CU's Male Athlete of the Year.
Photo by: Sam Neumann, Top Drawer Photography
CU Honors Its Best At 17th Annual CUSPY's
May 03, 2017 | General
CU Sports Performers of the Year Banquet Recognizes Several Achievers
BOULDER — Several major awards were presented here Tuesday night as the University of Colorado honored its best at the 17th annual CU Sports Performers of the Year (CUSPY) Awards.
Over 400 student-athletes, coaches, staff and C-Club board 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 2016-17 athletic year.
The Female Athlete of the Year Award as always had a strong field of candidates, with nine solid nominations that the selection committee whittled down to five finalists. The end result was that for the third straight year and the fourth time in the last five, the honor was shared. This time around, a pair of two-time NCAA champions were recognized, junior Petra Hyncicova (skiing) and sophomore Dani Jones (cross country & track).
Hyncicova claimed both the classical and freestyle individual titles at the NCAA Championships in New Hampshire, winning five out of eight races overall on the season. A two-time, first-team All-American, she became the 15th woman to sweep the cross country races at the NCAA's (35 events), and the fourth CU skier to pull off the double. She was named both the USCSCA and RMISA Women's Nordic Skier of the Year and competed at the U-23 World Cross Country Championships for her native Czech Republic.
Jones was a member of Colorado's distance medley relay (DMR) team that won the NCAA indoor championship, and then came back the next day to win the 3,000-meter run, and thus became the first CU women's track athlete to win two titles at the same national indoor meet. Her time in the 3K was 9:02.22, the second-best in CU history and led the Buffaloes to a seventh-place finish, second-highest in their history. She was also 22nd in the NCAA cross country championship last November, earning All-American honors and helping CU to a third place finish.
Kennedy Leonard (basketball), Darby Kiernan (lacrosse) and Danica Evans (soccer) were the other finalists.
Senior Derrick White was named CU's Male Athlete of the Year, as he earned first-team All-Pac 12 honors, as well as All-Pac-12 Defensive and All-Pac-12 Tournament team honors. A second-team NABC All-District performer, he led the Buffs in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game, as well as in assist with 134 (or 4.1 per contest). One of just two players in the conference to finish in the top 10 in scoring, assists and blocked shots (had 49 of the latter). He was the ninth player in school history to have at least four 30-point games in a season, the first since Chauncey Billups in 1996-97.
The other finalists were David Ketterer (skiing), Phillip Lindsay (football) and Ben Saarel (cross country & track).
For the second straight year, both career achievement honors were shared as well. The Female Career Athletic Achievement Award was awarded to golfer Esther Lee and to lacrosse's Paige Soenksen.
Lee earned All-American and All-Pac-12 honors as both a sophomore and junior, and is contending again this spring; she was twice selected as CU's Female Athlete of the Year. Colorado's all-time stroke average leader (72.53), she matched the NCAA single round record of 61 at New Mexico's Dick McGuire Invitational last September (the 11-under par effort was the NCAA-best in relation to par). She owns two dozen school records, including wins (three) and the low nine-hole score of 29 she recorded on the back side when she had the 61 in New Mexico.
Soenksen was an original member of CU's fledgling women's lacrosse team which competed for the first time in 2014. Emerging as one of the nation's top goalies, she has played in 73 of a possible 74 games for the Buffaloes, recording a 50-23 record. One of just a handful of goalies that has more saves (131) than goals allowed (119), she is one of 25 nominees for the coveted Tewaaraton Award, which is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse honor recognizing the top male and female college lacrosse players in the United States.
The other three finalists were Erin Clark (cross country & track), Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (tennis) and Cierra Simpson (volleyball).
The winners of the Male Career Athletic Achievement Award were Sefo Liufau (football) and Mads Stroem (skiing).
Liufau is the owner of 99 school records: 64 passing, 24 total offense and 11 others; 84 are outright and the others shared. Included among the top career marks he owns are total offensive yards (10,509), passing yards (9,568) and 300-yard passing games (10) in addition to numerous single-season and game records. He was just the second CU player to serve as a team captain for three seasons (doing so in 2014, '15 and '16), the first since 1893. He was named the 2016 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year by the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame (he is of Samoan ancestry). Including the Alamo Bowl, he played in 42 career games with 40 starts, the most starts ever by a CU quarterback (leading CU to a 16-24 record).
Stroem was a three-time NCAA individual champion and an eight-time All-American (seven first-team honors). He won 14 races during his CU career, the fourth-most in school history (second-most by a male), and recorded 28 podium (top three) finishes in 39 career races. He was the USCSCA and Faster Skier National Skier of the Year as a junior in 2016. His two top four finishes at the NCAA's as a sophomore helped the Buffaloes to the 2015 national championship.
