Hillsdale's Cezat named the Female Michigan College Athlete of the Year by the Detroit Athletic Club

Hillsdale's Cezat named the Female Michigan College Athlete of the Year by the Detroit Athletic Club
Posted: Apr 10, 2009

Release courtesy of Brad Monastiere, Hillsdale College Sports Information Director

DETROIT, Mich.-- Awards season continued Friday afternoon for Hillsdale College senior women's basketball player Katie Cezat.

She was named the female Michigan College Athlete of the Year by the Detroit Athletic Club. She will be presented the award at a banquet on Monday, May 11. This is the fourth year the DAC has presented this award to college athletes.

The award includes nominees from all colleges and universities in the state, going across all sports and all divisions. The winner of the men's award in 2009 is Tim Hiller from Western Michigan University.

Cezat put together a season for the record books in 2008-09, being named the Division II Women's Basketball Player of the Year by the WBCA, Daktronics and smallcollegehoops.com. She averaged 29 points and 16 rebounds per game for the Chargers, who finished the season as GLIAC champions and ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation.

She holds or shares a total of 33 records, which includes records broken at the school, conference and national level. She was named GLIAC Player of the Year for the second year in a row in 2008-09, and broke the NCAA Division II record for double-doubles in a season with 28. She was also the only player in the nation with more than 100 blocked shots and 100 assists this season. She finished as the Division II leader in rebounds, blocked shots and field goals made and was second in the country in scoring average.

The award honors both athletic and academic achievement. Cezat will graduate from Hillsdale College in May with an accounting degree and has maintained an overall grade point average of well above 3.0 throughout her career.

Past recipients of the award - at both the high school and college levels - include Shane Battier (current NBA player), Drew Henson (former University of Michigan quarterback), Drew Stanton (former Michigan State University quarterback), Alicia Glass (setter on national champion Penn State University volleyball team), and Jeff Lerg (Michigan State University hockey player).