The student-athletes, coaches, and staff from the Seattle University athletics department gathered together at Pigott Auditorium Friday night, May 29, to celebrate the successes of the 2014-15 academic year and to recognize several extraordinary people and performances during the 10th annual Athletics Awards Show.
The Eddie O’Brien Student-Athletes of the Year Award were given to soccer players Hamza Haddadi (Shoreline, Wash.) and Stephanie Verdoia (Salt Lake City, Utah). Haddadi led the Redhawks with seven goals, including game-winning goals at Air Force and at San Jose State, as the Seattle U men’s soccer team put together an 11-5-3 record and advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament. In the classroom, Haddadi is a business management major within the Albers School of Business and Economics with a 3.548 grade point average.
Verdoia became the third Redhawk since 2000 to receive the Student-Athlete of the Year Award twice, joining Nichole Sauvageau (2001 & 2003) and Chris Coley (2005 & 2008) in that prestigious club. She adds this to the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and Senior CLASS Award honors for NCAA Division I women’s soccer after leading the Redhawks to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with 22 goals and 13 assists for 57 total points. Even though she is currently playing for the Boston Breakers of the NWSL, she still completed her requirements to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with departmental honors, earning a 3.972 grade point average along the way.
The Bill Fenton 101 Club Female Athlete of the Year Award was presented to senior Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) of the cross country and track and field teams. The year started for Curatilo with back-to-back individual victories at the Viking Classic and the Emerald City Open. Her second-place finish at the WAC Cross Country Championships led to the Redhawks winning the team title. During the track and field season, she set five new school records, two during the indoor season and three during the outdoor campaign. She won the one mile run at the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, and followed that with a victory in the 1500 meter run at the outdoor conference championship meet.
The Bill Fenton 101 Club Male Athlete of the Year Award was given to both senior basketball player Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) and junior track and field competitor Shaddye Melu (Auburn, Wash.). For the second straight year, Umipig broke the school single-season record for made three-pointers, hitting 123 during the year. He shot 41.8 percent from behind the three-point line and 84.5 percent from the free throw line. He averaged 17 points per game, including a 30-point performance in the WAC semifinal against Missouri-Kansas City. He led the Redhawks to 18 victories and to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.
Melu reached heights never before seen by a Seattle University high jumper. During the indoor season, he set the school record of 48.12 seconds in the 400 meter dash at the Husky Classic. At the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, he won the high jump, clearing 2.11 meters (6-11) for a new school record. At the Bryan Clay Invitational in April, he became the first Seattle U jumper to ever clear seven feet, winning the high jump with a mark of 2.14 meters (7-0.25). At the WAC Outdoor Championships, he won both the high jump and the 400 meter dash, setting another school record. He concluded his season by finishing in a tie for 20th place in the high jump at the NCAA Track and Field West Preliminary Championships in Austin, Texas.
There was also a tie for the Competition of the Year prize, as two postseason performances were deemed to be equally worthy. On Nov. 14, 2014, the Seattle U women’s soccer team made history, becoming the first Redhawk female squad to win an NCAA postseason competition when Natasha Howe’s (Mission Viejo, Calif.) goal with less than two minutes left in overtime gave Seattle U a 2-1 victory over Washington State in frigid Pullman, Wash. The men’s basketball team thrilled a sold-out crowd at the Connolly Center on March 23, 2015, rallying from a six-point second half deficit to defeat Pac-12 foe Colorado, 72-65, in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational.
The Athletic Director’s Comeback Player of the Year Award received a new moniker, as it was named in honor of Elgin Baylor, who played through broken ribs in the 1958 NCAA title game and won three NBA MVP awards after recovering from a severe knee injury. With Baylor in attendance, this year’s winner was Taylor Ritzman (Holladay, Utah) of the women’s soccer team, as she returned from a foot injury that caused her to miss the previous spring season to collect 11 goals and nine assists for 31 total points in 2014, helping the Redhawks win their second consecutive conference regular season and tournament titles.
Assistant track and field coach Chad Pharis received the Mark Escandon University Sports Service Award for his exemplary work within the athletics department. Pharis has shown a strong commitment to the student-athletes he coaches, and there are a lot of them for him to coach. Every day for him is filled with several practices, as he plans separate workouts for the sprinters, the jumpers, and the throwers on the team. Despite his numerous duties within his own squad, he brings a positive attitude with him, and he finds the time to support the other teams within the department.
Meghan Arigo (San Luis Obispo, Calif.), a four-year member of the Redhawk cross country and track and field team, received the Mission Award for individuals. Besides joining her teammates to clean up numerous parks in the area, she led the team’s association with Check Your Boobies, establishing the Emerald City Open as the team’s Pink Meet in each of the last two years. She also led SAAC’s sponsorship of this year’s Swishes for Wishes charity event, was one of the top student workers for the game operations crew, and has been actively involved with the Student-Athlete Fellowship.
The Mission Award for teams was given to the men’s and women’s swim teams for their work in the community throughout the year. Several swimmers participated in Swim Across America, raising over four thousand dollars on behalf of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Once the school year started, the swim teams became involved in Community Lunch, preparing meals for those in need. The swimmers were also volunteers at the Washington Brain Alliance annual gala and became pen pals with elementary school students in Phoenix, Ariz.
A new award was established to honor a male and a female who embody Seattle University Athletics and supported other student-athletes in numerous ways. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee narrowed the nomination list to five men and five women, and Nathan McLaughlin (Puyallup, Wash.) of the cross country and track and field team was voted Mr. Redhawk, while Alec Goodrie (Springfield, Ore.) of the volleyball team was voted Ms. Redhawk by the student-athletes who registered their choices during the pre-show reception.
Once again, the top first-year performers throughout the department were recognized with the Freshman 15 Award: Matt Alderson (men’s tennis), Crystal Allen (women’s basketball), Jack Baldoni (men’s swimming), Isabelle Butterfield (women’s soccer), Jadon Cohee (men’s basketball), Johanna Erickson (women’s cross country), Lucy Fu (women’s rowing), Joe Harvie (men’s golf), Dalton Hurd (baseball), Michelle Lui (women’s tennis), Madi Lydig (women’s swimming), Ben Monk (men’s cross country), Cam Peters (men’s track and field), Alex Purdy (dance team), Alex Roldan (men’s soccer), Kyra Tengan (cheer squad), Breanna Timmons (softball), Jelena Vujcin (volleyball), and Abby Wachter (women’s track and field).
Seniors Garrett Anderson (Kennewick, Wash.) of the baseball team and Jacqui Wallis (Lake Oswego, Ore.) of the women’s soccer squad hosted the event, which featured a collection of video skits put together by the student-athletes, coaches, and staff. Seattle University President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., was on hand to congratulate the student-athletes for their continued hard work both in competition and in the classroom.
The Seattle University athletics department finished the 2014-15 season second in the Western Athletic Conference Commissioner’s Cup standings, thanks to titles by the women’s cross country and women’s soccer teams as well as appearances in WAC Tournament title contests by the volleyball, men’s basketball, and baseball teams.