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BAY CITY, Mich. -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announces the recipients of the Winter 2011 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards. The awards, sponsored by Meijer, Incorporated, 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.
The six female student-athletes to receive the Winter 2011 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards are: Laura Bardall of the University of Findlay; Monica Kinney of Grand Valley State University; Lucy Dernovsek and Angela Guisfredi of Michigan Technological University; Pam Wilson of Northwood University, and Catherine Leix of Wayne State University.
The six male student-athlete recipients of the Winter 2011 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards are: John Guagenti of the University of Findlay; Austin Biefnes and Guy Kogel University of Inidanapolis; Mike Hojnacki of Michigan Tech; Michael Fugate of Saginaw Valley State University; and Matt Laschuk of Wayne State.
“These 12 student-athletes represent our cream of the crop.” stated GLIAC Commissioner Dell Robinson. “I am proud of their accomplishments on and off the field. The GLIAC greatly appreciates the support of Meijer for their sponsorship of the 2011 Commissioner’s Award. The award and continued support by Meijer is evidence of our pursuit of academic excellence.”
The following are biographies of the Winter 2011 GLIAC Commissioner’s Awards recipients:
Laura Bardall (Sugarcreek, Ohio/Garaway) is currently in her junior year, on her way to achieving her degree in pre-med at the University of Findlay. Amongst earning a GLIAC All-Academic Award with a cumulative GPA of 3.95, the basketball standout was named First Team All-GLIAC, as well as GLIAC South Division “Player of the Week” for the week of January 18. As a guard on a Findlay team that finished with a 17-10 record, Bardall started all 27 games; averaging 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1 steal per contest. During her career, she has been named to the GLIAC All-Academic team twice, Second Team All-GLIAC team twice, First Team All-GLIAC team once, and currently ranks 8th on the all-time career scoring list with 1,262 career points.
Grand Valley State’s Monica Kinney (Walker, Mich./Grand Rapids West Catholic) claimed two NCAA Division II Championship titles at the 2011 Indoor Track & Field Championships, to help the Lakers claim their first indoor D-II Championship. The junior recorded 21.5 points at the national meet and earned three All-American honors. Kinney finished first in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:28.02, while placing first in the mile run (4:44.41) and helped the distance medley relay team to a third place finish (11:47.40). Kinney also lead GVSU at the conference meet with 20.5 points. She earned the GLIAC title in the 3,000-meter run (9:33.21), while finishing second in the 800-meter run (2:12.86) and helped the distance medley relay team claim first (11:39.50). Kinney has earned Academic All-GLIAC honors, while majoring in Biomedical Science with a 3.76 grade point average.
Senior Lucy Dernovsek (Holcombe, Wis./Lake Holcombe) helped lead the Michigan Tech women’s basketball team to a 31-3 overall record and its first National Championship game in school history. Dernovsek finished among the GLIAC leaders in rebounding, assists, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and blocks. Her 73 blocks on the season were a new school record. Dernovsek was a Daktronics All-America Third Team pick as well as an All-GLIAC North Division First Team honoree. The 5-11 senior possesses a 3.88 grade point average in business administration.
Senior Angela Guisfredi (Hubbell, Mich./Lake Linden) was also a member of the first MTU women’s basketball team to reach the National Championship game with a 31-3 record. Guisfredi led the GLIAC in 3-point shooting at 50.4 percent, which was also a Michigan Tech school record. The 5-5 guard played in a school-record 130 career games, and the team posted a 110-20 in those games. The senior was named the NCAA Elite 88 Award winner for having the highest GPA of any student-athlete at the Elite Eight.
Pam Wilson (Grand Blanc, Mich.) completed her highly-decorated basketball career by being one of just 10 players named to the WBCA/State Farm All-America team. In addition to the All-America honor, she was named the Midwest Region “Player of the Year” by Daktronics and a Capital One First Team Academic All-District honoree. On the court, Wilson lead the GLIAC in scoring (16.9 ppg) while ranking second in rebounding (8.8 rpg). She registered 11 double-doubles this season, the second most in the conference. Her 34-point performance at Ferris State was a career-high and matched the most points scored by a GLIAC individual this season. Wilson led Northwood in scoring 15 times this season while pacing the Timberwolves in rebounds 17 times. For her career, Wilson ranked seventh in Northwood history with 1,315 points and ninth with 567 rebounds. Her 456 points this season were the second most by a player at Northwood. She has earned GLIAC All-Academic honors twice in her career and was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence team this year.