Liufau and Stroem emerged from a talented pool that produced two other finalists, Wesley Gordon (basketball) and Ben Saarel (football).
The Male Freshman Athlete of the Year Award was captured by alpine skier David Ketterer, who enjoyed one of the best individual seasons in school history. He captured both the giant slalom and slalom individual crowns at the NCAA Championships, just the fifth skier to ever do so in the 64 year history of the event. He was the first CU alpine skier and the third Buff overall to win their first two NCAA races. Overall, he recorded seven wins, tying CU's alpine record for a season, and finished in the top five in 12 of 13 races he skied in (and was sixth in the other). He was named both the USCSCA and RMISA Men's Alpine Skier of the Year.
Other nominations included Lucas Siewert (basketball), Tim Lynott, Jr. (football) and Victor Bjorlow (golf).
Taylor Kornieck of the soccer team won the Female Freshman Athlete of the Year Award, as she also had an amazing rookie season in the collegiate ranks. A Freshman All-American and the Pac-12's Freshman of the Year, she also earned first-team All-Region and All-Pac-12 honors. In leading the team to a 15-6-1 overall record and an 8-2-1 mark in the Pac-12 and a second place finish, she scored 11 goals with four assists for 26 points, third most in school history. She had six game winning goals on the year and was the national player of the week for the period ending October 4.
Kornieck had solid competition for the honor from Sage Hurta (cross country and track), Jen Mistretta (lacrosse), Kirsty Hodgkins (golf), Anne Siri Lervik (skiing) and Chloe Hule (tennis).
The selection committee does leave open the possibility that all of the above awards could be augmented once the spring sport seasons are complete in fairness to those sports (golf, lacrosse, outdoor track) that still have important portions of their seasons and/or NCAA events still ahead of them. Tennis has completed its season, men's and women's golf and lacrosse are in their postseasons, with outdoor track just over half done with its year.
SAAC members selected several award winners, including the CU Sports "Moment of the Year." The winning moment came when thousands of fans rushed the field following CU's 27-22 win over Utah that clinched the Pac-12 South Division title for the Buffaloes. The win gave Colorado an 8-1 record in lead play and the outright division crown, as the Buffs recorded the largest turnaround from one year to the next in league play in Pac-12 history. That moment edged out the men's cross country team's winning the Pac-12 Championship for the sixth straight year and golfer Esther Lee's NCAA record round of 61 in the first round of the New Mexico Invitational last Sept. 12 (she tied the record for gross score but the 11-under par effort set the actual record).
CU's Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) to the Pac-12 Conference, Dr. David Clough, was recognized as the staff member of the year. Clough is retiring after 12 years in the role as well as a professor in CU's School of Engineering; he has 49 years of service to the university overall. He has diligently supported the student-athletes in the classroom and in their competitions, attending most home events and traveling to several road games and tournaments. He understands the difficulty the students have to balance everything in their lives.
The Student Athlete Support Award was given to the Performance Nutrition staff. One of the department's newest areas in the second year under the direction of Laura Anderson, her staff is responsible for the daily nutritional needs of over 350 student-athletes. This includes coordinating and planning out nutrition stations and dietary needs.
The SAAC Distinguished Service Award, presented to senior members who contributed significantly to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, was awarded to 11 seniors: Zoe Beard-Fails (basketball), Katie Hostetler (skiing), Emily Knapp (lacrosse), Jesse Knori (skiing), Mikaela Kraus (soccer), Esther Lee (golf), Lucy Newman (skiing), Max Scrimgeour (skiing), Cierra Simpson (volleyball), Haley Smith (basketball) and Jaron Thomas (track).
The Spencer Nelson Buffalo Spirit Award, formerly the Athlete's Choice Award and renamed for the CU skier who died in a tragic hiking accident in August 2010, was presented to Thomas. He has worked extensively to represent all of the student athletes and his courage to make the entire department a better place for everyone in it. He has incredible "buffalo" spirit, supporting athletes from all teams in addition to his teammates all while embracing his true self and inspiring everyone to do the same.
The Sports Performance Awards for strength and conditioning accomplishments were presented to Joshua Repine (basketball) and Naghede Abu (volleyball).
Originally created in 2001, the annual event remains 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.
Note: The highest award a graduating senior can receive from the Pac-12 Conference is the Tom Hansen Medal, named for the league's longtime commissioner, and is based on the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership. Each school selects a male and female recipient, and these will be awarded later this month.
