Winners of the 2018 Annual Awards Press Release
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Contact: Dr. Marc R. Grosso 1349 Ayrault Road, #25 Niagara Track & Field Fairport, NY 14450-8909 Telephone: (585) 425-4925 Hall of Fame e-mail: [email protected] http://www.niagaratrackhof.org/ Press Release Winners of the 2018 Annual Awards of the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame are announced Rochester, NY: The Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame of Fame is proud to announce the winners of its 2018 Annual Awards. These awards recognize performances and accomplishments made during the 2017-2018 school year. The three finalists for each of these awards were outstanding performers during the 2017-2018 school year. The very high quality of these finalists continues to be a hallmark of this awards program. Tables showing the three placings of the finalists for each award are presented below the award overviews. The 2018 Award Winners and Finalists: Justyn Knight (Syracuse University) is the winner of the 2018 Donald J. Paige Award, leading a Syracuse University sweep of this award. Knight was the 2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Champion and the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor 5,000m run Champion. He was the runner-up in the 5,000m run at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Knight was a finalist for this award in 2016 and 2017. All-American teammates Aidan Tooker and Colin Bennie finished second and third, respectively, in the voting for this award. The 2018 Doriane Lambelet Award was won by Samantha Watson (Texas A&M University). Watson, who won the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Cynthia J. Wyatt Award (awarded to outstanding Female High School Athlete of the Year in the Niagara Association) while representing Rush-Henrietta Sperry HS, was the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor 800m run champion. She finished third in the 800m run at the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. Paige Stoner (Syracuse University) a three time All-American during the 2017-2018 school year and a finalist for this award in 2017, finished second and Abbey Wheeler (Providence College) a finalist for the Cynthia J. Wyatt Award in 2015, finished third in the voting for this award. For Immediate Release more Page 2 Winners of the 2018 Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame Annual Awards Isaac Garcia-Cassani (SUNY Geneseo), a four-time All-American and two-time NCAA Division III National Champion, won the 2018 James D. Ulrich Award. Garcia-Cassani was the 2018 NCAA Division III Outdoor 1,500m run Champion and anchored the 2018 NCAA Division III Indoor Distance Medley Relay team champions. He was a finalist for this award in 2017. Multiple time All-Americans and 2018 NCAA Division Champions Peter Girardi (400m Hurdles) and Mark Van Marter (indoor Long Jump), both of St. John Fisher College, finished second and third, respectively in the voting for this award. Girardi was a finalist for this award in 2016 and 2017. The winner of the 2018 Jack Tupper Daniels Award for the third consecutive year (2016, 2017, and 2018) is Katherine Pitman (Ithaca College). Pitman won the Pole Vault at the 2018 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships with a NCAA Division III Championship record and NCAA Division III National Record (4.28m | 14-00.50). She set the NCAA Division III Outdoor Record in the Pole Vault (4.31m | 14-1.75). Pitman was undefeated during the 2017-2018 school year prior to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. Taryn Cordani (Ithaca College), a five-time All-American during the 2017-2018 school year and NCAA Division III Outdoor 10,000m run National Champion, finished second in the voting for this award. She was a finalist for this award in 2017. Victoire Kothor (Brockport State), NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor National Champion in Shot Put and three-time All-American, finished third in the voting for this award. Jeremiah Willis (Cicero-North Syracuse HS), won the 2018 Trenton J. Jackson Award. Willis was a nationally ranked Indoor High School All-American in the long jump, was the 2018 New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Indoor Champion in the Long Jump and Triple Jump and the 2018 NYPSHAA Division 1 Outdoor Champion in the Long Jump and Triple Jump. Joe Weaver (Central Square HS), the 2018 NYPSHAA and NYS Federation Outdoor Champion in the Pole Vault, finished second and Jon Surdej (Lancaster HS), the 2018 NYSPHSAA Indoor Champion in the Shot Put and 2018 NYPSHSAA Division 1 and NYS Federation Outdoor Champion in the Shot Put, finished third in the voting for this award. The winner of the 2018 Cynthia J. Wyatt Award is Lanae-Tava Thomas (Rush-Henrietta Sperry HS). Thomas was nationally ranked and was two-time Indoor