Wayne State senior Catherine Leix (Flint, Mich./Southwestern), battled back from injury to become a two-time conference champion and four-time All-American this past season. Leix earned GLIAC titles in the 500 free and the 1650 free, and placed third in the 1000 free at the conference meet in February. She also led off the fifth-place 800 free relay. At the NCAA Division-II Championships in March, Leix finished fifth in both the 500 free and the 1650 free, seventh in the 1000 free (10:13.98) and 12th in the 200 free (1:52.08). A science education major at WSU, Leix has been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (term GPA 3.5+) all seven semesters, earning a perfect 4.00 in five of the seven terms.
John Guagenti (Bluffton, Ohio) is currently in his junior year on his way to achieving his degree in business at University of Findlay. Amongst earning a GLIAC All-Academic award with a cumulative GPA of 3.81, the indoor track standout is an NCAA All-American in the 4x400 relay and was part of the Oilers 4x400 relay team that set a new school record of 3:12.53 at the D-II Championships. During his career, Guagenti has received All-American indoor track honors three-times, and was a part of the 2009 4x400 GLIAC Championship relay team.
University of Indianapolis junior Austin Biefnes (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) finished fifth at the 2011 GLIAC Swimming and Diving Championships in the 400 individual medley and 11th in the 200 individual medley to help the Greyhounds to a fourth-place finish. Biefnes won the 200 IM at No. 20 Lewis, vs. Wabash and at the Patrick Woehnker Invitational, while also winning the 400 IM against No. 11 Ashland and at the Woehnker Invitational. He won the 200 backstroke in a pair of events and the 100 back vs. No. 11 Ashland. Biefnes ranks third in UIndy history in the 200 back, 200 IM and 400 IM. His performance in the classroom led UIndy to third in the country with a 3.27 team GPA as a CSCAA Fall Scholar All-American Team. Biefnes is a chemistry major with an emphasis on pre-med and holds a 3.99 grade point average.
Guy Kogel (Nahalal, Israel), a junior on the University of Indianapolis swimming and diving team, was an All-American (eighth) in the 400 medley relay at the 2011 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in a school record of 3:18.41. He scored additional points for the Greyhounds by finishing 11th in the 100 butterfly, 12th in the 200 free free, 14th in the 800 free relay and 15th in the 400 free relay. Individually, Kogel was second in the 100 and 200 fly and 10th in the 50 free at the 2011 GLIAC Championships, while also taking second in the 400 free relay and third in the 200 medley, 400 medley and 200 free relays, including school records in both medley relays. Kogel was named Counsilman-Hunsaker National Collegiate and GLIAC “Athlete of the Week” in early November after winning the 100 and 200 fly against Ashland, which was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time. Kogel is majoring in computer science with a 3.73 grade point average that ranked UIndy third in the country as a CSCAA Fall Scholar All-American Team.
Michigan Tech junior, Mike Hojnacki (Milwaukee, Wis./New Berlin Eisenhower), was an All-GLIAC North Division Second Team pick for the Huskies after averaging 15.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Hojnacki recorded eight 20-point games during the season in helping Tech to a 17-11 record and the GLIAC Tournament Semifinal. Hojnacki owns a 3.65 grade point average in mechanical engineering.
Michael Fugate (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland), a guard on the SVSU men’s basketball team, had a breakthrough season in 2010-11. The sophomore averaged 12.6 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game in his first season as a starter. Fugate led the Cardinals in points scored (341), assists (84) and free throws (112) while playing in just under 31 minutes per game. He posted a season-high 30 points on December 9th against Wayne State. Fugate carries a 3.80 cumulative grade point average in Electrical Engineering.
Matthew Laschuk (Tecumseh, Ont./Academie Ste. Cecile), a junior at Wayne State, received his second consecutive NCAA Elite 88 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 88 championships. He also earned three All-America honors, finishing 14th in the 200 butterfly and 16th in the 200 breaststroke at the NCAA D-II Championships, and joining the sixth-place 400 medley relay. Laschuk finished sixth in both the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke at the GLIAC Championships in February. He also came in seventh in the 200 breaststroke and joined the second-place 400 medley relay. A chemistry major at Wayne State, Laschuk has been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (term GPA 3.5+) every semester, earning a perfect 4.00 in four of the five terms.