CU's SAAC would like to recognize and sincerely thank the food and beverage sponsors for the 17th Annual CUSPY's; all items were donated:
Bender's Bar & Grill
Bhakti Chai
Blackjack Pizza
California Pizza Kitchen
Chick-fil-A
Event Rents
Fate Brewing Company
Half Fast Subs
Hapa Sushi
K-M Concessions
Pasta Jay's
Pepsi
Safeway
West End Tavern
Zoe's Kitchen
Over 400 student-athletes, coaches, staff and C-Club board 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 2016-17 athletic year.
The Female Athlete of the Year Award as always had a strong field of candidates, with nine solid nominations that the selection committee whittled down to five finalists. The end result was that for the third straight year and the fourth time in the last five, the honor was shared. This time around, a pair of two-time NCAA champions were recognized, junior Petra Hyncicova (skiing) and sophomore Dani Jones (cross country & track).
Hyncicova claimed both the classical and freestyle individual titles at the NCAA Championships in New Hampshire, winning five out of eight races overall on the season. A two-time, first-team All-American, she became the 15th woman to sweep the cross country races at the NCAA's (35 events), and the fourth CU skier to pull off the double. She was named both the USCSCA and RMISA Women's Nordic Skier of the Year and competed at the U-23 World Cross Country Championships for her native Czech Republic.
Jones was a member of Colorado's distance medley relay (DMR) team that won the NCAA indoor championship, and then came back the next day to win the 3,000-meter run, and thus became the first CU women's track athlete to win two titles at the same national indoor meet. Her time in the 3K was 9:02.22, the second-best in CU history and led the Buffaloes to a seventh-place finish, second-highest in their history. She was also 22nd in the NCAA cross country championship last November, earning All-American honors and helping CU to a third place finish.
Kennedy Leonard (basketball), Darby Kiernan (lacrosse) and Danica Evans (soccer) were the other finalists.
Senior Derrick White was named CU's Male Athlete of the Year, as he earned first-team All-Pac 12 honors, as well as All-Pac-12 Defensive and All-Pac-12 Tournament team honors. A second-team NABC All-District performer, he led the Buffs in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game, as well as in assist with 134 (or 4.1 per contest). One of just two players in the conference to finish in the top 10 in scoring, assists and blocked shots (had 49 of the latter). He was the ninth player in school history to have at least four 30-point games in a season, the first since Chauncey Billups in 1996-97.
The other finalists were David Ketterer (skiing), Phillip Lindsay (football) and Ben Saarel (cross country & track).
For the second straight year, both career achievement honors were shared as well. The Female Career Athletic Achievement Award was awarded to golfer Esther Lee and to lacrosse's Paige Soenksen.
Lee earned All-American and All-Pac-12 honors as both a sophomore and junior, and is contending again this spring; she was twice selected as CU's Female Athlete of the Year. Colorado's all-time stroke average leader (72.53), she matched the NCAA single round record of 61 at New Mexico's Dick McGuire Invitational last September (the 11-under par effort was the NCAA-best in relation to par). She owns two dozen school records, including wins (three) and the low nine-hole score of 29 she recorded on the back side when she had the 61 in New Mexico.
Soenksen was an original member of CU's fledgling women's lacrosse team which competed for the first time in 2014. Emerging as one of the nation's top goalies, she has played in 73 of a possible 74 games for the Buffaloes, recording a 50-23 record. One of just a handful of goalies that has more saves (131) than goals allowed (119), she is one of 25 nominees for the coveted Tewaaraton Award, which is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse honor recognizing the top male and female college lacrosse players in the United States.
The other three finalists were Erin Clark (cross country & track), Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (tennis) and Cierra Simpson (volleyball).
The winners of the Male Career Athletic Achievement Award were Sefo Liufau (football) and Mads Stroem (skiing).
Liufau is the owner of 99 school records: 64 passing, 24 total offense and 11 others; 84 are outright and the others shared. Included among the top career marks he owns are total offensive yards (10,509), passing yards (9,568) and 300-yard passing games (10) in addition to numerous single-season and game records. He was just the second CU player to serve as a team captain for three seasons (doing so in 2014, '15 and '16), the first since 1893. He was named the 2016 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year by the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame (he is of Samoan ancestry). Including the Alamo Bowl, he played in 42 career games with 40 starts, the most starts ever by a CU quarterback (leading CU to a 16-24 record).
Stroem was a three-time NCAA individual champion and an eight-time All-American (seven first-team honors). He won 14 races during his CU career, the fourth-most in school history (second-most by a male), and recorded 28 podium (top three) finishes in 39 career races. He was the USCSCA and Faster Skier National Skier of the Year as a junior in 2016. His two top four finishes at the NCAA's as a sophomore helped the Buffaloes to the 2015 national championship.
Liufau and Stroem emerged from a talented pool that produced two other finalists, Wesley Gordon (basketball) and Ben Saarel (football).
