Cincinnati State honors 2010-11 athletic achievements at awards banquet

Dr. O'dell M. Owens and the Cincinnati State community came together Thursday to celebrate the achievements of its student athletes, coaches and support staff.

There was plenty to celebrate. Consider:

• The men’s soccer team made it to the championship game of the national tournament and wound up with a second-place national finish.
   
• The women’s basketball team also played in the national tournament, won three of the four games it played there, and finished with a No. 7 national ranking.
   
• The men’s golf team made it to the national finals last year, finishing fifth, and this coming Sunday leaves to compete again in the national finals.
   
• A year after making it to the championship game of the national finals, a men’s basketball team so decimated that it often had only two or three players on the bench nonetheless finished second in the Ohio Community College Athletic Association, and came away thinking it should have won.
   

In an address that went well beyond sports, Dr. Owens thanked the athletes for the recognition they brought Cincinnati State, and predicted that employers would look favorably on their success in team sports. It’s likely, he said, that many of the athletes honored Thursday will become financially successful and some will attain positions of relative power in their communities.

Citing his experience during his seven years as Hamilton County coroner – which he said illustrated the ravages of drugs, crime, poverty, inadequate education and more – Dr. Owens challenged the.athletes to define success in bigger terms.
They and everyone else in the room, he said, have a responsibility toward the child who goes to bed hungry, who isn’t reading at grade level by fourth grade, who doesn’t have a father in his or her life.

“Yes, you’re a role model, but you’re bigger than that,’’ Dr. Owens told the assembled athletes. “When you leave here you have a bigger responsibility. You have an obligation to be on the team of humanity.’’

While most of the awards at Thursday’s banquet were based on athletic achievement, several incorporated other elements.

The evening’s most prestigious prize, the President’s Award, for example, was reserved for the student-athlete who best exemplified the desire to succeed both academically and athletically and also demonstrated a commitment to excellence, personal integrity, all-around community awareness and dedication to Cincinnati State. It was presented to Austin Morgan, who for the past two years has been the starting goalkeeper for the men’s soccer team. A strong student who completed his associate’s degree early, Austin was also one of the top goalkeepers in the National Junior College Athletic Association – his 0.68 goals against average last year ranked No. 15 in the nation. He has signed a letter of intent to play for NCAA Div. I Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Special awards were also presented to Gus Perdikakis, manager of the women’s basketball team, for dedication to the Surge athletic programs, and to Jake Jones, a member of the men’s soccer team, for academic achievement. Shardai Morrison-Fountain from the women’s basketball team was named Female Athlete of the Year; the Male Athlete of the Year was Cody Clark from the men’s soccer team.

The coaches of each team presented awards to players in four categories. Here’s the breakdown:
 

Men’s Soccer

• Academic Achievement – Jake Jones
• Unsung Hero – Carl Peers
• Most Improved – Ben Rascona
• Most Valuable Player – Grant Kercher
   

Women’s Soccer

• Academic Achievement – Emily Carmosino
• Unsung Hero – Lauren Turner
• Most Improved – Aja Byrd
• Most Valuable Player –.Amanda Rottmueller
   

• Academic Achievement – Roman Hill
• Unsung Hero – Marquis Wilson
• Most Improved – Bradley Tilford
• Most Valuable Player – Roman Hill
   

Women’s Basketball

• Academic Achievement – Dominique Fischer
• Unsung Hero – Kara McLemore
• Most Improved – Derricka Henry
• Most Valuable Players – Shardai Morrison-Fountain; Javonna Saddler
   

Golf

• Academic Achievement – Matt Stiens
• Unsung Hero – Willem Van den Berg
• Most Improved – Tyler Hudson
• Most Valuable Players – Josh Bialecki, Blake Harpenau
   

Director Theresa Check and President Owens stand
with Austin Morgan, who received the President’s
Award during the 2010-11 Cincinnati State Department
of Athletics Awards Banquet in early June. For the past
two years Morgan was the starting goalkeeping for the
nationally-ranked men’s soccer team, and was himself
one of the best keepers in the National Junior College
Athletic Association (his 0.68 goals against average last
year ranked No. 15 in the U.S.).

Austin is probably better known, however, as the man
beneath the Surge mascot, electrifying not just campus
events but also the occasional Findlay Market Parade and
Cincinnati Reds game.

Austin, who has already earned his associates degree from
Cincinnati State, has signed a letter of intent to play for NCAA
Div. I Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.