Charleston, S.C. – The Citadel Cross Country and Track and Field teams held their annual awards banquet Tuesday evening, April 26 at the Altman Center. Awarded by head coach Jody Huddleston and assistant coach Kris Kut, the teams celebrated their accomplishments with coaches, athletic staff members, family, friends and alumni in attendance.
The banquet began with the recognition of first-year letterwinners and followed with the award ceremony of cross country participants. With the first award given, Erinn Carter and co-honorees Will Johnson and Austin Waldrop were awarded the Bulldog Award. Given to someone that is tough, practices hard, helps out and does work not only on the track or field but in the classroom as well, the Bulldog Award honoree is known to be "tough like a Bulldog."
The Outstanding Competitor Award went to Atom Young, while the Mandy Garcia Cross Country Award went to Suzanne Gay. Named for the first female cadet-student-athlete in The Citadel's history, the Mandy Garcia Cross Country Award is the outstanding competitor award for female recipients.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, voted on by the cross country team, went to Kyle Keene and the female MVP was Danielle McKee.
In between honoring the cross country athletes and the start of the track and field awards, Huddleston recognized the 2010-11 senior class with speeches given by recruiting coordinator coach Kut. Eleven seniors were recognized from both the cross country and track and field teams combined.
The track and field awards began with the High Point Award, given to the individuals who scored the most points throughout the indoor and outdoor season. For the women, Nicole Levermann was honored while Brunson Miller captured the award for the men. The Most Improved Track and Field Athlete award went to Kasandra Polson and Christopher Castagno for their ability to break records and moving up the top-10 list in the school record books. For their assistance in making the team better, the Outstanding Track Athlete Award went to Chalita Johnson and Daniel Till. Levermann picked up her second award for Most Outstanding Field Performer, while James Harris earned the award for the men.
The Braskie Award went to the athletes that did something abnormal and or different during the season. This year's honor went to Natalie Wolin and co-recipients Timothy Smith and David Melton. The Thomas Metsker award went to Andriana Love and Blane Woodfin. Captain Tom Metsker '61 was a two-time Southern Conference Champion from The Citadel whose sacrifices in action during the Vietnam War were displayed in the book We Were Soldiers Once…and Young and the movie We Were Soldiers.
The final awards of the evening were the MVP awards, voted on by the track and field teams. Micah Wessinger and Brunson Miller earned the awards for their valuable performances throughout the season.
Recognition was also given to the All-Southern Conference honorees from the indoor and outdoor seasons.
The banquet concluded with recognition of the 2010-11 cross country and track and field captains, Kevin Flood (cross country), Suzanne Gay (cross country), James Harris (track and field) and Sarah Creel (track and field), prior to introducing the newly appointed 2011-12 team captains, Erinn Carter (cross country), Brent Little (track and field), Francesca McCrary (track and field) and P.J. Wasilchak (cross country).
Several members of the track and field team will continue the season Thursday-Saturday, April 28-30 at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa., attempting to reach qualifying marks for participation at the NCAA East Regional in Bloomington, Ind.
For more information on Bulldog Track and Field, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.