High School All-American (long jump, 200m dash) and the 2018 New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Indoor Champion in the Long Jump, 55m dash, and 300m dash. Outdoors she was the NYS Division 1 Champion in the 100m Dash, the 200m Dash, the anchor of the 4x100m Relay NYS Division 1 champions, and the anchor of the NYS Division 1 Champion in the 4x400m Relay. She was also the NYS Federation Champion in the 100m Dash, the 200m Dash, and the anchor of the NYS Federation Champion in the 4x100m Relay. Thomas was a finalist more Page 3 Winners of the 2018 Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame Annual Awards for this award in 2016 and 2017. Vanessa Watson (Spencerport HS), was US ranked #1 in the 600m run during the indoor season and US ranked #3 in the 400m Hurdles. She was the 2018 NYSPHAA Indoor Champion in the 600m dash, the NYS Division 1 Champion, NYS Federation Champion in the 400m Hurdles, and was fourth in the 400m Hurdles at the USATF Junior National Championships, finished second in the voting for this award. Finishing third in the voting for this award is Brooke Rauber (Tully HS), who was nationally ranked in multiple events for the indoor and outdoor seasons. She achieved All-American status in Cross Country and in the 2,000m Steeplechase during the outdoor season. Rauber set the NYS Freshman and National Freshman Record in the 2,000m Steeplechase (6:45.34). Michelle Rauber, Head Girls Coach at Tully HS, is the winner of the 2018 Bob Ivory Award. Under her guidance, the Tully Girls team had a very successful year while winning the indoor and outdoor Sectional and League Team Championships. During the course of the year, the team members set sixteen school records, had twenty-two sectional champions, eleven state meet qualifiers, one state champion, and two All-American performances. Rauber’s daughter set the NYS Freshman and National Freshman Record in the 2,000m Steeplechase (6:45.34) and set the Freshman cross country course record at three courses, and the overall course record at a fourth course. Greg Broton, the Head Boys and Girls Cross Country, Head Boys and Girls Indoor Track and Field, and Head Boys and Girls Outdoor Track and Field Coach at Cicero-North Syracuse HS, finished second, and Tim Burlee, the Head Boys and Girls Cross Country, Head Boys and Girls Indoor Track and Field, and Head Boys and Girls Outdoor Track and Field Coach at Wayne HS, finished third in the voting for this award. Coached by Jennifer Potter, the Ithaca College Women’s Indoor Track and Field Team, finished seventh at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships and had four athletes earn All-American status including one NCAA Division III National Indoor Champion. The team finished second at the All Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference Championships, were Empire 8 conference champions, and set six school records in five events. Katherine Pitman was named USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year, USTFCCCA Outstanding Field Performer of the Meet at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, and USTFCCCA Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year, Taryn Cordani was named USTFCCCA Atlantic Track Athlete of the Year, and seventeen athletes were named to the USTFCCCA All-Region Indoor Track and Field Team. The Ithaca College Women’s Indoor Track and Field Team, is the second repeat winner of the Charles H. Moore, Jr. Award). This team also won this award in 2017. The SUNY Geneseo Women’s Cross Country team, coached by Dan Moore, finished second, and the Ithaca College Women’s Outdoor Track and Field team, coached by Jennifer Potter, finished third in the voting for this award. There has been at least one repeat winner since the second year of these awards (2013). Repeat winners are: more Page 4 Winners of the 2018 Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame Annual Awards Sean Bernstein, SUNY Oneonta (James D. Ulrich Award) in won in 2012 and 2013 Amy Cymerman, Grand Valley State University and St. Lawrence University (Jack Tupper Daniels Award) won in 2015 and 2016 Jonathan W. Jones, University at Buffalo (Donald J. Paige Award) won in 2013 and 2015 Katherine Pitman, Ithaca College (Jack Tupper Daniels Award) won in 2016, 2017, and 2018 Joseph Postwaite, Lake Erie College (James D. Ulrich Award), won in 2015 and 2016 Rachel Sorna, Cornell University (Doriane Lambelet Award), won in 2013 and 2014 Samantha Watson, Rush Henrietta Sperry High School (Cynthia J. Wyatt Award), won in 2015, 2016, and 2017 Rudy Winker, Cornell University (Donald J. Paige Award), won in 2016 and 2017 Samuel R. Wray, Starpoint, High School (Trenton J. Jackson Award), won in 2015, and 2016 Men’s Cross Country Team, of Syracuse University (Charles H. Moore, Jr. Award), won in 2015 and 2016 Women’s Indoor Track and Field Team, of Ithaca College (Charles H.