2010 Banquet Award Winners; Photos Now Available

Click here for photos of the night's festivities!
Photography by Samantha Yanofsky

In front of nearly 250 people which included 125 athletes, their families, faculty and staff junior Jim Languirand (Biddeford, ME/Biddeford) and senior Sarah Nelson (Bernardston, MA/Pioneer Valley) received the 2010 Scholar-Athlete Award at last night’s Athletic Banquet. 

The Scholar-Athlete Award is the top award presented to any Newbury College athlete.  It is given to two upperclassmen student-athletes – one male and one female – who demonstrate both excellence on the playing surface and, more importantly, in the classroom.  This year, President Hannah McCarthy presented the awards to Languirand for the men while Nelson was honored for the women. 

Seniors Mark Thomas (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) and Katelyn Mark (Quincy, MA/North Quincy) received the Nighthawk of the Year Awards given to the one male and one female student-athlete with the most outstanding athletic contributions during the 2009-2010 seasons.  Thomas was named New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Player of the Year and First Team All-NECC.  In addition, he earned 2010 First Team honors for NECVA – New England and received the NECVA Academic Award.  In his four-year volleyball career at Newbury, Thomas appeared in 495 games recording 1, 757 kills and 563 blocks.

A two-sport athlete, Mark received the award for the second year in a row.  A member of both the women’s basketball and softball programs, she served as a captain to each during both her junior and senior seasons.  On the basketball court, she finished third for the Nighthawks in 2009-2010 with 243 points, while leading her squad with 88 assists.  Recently, Mark reached a milestone of the softball field earning her 100^th career hit giving her 105 career hits to-date, including 39 so far this season. 

This year’s Sportsmanship Awards went to men’s basketball’s Husain Abdul-Ghaffar (Springfield, MA/New Leadership Charter) and women’s soccer and basketball’s Jessica Graus (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia).  Both student-athletes are considered leaders on the field, court, and within the Newbury College community. 

In her second year at Newbury College, men’s and women’s volleyball coach Jaime Terenzi was honored with 2010 Coach of the Year award as she led her women’s team to a second place conference finish, while the men won the College’s first NECC Championship. 

The night marked the final Athletic Banquet for departing Athletic Director Peter Centola.  Vice President of Student Affairs, Paul Martin honored Centola for his seven years of dedication and service to the College and the Department of Athletics.  Centola is now the Director of Recreation in Watertown, MA.

Three new awards were announced as freshmen Catherine O'Connell (Quincy, MA/North Quincy) and Timothy Young (Brockton, MA/Brockton) took home Rookie of the Year honors for their stellar performances in their first year of intercollegiate competition.  Both student-athletes won NECC Rookie of the Year at the culimination of the 2009-2010 basektball seasons.  Staff assistant, Lindsay Graham, was given the Nighthawk Appreciation Award for administrative efforts within the Department of Athletics.  A former volunteer for the Nighthawks, Graham is now a part-time staff member and an integral component to the sports information staff.

Early in the evening, Newbury also bid farewell to their 16 senior student-athletes who will graduate on May 16, 2010.  The Department of Athletics would again like to thanks them for all of their contributions to Newbury College and wish them luck in their future endeavors.