2010-2011 Year in Review
The St. Thomas Aquinas Athletes completed the 2010-2011 athletic seasons with a lot to be proud of. Among the 16 teams and 11 East Coast Conference sponsored teams the Spartans accumulated numerous awards and recognition. A trip to the NCAA Championships, an ECC Championship Crown and a ECC Regular Season Champonship to highlight a few.
The Spartan golf team won the NCAA East Super Regional to advance to the NCAA Championship for the 3rd consecutive year in a row. The Spartans finished in 17th place behind their senior leader Chris Fitzpatrick who shot a three day score of 225. The Spartans were ranked #1 in the East Region all season and had three players named to the Ping All Region Team; John Casey, Chris Fitzpatrick and Mike Gunderson.
The St. Thomas Aquinas women's cross country team won the ECC Championship for the first time in the programs history. The Lady Spartans were led by junior ECC Runner of the Year, Sarah Callagy and ECC Rookie of the Year Keeley Bateman. Callagy was also the ECC cross country female scholar-athlete of the year. Julia Karl was a 2nd team ECC selection. Third year head coach Nicole Ballou was named the ECC Women's Coach of the Year.
The St. Thomas Aquinas women's basketball team won the ECC Regular Season Championship finishing the year with a record of 21-7 and 17-4. The Lady Spartans were led by junior forward Briana Sloper who was named the ECC Co-Player of the Year and sophomore guard Bianca Kowgios who was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Year. Freshman Riley Harrington was named to the ECC All Rookie Team. The Lady Spartans were ranked among the top in the East Region for three consecutive weeks. Sloper was also named to the Daktronics All Region 2nd team as well as the All Met 2nd team. Head Coach Kim Lusk was named the ECC Coach of the Year as well as the All Met Division II Coach of the Year.
The Spartan men's soccer team had one of their strongest seasons in the programs history being ranked among the top in the region for consecutive weeks. Head Coach Graham Brown guided the Spartans to a 12-5-1 record and 4-3 in the ECC, for a 3rd place finish and a post season bid. Sophomore Daniel Davren led the Spartans, earning 1st team all ECC honors as well as being named to the Daktronics All Region 1st Team. Freshman David Cowpar was also a 1st team All Conference selection and junior goal keeper Andrew Tartara was named to the 2nd team All Conference.
The Spartans baseball team and men's tennis team also made ECC post season apperances each finishing 4th in the ECC. Spartan baseball players; Vin Malzahn, Fred Moore, Frank Salerno and Mark Fochesato were all named to the ECC 1st team while George Wargo was a 2nd team selection. The Spartans finished at 26-25-1 and 15-15 in the ECC and were ranked within the top of the East region early in their season. Frank Salerno was also named to the ABCA/Rawlings All Region 2nd team and the NCBWA All Region 2nd Team. Spartan tennis player Antoine Venard was named to the 1st team All Conference after helping the Spartans to a 9-10 finish.
The Spartan Track & Field team had another competitive indoor season as four male runners earned USTFCCCA All Region honors; Mike Abelard, Frankie Colon, George Erazo and Vinny Modafferi. Abelard along with freshman Mike Galonski earned 1st team All Region honors for the outdoor season as well. Galonski was also a 1st team All ECC cross country selection.
Spartan basketball player Justin Brown was an ECC 2nd team selection along with Lady Spatans Kristen Schimpf in women's tennis and Anne Buttafuoco in women's lacrosse. The Spartans had student-athletes named to the ECC weekly honor roll 26 times throughout the course of the year.
The Spartan Athletes contributed their efforts within the community as well, earning the ECC Community Cup for the second consecutive year, devoting over 3,100 hours to various community service events.
The Spartans saw great success in the classroom as well with over 90 athletes finishing with a 3.0 GPA or better. St. Thomas Aquinas honored 50 student-athletes this spring that were sophomores or older with GPA's of 3.2 or better at their annual President's Student-Athlete Luncheon. STAC also had 29 student-athletes that were sophomores or older with a 3.5 or better nominated to this years Athletic Directors Association Academic Award Winners.
For a complete list of ECC award recipients click here
For a complete list of All Region award recipients click here
