7 May 2019
Derek Lee
[Editor’s note: Skylyn Webb is the sister of the Scribe’s Editor-in-Chief Joy Webb.]
UCCS’ student athletes were honored at the CU Sports Performers of the Year (CUSPY) Awards in the Gallogly Events Center on April 17.
“This is a dinner banquet for all student athletes in the department to celebrate the year as well as individual and team awards,” said Heather Sanders, assistant athletic director of (SAAC) Student-Athlete Leadership Forum.
Zink earned First-Team All-America honors and finished fifth in the 60m dash at nationals, her second nationals appearance.
The McLaughlin Award was presented by Athletic Director Nathan Gibson to both a male and female athlete who had accumulated a total GPA of 3.0 or higher, and who “demonstrated not only excellent internal operations, via email.
Awards are given out for freshman of the year, student of the year, student athlete of the year and academic team of the year, along with a number of other specific awards.
“The CUSPYS are a great time to honor our student athletes,” said Sanders. “They commit a considerable amount of their time upholding our mission, vision, and department values so it is fun to celebrate them and their accomplishments.”
The Athletic Director’s Award is given to an athlete — usually a senior — who has overcome a notable difficulty and displayed great character. The winners of this award were junior men’s basketball player Geoffrey Kelly and sophomore track and field athlete Kayla Zink.
Kelly is a two-time RMAC All- Academic Honor Roll member and was selected to attend the 2019 NCAA Student Athlete Advisory Committee athletic ability, but outstanding commitment to fellow student-athletes and the community.”
The winners of this award were junior men’s soccer player Alex VonHolle and psychology graduate student, track and field athlete Skylyn Webb.
Track and field athlete Afewerki Zeru took home freshman of the year for the men while lacrosse player Angela Naughton was freshman of the year on the women’s side.
Zeru finished No. 23 overall at the NCAA Division II Cross-Country National Championship while Naughton lead the women’s lacrosse team in points, free-position goals and shots on goal.
Student of the Year went to junior Tankred Steinbach of men’s soccer and senior Madison Tominello of women’s soccer. Steinbach maintained a 4.0 as a mathematics major while Tominello maintained a 4.0 as a biological and
biomedical sciences major.
Hurdles athlete and junior Charlie Forbes and women’s soccer player and senior Anna Gregg took home the student athlete of the year award.
Forbes was undefeated during the 2018-19 season and became the first indoor men’s national champion (60m hurdles) in program history.
Gregg set the single-season program record for goals (15) and was both an All-American and an academic All- American for the 2019 season.
The women’s basketball team took home the academic team award, registering a GPA of 3.65.
Women’s soccer, women’s cross country, men’s cross country, women’s track and field and baseball were all recognized for their exceptional seasons.
Women’s soccer finished second in the RMAC standings, registering their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
Junior track and field athlete Aleksandra Anderson was the recipient of the David Mueller Award. Mueller was a student at UCCS who passed away in a car accident in 2009. His family presents the David Mueller Award as well as a scholarship to a cross country or track and field athlete every year in his honor.
Men’s and women’s cross country both finished in the top-5 at the NCAA South Central Regional Meet, with junior Kayla Wooten earning All- America honors.
Men’s track and field finished third at RMAC Championships overall, with two RMAC champions and one national champion. They also earned six All- Region and 14 All-RMAC awards.
Baseball registered a 7- 4 record against top 20 nationally-ranked teams while splitting their four-game series against No. 1 Colorado Mesa University.