GLIAC Winter 2017-18 Commissioner's Award Recipients Announced

GLIAC Winter 2017-18 Commissioner's Award Recipients Announced

Click here to view previous GLIAC Commissioner's Award recipients

GLIAC – The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced the recipients of the Winter 2017-18 GLIAC Commissioner’s Awards on Wednesday (April 18). The awards are presented after the Fall, Winter, and Spring athletic seasons to six female and six male 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 recipients are: Laina Snyder (Ashland), Andi Daugherty (Ashland), Rachel McInerney (Ferris State), Lindsay Orwat (Northwood), Angela Ritter (Grand Valley State), Shayla Huebner (Northern Michigan)

The six male honorees are: Paul Evans (Northwood), Davis Bowers (Tiffin), Jared Gregory (Grand Valley State), Cameron Burrows (Tiffin), Chris May (Grand Valley State), Jon Cok (Ferris State)


Andi Daugherty // Ashland // Basketball

Daugherty, sporting a 3.95 cumulative grade-point average as a Finance major through the 2017 fall semester, averaged 14.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 2017-18, while shooting 55.1 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from 3-point range and 88.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Daugherty recently finished her Eagle career ranking in the program’s top five in points scored (third, 2,105), games played (tied for first, 138), field goals made (third, 773), free throws made (second, 386), field-goal percentage (fourth, 52.8), free-throw percentage (fourth, 80.8), rebounds (third, 923), assists (fourth, 398) and blocks (fifth, 110).
She is the first player in program history to be a four-time GLIAC All-Defensive Team selection, and the first Ashland College/University student-athlete to earn three College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American awards. Daugherty is a three-time Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American – first-team as a junior and honorable mention as a sophomore and senior.
 

Laina Snyder // Ashland // Basketball

Snyder, earning a 3.91 cumulative GPA as a Business Management major through the 2017 fall semester, went for 19.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.6 steals per contest as a senior, while hitting 51.6 percent from the floor, 32.1 percent from beyond the arc and 78.2 percent from the charity stripe.
Snyder is the program’s all-time leader in points (2,295), rebounds (1,207), steals (372), field goals made (972) and games played (tied, 138), and is also in the career top five in scoring average (third, 16.6), free-throw percentage (fifth, 78.2) and blocked shots (fourth, 113).
She is a three-time WBCA All-American (first-team as a junior and senior, honorable mention as a sophomore), and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American. Snyder was the 2016-17 GLIAC Player of the Year, the 2017 NCAA Division II Elite Eight Most Outstanding Player, the 2016-17 Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA) Midwest Region Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and the 2016-17 GLIAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Rachel McInerney // Ferris State // Basketball

Ferris State University's Rachel McInerney capped off her standout hoops career by being named to the 2018 CoSIDA Academic All-America Team. This year, she earned All-GLIAC First Team honors for the second-straight year and served as team captain as the Bulldogs reached the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2013.

Behind the play of McInerney, Ferris State posted its most wins in six years with 15 this campaign as she averaged 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. She tallied 25 double-figure scoring performances and scored 20 points or more nine times this season while also shooting better than 50% from the floor.

As a senior, McInerney led the GLIAC in rebounding and field goal percentage while placing fourth in scoring. She also garnered GLIAC All-Defensive Team recognition and earned GLIAC North Division Player of Week honors multiple times this year. A three-time GLIAC All-Academic Team selection, McInerney has been highly active in the team's community service initiatives and holds a 3.97 cumulative GPA in elementary education at FSU.


Lindsay Orwat // Northwood // Basketball

Lindsay Orwat turned in one of the best seasons in the history Northwood University women’s basketball. She averaged 17.8 points per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the floor and 41.4 percent from three-point range. Orwat ranked in the top five in the GLIAC in all three of those categories.  She finished the season with 498 points on the year, the second-highest total in a year in school history while making the fourth-most three pointers (63).

In three seasons at Northwood, Orwat scored 960 points, which is good for 18th in school history. She stands fifth in program history in three-point field goal percentage (37.7 percent) and eighth on the career list at Northwood in three-point field goals made (130). Orwat earned GLIAC All-Academic Excellence honors twice in her career.

A Finance major, Orwat currently maintains a 3.918 grade point average.


Angela Ritter // Grand Valley State // Track & Field

Grand Valley State senior Angela Ritter has been honored as a 2018 GLIAC Commissioner Award honoree after turning in an outstanding indoor track & field campaign to complete her indoor track & field career. Ritter concluded her senior season as a member of the 4x400m that were crowned National Champions during the 2018 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships. At the 2018 GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, she placed first in the 200m dash and was part of the 4x400m relay team that also finished first during the conference championships. In addition, Ritter was awarded the Women’s High Point Athlete of the Meet, scoring 20.5 points, that helped the Lakers achieve a school record of 253.5 points en route to their 19th straight conference title. 

During her senior year, Ritter added more to her indoor track & field resume, as she added three more All-American honors, with one USTFCCCA First-Team All-American honor as member of the 4x400m relay team, and two USTFCCCA Second-Team honors in the 60m dash and the 200m dash. Ritter also received USTFCCCA All-Region recognitions in the 60m, 200m, 400m and the 4x400m relay events.

Ritter, who was a 2016-2017 Winter Commissioner Award recipient, is also a three-time GLIAC Academic All-Excellence honoree, and a 2017 USTFCCCA All-Academic American. She also holds a overall grade point average of 3.74 as a Biomedical Sciences major. 


