UTICA, N.Y. (5/4/10) - The Kiwanis Club of Utica will present students-athletes from Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC), Herkimer County Community College (HCCC), Hamilton College, SUNYIT and Utica College with the 22nd annual Kiwanis Student-Athlete Awards Wednesday at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Utica.
The award is given to the most outstanding male and female student-athletes based on performance in the classroom, community involvement and athletic accomplishments. A panel of coaches and administrators from each institution vote and select the best suitable male and female.
The 2010 award winners are Kyle Richardson (Rome, N.Y.) and Samantha Spohler (East Durham, N.Y.) of MVCC, Akeem Ellis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Amber Swanston (Burke, N.Y.), of HCCC, John Lawrence (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and Madie Harlem (Oneonta, N.Y.) of Hamilton College, David Golembiowski (Barneveld, N.Y.) and Juleah Vedder (Dolgeville, N.Y.) of SUNYIT, along with Eric Kahl (Lockwood, N.Y.) and Danielle Smith (Verona, N.Y.) of Utica College.
Kyle Richardson (Rome, N.Y.) – Mohawk Valley - Baseball
Richardson, a sophomore sports medicine major from nearby Rome Free Academy, recently broke the MVCC baseball school-record for hits in a career en route to being named the College's Athlete of the week. He is currently batting a team-best .416 with 30 RBIs and 41 runs scored. He has also found success on the mound striking out 31 in 36 innings pitched this season. He is the first player in school-history to record 100 or more hits.
Samantha Spohler (East Durham, N.Y.) – Mohawk Valley – Women's Soccer
Spohler, a freshman physical education major on the women's soccer team, led the Hawks to a third place finish in the NJCAA National Tournament. She was named a NJCAA Second Team All-American after ranking fourth nationally with 54 points on 22 goals and 10 assists. She guided the Hawks to an 18-4 overall record and their fourth regional championship in the past seven years. She was also named first team all-conference and all-region.
Akeem Ellis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) – Herkimer – Men's Basketball
Ellis, a sophomore center, capped a stellar season by being named Mountain Valley Conference Player of the year for the second year in a row, Region III Player of the Year, Most Valuable Player of the Region III Tournament, First –Team National Tournament Team and First Team All-American. A two year starter for Coach Matt Lee's Generals, Ellis averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to lead Herkimer to a 33-3 record and a fourth place finish in the nation. 33 wins set an all-time record for the basketball program at HCCC. Ellis was selected to play in the National Division II/Division III NJCAA All-Star game in Las Vegas on Friday, April 30.
Amber Swanston (Burke, N.Y.) – Herkimer – Women's Soccer, Softball
Senior Amber Swanston (Burke, NY), a goalie on the women's soccer team, was named first-team NJCAA All-American after guiding Herkimer to a 16-5 overall record and an appearance in the Region III A Championship game. Swanston was also named to the NSCAA Northeast All-Region Team. She allowed just 17 goals in 20 games played and tallied a .90 goals against average this past season. She also tallied 157 saves. As a member of the softball team, she is currently ranked in the top 25 nationally with a .487 batting average, to go along with 36 RBIs, 31 runs scored, while guiding the Generals to a 19-11 overall record.
John Lawrence (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) – Hamilton – Football
Lawrence, a senior linebacker, was voted to the NESCAC All-Conference First Team on defense. He was on the second team in 2008 and named NESCAC rookie of the year in 2006. He tied for third place in the conference with 10.5 tackles per game this past season. Lawrence finished the year with a career-high 63 stops, including 38 solo, in six games. He had an interception, two sacks, broke up four passes and forced a fumble.
Madie Harlem (Oneonta, N.Y.) – Hamilton – Women's Basketball
Harlem was the 2010 D3hoops.com Division III East Region Women's Basketball Rookie of the Year and she was also a unanimous choice for 2010 Liberty League Rookie of the Year. She was voted to the all-league second team in February as well as being named the league's rookie of the week four times. Harlem, a 5-foot-7 guard, ranked 11th in the league with 11.4 points per game and 12th with 5.8 rebounds per game. She was third with a 3-point field goal percentage of 37.1 percent, fourth with 2.24 steals per game, sixth with 1.56 3-pointers made per game and eighth with 2.52 assists per game.