The Male Freshman Athlete of the Year Award was captured by alpine skier David Ketterer, who enjoyed one of the best individual seasons in school history. He captured both the giant slalom and slalom individual crowns at the NCAA Championships, just the fifth skier to ever do so in the 64 year history of the event. He was the first CU alpine skier and the third Buff overall to win their first two NCAA races. Overall, he recorded seven wins, tying CU's alpine record for a season, and finished in the top five in 12 of 13 races he skied in (and was sixth in the other). He was named both the USCSCA and RMISA Men's Alpine Skier of the Year.
Other nominations included Lucas Siewert (basketball), Tim Lynott, Jr. (football) and Victor Bjorlow (golf).
Taylor Kornieck of the soccer team won the Female Freshman Athlete of the Year Award, as she also had an amazing rookie season in the collegiate ranks. A Freshman All-American and the Pac-12's Freshman of the Year, she also earned first-team All-Region and All-Pac-12 honors. In leading the team to a 15-6-1 overall record and an 8-2-1 mark in the Pac-12 and a second place finish, she scored 11 goals with four assists for 26 points, third most in school history. She had six game winning goals on the year and was the national player of the week for the period ending October 4.
Kornieck had solid competition for the honor from Sage Hurta (cross country and track), Jen Mistretta (lacrosse), Kirsty Hodgkins (golf), Anne Siri Lervik (skiing) and Chloe Hule (tennis).
The selection committee does leave open the possibility that all of the above awards could be augmented once the spring sport seasons are complete in fairness to those sports (golf, lacrosse, outdoor track) that still have important portions of their seasons and/or NCAA events still ahead of them. Tennis has completed its season, men's and women's golf and lacrosse are in their postseasons, with outdoor track just over half done with its year.
SAAC members selected several award winners, including the CU Sports "Moment of the Year." The winning moment came when thousands of fans rushed the field following CU's 27-22 win over Utah that clinched the Pac-12 South Division title for the Buffaloes. The win gave Colorado an 8-1 record in lead play and the outright division crown, as the Buffs recorded the largest turnaround from one year to the next in league play in Pac-12 history. That moment edged out the men's cross country team's winning the Pac-12 Championship for the sixth straight year and golfer Esther Lee's NCAA record round of 61 in the first round of the New Mexico Invitational last Sept. 12 (she tied the record for gross score but the 11-under par effort set the actual record).
CU's Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) to the Pac-12 Conference, Dr. David Clough, was recognized as the staff member of the year. Clough is retiring after 12 years in the role as well as a professor in CU's School of Engineering; he has 49 years of service to the university overall. He has diligently supported the student-athletes in the classroom and in their competitions, attending most home events and traveling to several road games and tournaments. He understands the difficulty the students have to balance everything in their lives.
The Student Athlete Support Award was given to the Performance Nutrition staff. One of the department's newest areas in the second year under the direction of Laura Anderson, her staff is responsible for the daily nutritional needs of over 350 student-athletes. This includes coordinating and planning out nutrition stations and dietary needs.
The SAAC Distinguished Service Award, presented to senior members who contributed significantly to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, was awarded to 11 seniors: Zoe Beard-Fails (basketball), Katie Hostetler (skiing), Emily Knapp (lacrosse), Jesse Knori (skiing), Mikaela Kraus (soccer), Esther Lee (golf), Lucy Newman (skiing), Max Scrimgeour (skiing), Cierra Simpson (volleyball), Haley Smith (basketball) and Jaron Thomas (track).
The Spencer Nelson Buffalo Spirit Award, formerly the Athlete's Choice Award and renamed for the CU skier who died in a tragic hiking accident in August 2010, was presented to Thomas. He has worked extensively to represent all of the student athletes and his courage to make the entire department a better place for everyone in it. He has incredible "buffalo" spirit, supporting athletes from all teams in addition to his teammates all while embracing his true self and inspiring everyone to do the same.
The Sports Performance Awards for strength and conditioning accomplishments were presented to Joshua Repine (basketball) and Naghede Abu (volleyball).
Originally created in 2001, the annual event remains 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.
Note: The highest award a graduating senior can receive from the Pac-12 Conference is the Tom Hansen Medal, named for the league's longtime commissioner, and is based on the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership. Each school selects a male and female recipient, and these will be awarded later this month.
CU's SAAC would like to recognize and sincerely thank the food and beverage sponsors for the 17th Annual CUSPY's; all items were donated:
Bender's Bar & Grill
Bhakti Chai
Blackjack Pizza
California Pizza Kitchen
Chick-fil-A
Event Rents
Fate Brewing Company
Half Fast Subs
Hapa Sushi
K-M Concessions
Pasta Jay's
Pepsi
Safeway
West End Tavern
Zoe's Kitchen
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