Shayla Huebner // Northern Michigan // Track & Field

Competing at the NCAA Division II National Championships during the indoor season, Huebner became the 10th All-American in program history when she finished 10th in the 800-meters at the national meet. Her time of two minutes, 10.93 seconds was second-fastest in program history and less than a second of the school record. She was also a part of the 4x400-meter relay team that set the program record at the GLIAC Championships.  

For her career, Huebner owns six track & field school records with three during each the indoor and outdoor season. She is also a four-time All-Conference performer in her career and earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region honors for the first time during the indoor season.   

A sport science major, Huebner has a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average after the fall semester. Between track & field and cross country, Huebner has now been named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence team in each of the five seasons she has been eligible.


Paul Evans // Northwood // Track & Field

Paul Evans had an outstanding campaign during the indoor track and field season, highlighted by earning All-America honors in the weight throw at the NCAA Championships. He placed sixth overall in the event with a school-record toss of 65-11.75. He placed fourth at the GLIAC Championships in the weight throw, finishing behind three athletes who ranked in the top five in the event nationally.

A five-time GLIAC All-Academic Excellence honoree, Evans now owns two outdoor school records (discus, hammer throw) and one indoor mark (weight throw). He has earned All-America honors in the weight throw in each of the last two years.

Evans sports a 3.775 GPA and already graduated with his undergraduate degree in Entertainment, Sports & Promotion Management. He is currently enrolled in the DeVos Graduate School of Management.


Davis Bowers // Tiffin // Track & Field

Davis Bowers is a junior pole vaulter majoring in Criminalistics who was one of the standout indoor track and field athletes for Tiffin University's NCAA National Runner-up team. He holds a 3.77 GPA and is from Belle Center, Ohio.

Bowers earned First Team All American status with a 3rd place finish at the National Championships. His mark of 5.25 meters shattered the school record and equaled the mark hit by both the national champion and the runner-up finisher. Bowers also had the third best mark in the Midwest Region heading into nationals. 

He is also a three-time placer at the GLIAC Championships, taking 2nd in 2018, 3rd in 2017, and 5th in 2016. He placed in the Top 4 at four of the six meets he competed in this winter.


Jared Gregory // Grand Valley State // Diving

Grand Valley State senior Jared Gregory earned NCAA DII All-America honors at the 2018 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, marking the fourth consecutive year that Gregory was a two-time All-American on the diving board. Gregory also captured the 2018 GLIAC title on the 1-meter board, while finishing second on the 3-meter board at the 2018 GLIAC Championships. Gregory also earned eight All-GLIAC honors during his career, including two GLIAC titles on the one-meter board and never finished lower than third at the GLIAC Championships in his career.. Jared was named to the GLIAC Academic All-Excellence team three times and was a four-time College Swim Coaches Association of America Academic Scholar Athlete honoree.


Cameron Burrows // Tiffin // Track & Field

Cameron Burrows is a junior track and field athlete who competes in heptathlon and high jump for Tiffin's NCAA National Runner-up team. He is majoring in Marketing with a 3.77 GPA and hails from Sandusky, Ohio. 

Burrows had a record-breaking effort at Nationals, shattering the school record in the heptathlon with 5490 points and finishing 4th overall. He led the heptathlon field in the high jump and long jump while taking second in the pole vault. Overall he appeared in two national categories, posting the 6th best mark in the high jump with 2.12 meters and 10th in the heptathlon with 5240 points heading into nationals. Regionally he placed 2nd in the high jump, 3rd in heptathlon, 4th in long jump, and 8th in pole vault. 

He is a two-time First Team All American. He placed twice at the GLIAC Championships in high jump (2nd in 2018, 3rd in 2017) and also placed in the pole vault (3rd in 2018). He had 6 Top 2 finishes during the regular season, including 4 first place marks.


Chris May // Grand Valley State // Track & Field

Grand Valley State graduate student Chris May has been honored as a 2018 GLIAC Commissioner Award honoree. May, who finished his season 15th in the 2018 NCAA Division II Indoor Track Field Championships and placed second in the 3,000m run during the 2018 GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. 

During the 2018 indoor season, May held the fifth best time in Division II in the 5,000m run (14:05.39), the 18th best time in 3,000m run (8:10.32), and the fourth best GLIAC times in the 3,000m run (8:10.32) and 5,000m run (14:05.39). In addition, May earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the 3,000m and the 5,000m run. 

May, who received the GLIAC Commissioner Award in the Spring of 2016 and the Fall of 216, is a four-time GLIAC Academic Excellence honoree and a USTFCCCA Indoor All-American, notched a 3.779 GPA  while studying Physical Therapy. 


Jon Cok // Ferris State // Track & Field

Ferris State University senior Jon Cok had another standout winter campaign as he reached the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, placing 13th overall at the national meet in the high jump. An All-GLIAC honoree, Cok posted six top-four meet finishes during the indoor track season and won the high jump in three different meets. 

Along with receiving an invitation to compete at the national championships, Cok was also a GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team selection for the second year in a row. The all-region choice became the program's first All-American in seven years as a junior and ranks among the school's top five all-time indoor performers in the high jump. 

Cok, who is a two-time all-conference choice, posted his personal-best indoor performance with a leap of 6-11 this winter at the Grand Valley State Big Meet in Allendale. He has been active in the program's various community service efforts and holds a 3.68 cumulative GPA in FSU's Product Design Engineering Technology program.