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BAY CITY, Mich. -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announcedsthe recipients of the Spring 2010 GLIAC Commissioner’s Awards.  The awards, sponsored by Meijer are presented after the Fall,Winter, and Spring athletic seasons to six male and six female student-athletes that excel both in the classroom and on the fields of play. All grade point averages are based on a 4.0 scale.

     The six female student-athletes to receive the Spring 2010 GLIAC Commissioner’s Awards are:  Abby Kacsandi of Ashland University; Stephanie Charnigo of the University of Findlay; Caitlin Bennett of Grand Valley State University; Megan Eddy of Northwood University,  Jamie Swick of Northwood University and Casey Hanes of Wayne State University. 

     The six male student-athletes to receive the Spring 2010 GLIAC Commissioner’s Awards are:  Kyle Revall of Ferris State University; Kyle Gendron of Grand Valley State University; Matt Malloure of Grand Valley State University; Charles Wysong of Hillsdale College;  Ken Gilkerson of Michigan TechnologicalUniversity; Brady Cooper of Wayne State University.

    “These 12 student-athletes that represent, their institutions, the GLIAC, and their respective communities truly embody the term student-athlete,” stated GLIAC Comissioner Dell Robinson. “Their pursuit of excellence on and off field serves as a monumental testament of the talented young leaders we have in this conference.  I will look to them to be the leaders of the future. The GLIAC greatly appreciates the support of Meijer for their sponsorship of the 2009-10 Commissioner’s Award. The award, and the continued support by Meijer, are evidence of our pursuit of academic excellence.”

The following are biographies of the Spring 2010 GLIAC Commissioner’s Awards recipients:

     Senior Abby Kacsandi (Wooster, Ohio) won the first national championship of her track and field career in 2010 when she finished first in the high jump at the indoor national championships.  Kacsandi entered that meet with the best mark in the country (5-10).  She followed that up by finishing in a tie for third place in the high jump at the 2010 outdoor national championships.  In 2010, Kacsandi won GLIAC championships in the high jump indoors and outdoors.  The senior is a three-time All-America and she helped the AU women finish tied for second at indoor nationals. That’s the highest finish in school history.  Kacsandi is a speech communications major with a 3.64 grade point average.

  Senior Stephanie Charnigo (Medina, Ohio/Buckeye) recently wrapped up an outstanding career with the Oilers track program by being named All-American in the 800-meter run during the outdoor championship.  A six-time All-American during indoor and outdoor competition, Charnigo won the 1500-meter run at the GLIAC Championship in the spring and has contributed to four other championships during her career.  Charnigo also shares or holds seven school records at Findlay. From an academic standpoint, Charnigo, a physical therapy major, has been on the Dean’s List every semester of her career.  The 2010 Mancuso Award winner, the highest honor an athlete can receive at Findlay for their athletic and academic achievements, Charnigo has been named a USTFCCCA All-American three times in her career and has met the criteria during her senior season as well.

     Senior Caitlin Bennett  (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./North) a four-time All-GLIAC honoree (including three First Team All-GLIAC selections), led the Lakers to the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships for the third consecutive year.  Bennett recorded a total of ten top-10 finishes in 2010, including six top-five finishes. She tied for second place at the GLIAC Championship (her fourth top-10 finish at the conference championships), which helped GVSU to its third straight league title. A two-time National Golf Coaches Association All-Region East Team selection (2009, 2010), Bennett is a three-time member of the GLIAC All-Academic Team.

     Junior Megan Eddy (Merrill, Mich.) earned First Team All-GLIAC honors for Northwood in 2010. She was the team’s best pitcher, going 10-5 overall while ranking third in the GLIAC in ERA.  Eddy was also a key offensive player for Northwood, batting .303 while leading the GLIAC in stolen bases.  Eddy is a Management major with a 3.98 overall grade point average.  She has earned Academic All-GLIAC honors twice in her career.

    Senior Jamie Swick (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) was recently named valedictorian of the class of 2010 at Northwood University.  She finished her academic career with a 3.99 overall grade point average while majoring in Management.  Swick was a key player for the Timberwolves’ softball team, starting 35 games for Northwood.  She finished the year with 22 hits and a .234 batting average.  Swick earned Academic All-GLIAC honors three times in her career.

