Ohio Wesleyan University senior Veronica Hardman (Blenheim, New Zealand/Ravenswood) won the highest honor at the 19th annual Dale J. Bruce Scholar-Athlete Awards ceremony, held on Thursday in the Benes Rooms of the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center on the Ohio Wesleyan campus.
Hardman, a member of the field hockey and women's track & field teams, received the Presidential Award, recognizing the University's top athlete and person. The top honor awarded by the Ohio Wesleyan athletics department, the Presidential Award is based on athletics ability and achievement, academic excellence, character, leadership, activities, and inspiration.
Receiving Top Ten Awards were senior John Catanzarite (Worthington/Kilbourne), Hardman, junior Marquel Henry (Dayton/Chaminade Julienne), junior Siarra Hoover (Frazeysburg/Newark Licking Valley), junior Payne Johnson (Barnesville), junior Nicole Klabus (Delaware/Hayes), junior Addystin Lykins (Carey), senior Aamir Motiwala (Karachi, Pakistan/Karachi Grammar School), senior D.J. Neff (Grove City), senior Eliza Richardson (Lakewood), and junior Kasey Schipfer (Mechanicsburg).
The Top Ten Award is voted upon by the Ohio Wesleyan Athletics Council and is based upon the student-athlete's impact upon their family, their team, the University, and the Delaware community. Catanzarite is a member of the men's golf team, Henry is a member of the football and wrestling teams, Hoover is a member of the women's cross country, women's swimming & diving, and women's track & field teams, Johnson is a member of the men's golf team, Klabus is a member of the women's lacrosse team, Lykins is a member of the women's track & field team, Motiwala is a member of the men's swimming & diving team, Neff is a member of the baseball team, Richardson is a member of the volleyball team, and Schipfer is a member of the women's basketball team.
The Dr. Jay Martin Award, honoring the top male senior student-athlete, went to senior Jack Clement (Bellefontaine), a member of the men's basketball team.
The Nan Carney-DeBord Award, recognizing the top female senior student-athlete, went to Hardman.
The Dr. Richard Gordin Award, recognizing the highest cumulative grade point average among senior male student-athletes, went to senior Ethan Berkovitz (Solon), a member of the men's soccer team.
The Mary Parker Award, recognizing the highest cumulative grade point average among senior female student-athletes, went to senior Mikayla (Watts) Bailey (Geneva), a member of the women's cross country team.
The James DiBiasio Sportsmanship Award went to senior Grant Spicer (Cincinnati/Lakota East), a member of the men's basketball team, and the Mackenzie Conway Sportsmanship Award went to Hardman.
Also recognized were Ohio Wesleyan's top 50 student-athletes by cumulative grade point average. They were: sophomore Tim Alexander (Noblesville, Ind.), sophomore Spencer Amacher (Blacksburg, Va./Blue Ridge School), senior Mikayla (Watts) Bailey (Geneva), sophomore Ashley Beatty (Delaware/Buckeye Valley), junior Bryan Benavente (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel), Berkovitz, junior Ben Buroker (Providence, R.I./Moses Brown School), junior Josh Cabacungan (Medina), senior Audrey Calvin (Medina/Akron Our Lady of the Elms), sophomore Amara Carlson (Dublin/Coffman), junior Sophia Cegledy (Pataskala/Bishop Hartley), junior Katie Chittum (Hebron/Lakewood), junior Gabriel Chlebowski (Toledo/St. John's), senior Nicholas Cianciola (Massillon/Canton Central Catholic), sophomore Gabi Dahllof (Bear, Del./Caravel Academy), junior Jeremy Dao (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam/Le Hong Phong), junior Sophia DelGallo (Braintree, Mass.), junior Lauren Denison (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial), sophomore Kelsey Eckhert (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), junior Jamison Ellis (North Canton/Hoover), sophomore Jennifer Garner (Oro Valley, Ariz./Basis Oro Valley), sophomore Lauren Gerber (Worthington/Thomas Worthington), sophomore Sydney Good (Westerville/Central), Hardman, Hoover, and sophomore Wes Horton (Columbus/Thomas Worthington).
Also, junior Zach Jasper (Hilliard/Darby), sophomore Blake Johnson (Centerburg), Payne Johnson, sophomore Geoffrey Kaminski (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange), sophomore Coleman Kegler (Columbus/Upper Arlington), Klabus, senior Katie Lee (Chardon/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin), sophomore Katie Lucas (St. Marys/Memorial), junior Sammy Maglott (Fredericktown), junior Heath Manson (Massillon/Washington), sophomore Sarah Mazzei (Rocky River), junior Melissa Murray (Chardon/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin), junior Anna Nacci (Wooster), sophomore Mike Ostertag (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East), sophomore Avery Panozzo (Denver, Colo./Mullen), junior Kaitlyn Peters (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead), sophomore Dante Roselli (Burlington, Ontario/Assumption Catholic Secondary), junior Kasey Schipfer (Mechanicsburg), sophomore Morgan Scott (Delaware/Olentangy Orange), sophomore Katelyn Stapleton (Urbana/West Liberty Salem), sophomore Josephine Stark (Sandusky/Margaretta), sophomore Trey Theobald (Archbold), sophomore Drew Thornton (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), sophomore McKenna Tuttle (Richmond, Ky./Model Laboratory School), sophomore Gavin Wilson (Centerburg), and sophomore Kelsey Wolfe (Apple Creek/Waynedale).
The Bob Strimer Director's Cup, awarded to the Ohio Wesleyan team with the highest cumulative grade point average, went to the softball team.
The Town-Gown Award, given by the Ohio Wesleyan athletics department in recognition of longstanding relationships with and outstanding support of Ohio Wesleyan student-athletes and athletics programs, went to Steve Basford, who has been the voice of Battling Bishop football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball webcasts for the last decade.
The Dale J. Bruce Scholar-Athlete Awards are named in honor of the late Dale Bruce '52, an All-America football end at Ohio Wesleyan who was a longtime supporter of Battling Bishop athletics.
