Fresno State Athletics
Lee & Battles Named 'Dogs of the Year'
4/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | General
April 25, 2011
FRESNO, Calif. - On Monday night at the Satellite Student Union, senior Katie Lee and junior Eric Battles highlighted a special evening as the two "Bulldogs of the Year" during Fresno State Athletics' fourth annual "Night of Champions" Gala.
The evening recognized all student-athletes for their academic achievements, athletic accomplishments and community service involvement during the 2010-11 academic year.
The first award of the evening, the Athletic Director's Community Service Award, went to the Bulldog lacrosse team for the third straight season to headline the work of all 450 student-athletes who collectively donated more than 1,500 hours of service to the community. The lacrosse team participated in 10 community events this year and contributed more than 440 hours of service for causes including the SPCA, Breast Cancer Awareness, Big Heroes/Little Heroes and several clinics.
The next honors went to freshmen Brooke Ortiz and Jalen Saunders, who were honored as the recipients of the George Ilg Memorial Award for their academic and athletic achievement and service to the community. Professor Ilg was one of the 12 original professors who started the School of Agriculture, and was also a founder of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. He served as NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative for 16 years, and retired from Fresno State in the late `80s.
In the first large group recognition, there were 145 Fresno State student-athletes earning Academic All-WAC distinctions in 2010, which is nearly 50 more than made the team last year. Student-athletes have to been enrolled at school for one year, competed in 50% of their team's events and maintain a 3.0 GPA. These winners also receive a plaque from the Western Athletic Conference.
Kelly Mason, a senior from Temecula, Calif., spoke to her peers about her journey as a Bulldog volleyball student-athlete and personal growth over her four years at Fresno State.
The 2011 Thaxter Award, which honors outstanding members of student-athletic training staff, went to Kevin Bergman, who will graduate next month and will begin work on Master's degree.
The Bill Kennedy Scholarship, in honor of the former Fresno State team doctor, was presented to Devry Ortiz. Devry has a busy schedule as a mother of three and assigned to work with the softball teams for the coming year.
In an annual award for overcoming injury, for the first time, the athletic training staff presented three Paul Schechter Courage Awards: an honorary Schechter Award to one of Fresno State's team physicians, Dr. Cary Tanner, an orthopedic surgeon for the Sierra Pacific Orthopedic Center. Dr. Tanner spent six months recovering from a motor cross accident and has been an inspiration to student-athletes and staff members.
Then, the two student-athletes awarded were Joe Bernardi from the football team and Emma Andrews from the women's basketball team. Joe has been inspirational figure since arriving on campus with an injury. His work ethic, toughness and grit are what he will be remembered for. Emma has been an inspiration for the WAC champion women's basketball team during her career, and especially this past year as she has battled back from injuries and spent nearly eight months in rehabilitation to return for her senior season. Her inspiration helped the Dogs earn their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
During the second big set of awards, 252 student-athletes were honored for having a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher with 241 appearances on the 2010 Dean's List (3.5 grade point average or better).
The next honors went to the Western Athletic Conference team champions during the past year (2010 Baseball and Soccer Team and 2011 Women's Basketball and Men's Tennis).
Four track student-athletes were then recognized as Individual Fresno State WAC Champions: Rosario Sanchez, Frank Sanders, Paul Zwama, Latrisha Jordan as well as Olivier Collin for cross country.
Senior safety Lorne Bell then took the microphone for a memorable speech about how sport is unforgiving, the need to prepare for life after sport and his passion to help student-athletes as a career.
This year, the winners for the Bulldog Spirit Award were Lorne Bell of the football team and Kelly Mason from the Bulldog volleyball team, who are also the two student-speakers selected for a speech during this event.
Kelly Mason is called the "complete package" of a Bulldog by her teammates. She was a team captain and represented her team on the SAAC committee.
Lorne Bell was nominated for his giving spirit, commitment to SAAC and hard work on the football field and in the classroom.
Then, the Harold Haak Memorable Moment Award recognized the best singular highlights or performances of the year.
The women's sports winners were Hilary Wests' two wins over No. 1 ranked Texas A&M in the equestrian ring and Bree Farley's WAC championship-winning basketball in Las Vegas.
The men's sports winners were Garrett Weber's game winning hit that ended a 22-inning baseball game and Olivier Collin's WAC championship cross country run.
The highest distinction for academic excellence went to the 18 Bulldogs with perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point averages and 41 student-athletes earned a 4.0 GPA in at least one semester in 2010.
The ceremony also showcased the finalists for 2010-11 Bulldog of the Year Award.
The female nominees were Haley Gilleland (Softball), Katie Lee (Soccer), Jaleesa Ross (Women's Basketball) and Dani Yoho (Swimming).
The male nominees were Eric Battles (Track & Field and Cross Country), Remi Boutillier (Men's Tennis), Nedeljko Golubovic (Men's Basketball) and Brian Sunker (Men's Golf).
The unique distinction of "Bulldog of the Year," the final award of the evening, went to Katie Lee, who became the first women's soccer player to earn Academic All-American honors and Eric Battles, the two-time member of the academic All-WAC team for 2009 and 2010 in cross country. The award honors those truly special championship individuals whose commitment to Fresno State in all areas and set the standard for the true Bulldog experience. These individuals were selected because their athletic accomplishments, academic triumphs and community service work stood above all others.
Katie Lee started all 23 games during her senior campaign and anchored the Bulldog defense that recorded nine shutouts. The defender recorded three assists and scored her first career goal against Utah State in the WAC Tournament, it was also the game-winning goal. She tallied a total of five points on the year. Lee also recorded a career-high six shots this season. For her performance at the Western Athletic Conference, Lee was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament as the Bulldogs collected their second title in three years. Off the field, Lee is a 4.0 honors Civil Engineering major, who twice has been named CoSIDA Academic All-District. This past season, she made history after becoming the first women's soccer player to earn Academic All-American honors.
Eric Battles is a two-time member of the academic All-WAC team in 2009 and 2010. Battles, a native of Fresno, also earned second team All-WAC honors as a freshman in cross country. As a sophomore, Battles was named an Emerging Scholar by the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Eric competed in five of the six cross country races this past season with his best result of sixth place coming at the Nevada Twilight 6K, the top finisher for Fresno State. In track and field, Battles has the top time for the Dogs in the 1,500 meter this season with a time of 3:53.58. When he's not tearing up the track, Eric is active in the Big Heroes/Little Heroes program helping the youth of our community and a SAAC vice president. He's on track to graduate in three and a half years and has a 3.94 GPA.
Finally, Fresno State continued a tradition that honors its Bulldog seniors. Each senior completing their eligibility receive a specially made high quality Fresno State license plate frame with the words "Champion for Life" and each senior that graduates will be sent a special commemorative Fresno State watch upon the conferment of their degrees.
"We Are Your Team!" --- The event was hosted by KMJ Radio's Paul Loeffler and ESPN Radio's Guy Haberman and served as the largest awards ceremony to honor the collective achievements by Fresno State student-athletes.
Players Mentioned