David Golembiowski (Barneveld, N.Y.) – SUNYIT – Men's Basketball
Golembiowski had a phenomenal year for the Wildcats, as he was crowned the NEAC Player of the Year for the second straight season and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate Player of the Year, as well as being selected to the NEAC All-Conference First Team, the NABC All-East Region First Team and the D3Hoops.com All-East Region First Team. The 6-foot-7 sharpshooter, who was named DIII News All-American, led the team in points (21.1), rebounds (10.3) and blocks (3.0) per game and free throw percentage (.794), while being second in both field goal percentage (.501) and three-pointers made (72). He also led the NEAC in both points and blocks and was second in rebounds, while ranking seventh in the nation in blocks per game, highlighted by his school-record nine blocks in one game. Golembiowski, who was also selected as a D3Hoops.com Preseason All-American, became the program's all-time leader in career rebounds and blocks this season, while also scoring his 1,500th career point on the year to help him place second all-time in that category.
Juleah Vedder (Dolgeville, N.Y.) – SUNYIT – Volleyball, Softball
Vedder had a sensational sophomore campaign on the SUNYIT volleyball team, playing in 93 contests and accumulating team-highs of 433 kills (4.46/game), 314 digs (3.24/game), 69 serve aces, 25 solo blocks and 53 total blocks, while also leading the conference in kills and serve aces. For her efforts she was named NEAC Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. The 6-foot outside hitter joined the 30-kill club with 30 kills in a 3-1 win over the University of Scranton on September 12, while also registering her first career triple-double with 28 kills, 14 digs and 10 serve aces in a 2-3 loss to Keuka on October 17. Her dominance throughout the season earned her four NEAC Student-Athlete of the Week awards, giving her a total of seven in just two seasons.
Vedder was equally as impressive on the softball field, setting the record for homeruns (8) and RBIs (53) in a season while being second on the team in batting average (.459), slugging percentage (.847) and on-base percentage (.545) and third in hits (51), doubles (13) and triples (3). She won two ECAC Player of the Week awards, two NEAC Student-Athlete of the Week awards and currently leads the conference in homeruns, RBI, slugging percentage, sacrifice flies (3) and total bases (94), while being third in hits, runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, doubles and at-bats. Additionally, she is currently third in the nation in RBI and became the program's leader in career homeruns, RBI and doubles, while currently being second in career hits. Her pitching was just as good as her hitting, as she finished with team highs of 14 wins and 76 strikeouts.
Eric Kahl (Lockwood, N.Y.) – Utica – Football
Kahl is a three time Empire 8 All Conference selection who also boasts a 3.5 grade point average in the physical therapy program at Utica. He missed three games this season due to a broken foot and still managed to lead Utica with 74 tackles. He also ranked second in the conference this season averaging 10.6 tackles per game. He finished his four year career ranked third on the College's all-time tackles list (261 tackles). Last season Kahl led Utica as well as the conference in total tackles with 116 and he averaged 11.60 tackles per game, which was good for 15th in the nation among Division III players. Kahl joined 49 other division III players from across the country in mid-December as went to Mexico to participate in the Tazon de Estrellas (Bowl of Stars) senior game.
Danielle Smith (Verona, N.Y.) – Utica - Women's Soccer
Smith made her fourth straight appearance on the Empire 8 All-Conference team this past season and wrapped up her senior campaign with a team-high 13 points on six goals and one assist. She played and started in all 16 games for the Pioneers and netted a season-high five points in the Pioneers' 3-2 win over Elmira on Sept. 23rd. The former conference rookie of the year selection capped her four year career ranked third on the College's all-time scoring list with 65 career points on 25 goals and 15 assists. 25 career goals also ranks third on the College's all-time goal scoring list.
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