    Senior Casey Hanes (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) earned First Team All-America accolades from both the NFCA and Daktronics after leading the nation in earned-run average (0.58) and finishing second in victories (42), shutouts (19) and strikeouts (366).  The two-time GLIAC Pitcher of the Year, Hanes led the Warriors to the 2010 College World Series after claiming the GLIAC regular-season title, along with the NCAA Midwest Regional and Super Regional trophies.  Off the field, she was a GLIAC All-Academic team selection as well as being voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team. Hanes concluded her collegiate career ranked fifth in wins (126) in NCAA Division II history, sixth in complete games (130) and innings pitched (1,062.7), tied-for-sixth in games pitched (179), seventh in shutouts (60), tied-for-ninth in games started (141), and 10th in strikeouts (1,156), while setting school record for strikeouts (649), shutouts (32) and ERA (0.67) and tying the school mark for wins (72).

     Senior Kyle Revall (West Lafayette, Ind./Mattawan) who ranked 12th in this spring’s ITA Division II Midwest Regional Singles Rankings, received All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) laurels for the first time this campaign and posted an 8-7 overall record this year at the number one singles position.  He posted a 4-3 individual ledger in GLIAC singles matches and won five of his last eight decisions overall.  In doubles play, Revall teamed with junior Steven Roberts at the top flight to record a 4-3 mark in GLIAC competition and a 7-12 overall record.  They won seven of their last 11 matches as a duo.  The 6-1 Revall concluded his Bulldog career with a 22-18 singles mark along with a 19-25 record in doubles play over the course of his two-year Bulldog stint. He was also honored as this year’s ITA Midwest Region Arthur Ashe Award recipient for Leadership and Sportsmanship.  His play this season helped FSU to a second-place GLIAC regular-season finish, a third-place showing in the GLIAC Tournament and a 13th consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

    Senior Kyle Gendron (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) was a 2010 First Team All-GLIAC selection (for the second straight year) and was named an All-Midwest Region First Team honoree by three different publications. Gendron posted a .381 batting average with a team-high 50 RBI, while finishing second on the Lakers with 74 hits, 40 runs, 15 doubles, and 114 total bases. An American Baseball Coaches Association Third Team All-America last year, Gendron ranks fifth in GVSU history in batting average (.394) and doubles (36), ninth in homers (18) and total bases (264), and 11th in hits (164).

  Senior Matt Malloure (Farmington Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) earned his third All-GLIAC selection in 2010, as he was named to the All-GLIAC First Team for the second time in his career. Malloure’s second-place finish at the GLIAC Championship last October helped GVSU defend its title and repeat as conference champions. The three-time member of the GLIAC All-Academic Team (2008, 2009, 2010), Malloure recorded a stroke average of 72.53 for the year and finished in the top-20 in five events, including two top-20 finishes at regional tournaments in April.

   Junior Chuck Wysong (Wawaka, Ind./West Noble) is the third member of the Hillsdale College outdoor track team to receive the GLIAC Commissioner’s Award in three years. He is the school record holder in the 3000 meter steeplechase (9:16.42), which was set at the 2010 Hillsdale College Gina Relays. He finished fourth at the GLIAC championships in that event this spring. In the fall, he was one of the men’s cross country team’s top performers, and was named Academic All-American by the USTFCCCA, while achieving a 3.8 overall grade point average. Away from the track, Wysong is involved in a wide variety of activities and organizations, including acting as a leader for the school’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Athletes in Action and is a Bible study leader on campus. He and his brother Jeff have worked at an area prison over the past two summers as part of a prison ministry group, performing church services for more than 100 inmates on a weekly basis.

   Senior Ken Gilkerson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Park Center) finished 10th in the 800-meter run in a school-record time of 1:51.08 to finish 10th at the 2010 NCAA Div. II Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He currently holds 8 of the 10 top times in the 800 at Michigan Tech. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native was named an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American last year and is currently a finalist for the award this season. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering while carrying a 3.94 GPA.

    Senior Brady Cooper (Allen Park, Mich.) was voted to the American Baseball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region Second Team as well as the All-GLIAC Second Team along with receiving Daktronics All-Midwest Region Second Team honors.  He compiled a 6-4 record with a 4.38 earned-run average.  He had three complete games including a shutout, tied for third in the GLIAC with 58 strikeouts and was third in fewest walks with 15 in 61 2/3 innings.  Cooper helped the Warriors win both the GLIAC regular-season title and GLIAC tournament championship while advancing to the NCAA tournament for the third time in school history. A 2010 CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team selection, he had seven semesters with at least a term gpa of 3.5+ including five perfect 4.00 semesters.  A three-time GLIAC All-Academic Team member, Cooper was named to the Academic All-District Second Team in 2009.  He was the recipient of the Athletic Dean’s Award for having the highest cumulative grade-point average of any student-athlete in the College of Education in both 2008-09 and 2009-10.