Cross Country/Track & Field Announces 2023 Team Awards
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech cross country/track & field coaching staff announced their team awards for the 2023 calendar year.
Track award winners:
Most Improved Athlete
16:27 ->15:09, making the GLIAC roster for the first time in an event that is highly competitive within our team.
18:58-> 17:43 and 5:19->4:51, and a first 10k of 36:44 (faster pace than her previous best 5k). That 10k also produced a podium finish at GLIACs for 3rd.
Rookie of the Year
Consistently one of if not our strongest vaulter. Produced a school record of 4.80m (15-9) which is also very close to a provo mark in his first season
Consistently one of if not our strongest vaulter. Produced a school record of 3.60m (11-9.75).
Most Valuable Athlete
Consistently produced performances that won races, highlighted by repeating at GLIAC Champ 1500m and a return to the national championships. Also was a vocal leader of the men's distance group even finding ways to serve his teammates by doubling in meets to act as a pacer.
National qualifier and new school record in the 800m while showing us all what it means to be truly driven toward one's goals.
Scholastic Achievement Awards - 24 term 4.0GPAs means this is a balance of term and cumulative GPA
With a 4.0 and then edging out the win with cumulative GPA Sam is a model for our value of balance by getting it done in the classroom and on the track given that he was 1500m GLIAC runner up and also hit a provo time nearly making the national championship meet
Also a 4.0 for the semester and edged out the other 4.0s on cumulative. She is also a shining example of balance as she turned in our top 1500m performance of the spring and made the GLIAC final.
Cross Country Award winners:
Most Improved Athlete
He's an athlete who has consistently made smart decisions to get training and recovery right. He took a big step up last track season, dropping over a minute on his 5k PR, and continued that trajectory into this fall. He went from being around our 20th man last fall XC season to constantly running at the top of our pack, including scoring for us at the Regional championships. He's a great example of how patience and long-term commitment and consistency can pay off!
Mady is another athlete who has had to be very patient, and we couldn't be more proud of where she is now in her athletic journey. Unlike most winners of this award, Mady had a lot of success very early in her career at Tech, and even went to the 2019 NCAA Championships as a member of that phenomenal squad. But then a variety of factors led to a disappointing couple of seasons- we all knew she had it in her, but her body needed time and consistency to recover and come back. And come back it did! This year she was better than ever, and her 22:25 6k at regionals was an improvement of over 35 seconds from her previous pr from freshman year, run on that same course.
Rookie of the Year
Freshman transfer Ben Conlin had a few ups and downs over the season, but finished the second half of the season strong as a top 7 runner. This young man has bucketloads of talent and exemplifies our team values. Our future is looking strong!
Rarely does a freshman athlete come in and immediately make an impact on the overall team performance as Sophia did. She was a strong #2 runner to our veteran frontrunner. This season she's been a sponge, absorbing the wisdom of her teammates and coaches. She got faster and faster as the season went on, and she's looking strong heading into this track season.
Most Valuable Athlete
After sitting out the first two races due to injury, Sam returned at the Roy Griak Invitational as our top man, and held that position for the rest of the season. He capped off his season with a 6gh place ALL GLIAC finish at our conference Championships, and a 21st place All-Region performance at the Regional Championships.
The grandma of the team, Hannah, was on a mission this year to make up for lost time. She was our top athlete every single time we lined up, and she set a new PR just about every time as well. We do not maintain a record board for cross country, but as far as I can tell, her 21:15.7 at regionals is the second-fastest 6k time run by a woman at MTU. She also won All-GLIAC and All-Region honors this season.
Scholastic Achievement Awards
4.0 semester, 4.0 overall, over a hundred credit hours, studying Mechanical Engineering. He's also a top athlete on the race course, finishing as our 7th man at the GLIAC Championships.
Anabel Needham:
4.0 semester, 4.0 overall, she is in grad school so less credit hours, tie breaker spring 2023 spring grades (3.96). Anabel was also a top athletic contributor, including second-team All-Conference honors.
Spirit of the Pack
Nick truly exemplifies everything that we value as a team. He treats everyone with easy respect, he's a cornerstone of the multiple communities he represents, he seemingly effortlessly balances being an athlete, an engineering student, and a leadership position within the ROTC. He graduated this fall and will go on as an officer in the United States Space Force- they are incredibly lucky to have him.
Cedar was voted in as an additional women's captain this season, and rose to the occasion. Her calm steady leadership has set the tone for an outstanding team culture. On a team full of absolutely fantastic women, Cedar stands as an example of the best of the best.
Academic Winners:
Semester 4.0:
Cumulative 4.0:
Major MTU Awards:
Raymond L. Smith Award 2023:
The Raymond L. Smith Award is given annually to the outstanding male and female senior student-athletes at Michigan Tech each year. Inaugurated in 1970 as the Outstanding Senior Athlete Award, this accolade has become the most prestigious among student-athletes at the University. In 1980, the Varsity Club renamed this award in honor of Dr. Raymond L. Smith, who served as president of Michigan Tech from 1965 until his retirement in 1979.
Terry Wilson Award 2022 (retroactively awarded):
The Terry Wilson Award is presented annually to the outstanding freshmen male and female student-athletes at Michigan Tech. Established by Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Wilson in 1963, the award is given in memory of Terry Eugene Wilson, who was killed in an automobile accident near Munising, Mich., on December 14, 1962, while traveling home to Pontiac, Mich., for the Christmas holidays. Wilson, a sophomore in electrical engineering, was considered a versatile athlete, earning four varsity letters, two in football and one each in swimming and track.