UTB/TSC Athletics Honors its Student-Athletes
Posted May 7, 2007

After a year in which UTB/TSC Athletics debuted in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the Scorpions held the first annual Athletics Banquet at the Grán Salón on the UTB/TSC campus Sunday.  Among the guests of honor were UTB/TSC President Dr. Juliet Garcia, Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Hilda Silva, Provost Dr. José G. Martín and special guest speaker former Major League Baseball player Charlie Vaughan. 

The banquet began with special guest speaker Vaughan talking about the NAIA Champions of Character Core Values and how each one of the values can be translated into your life. 

After dinner, each sport then gave out awards to individuals on the team.  Among the honored were the following:

Volleyball

Offensive Player of the Year: Greta Billerbeck-Jr.-MB

Defensive Player of the Year: Joanna Knight-Jr.-Lib.

Freshman of the Year: Lauren Bayer-Fr.-MB

Coach’s Award: Katie Japp-So.-OH.

Men’s Golf

Low Stroke Award: Agapito Ortega-Jr.

Newcomer of the Year: Anthony Lopez-Jr.

Coach’s Award: Chris Milligan-Fr.

Women’s Golf

Low Stroke Award: April Martinez-So.

Newcomer of the Year: Tara Calderon-Jr.

Coach’s Award: Allison Valles-So.

Baseball

Player of the Year: Jacob Yousif-Fr.-OF/1B

Johnny Ballgame Award: Walter Blume-Fr.-Inf.

Foreman Award: Noe Gonzales-So.-C

Tough as Nails Award: Gilbert Gonzales-Sr.-C

Newcomer of the Year: Jacob Yousif-Fr.-OF/1B

Scorpion of Character Awards

Scott Price-Fr.-Baseball

Jones Mitchell-Jr.-Men’s Golf

Scorpion Academic Student-Athlete of the Year Awards

Annette Valdez-Jr.-Women’s Golf

Scott Price-Fr.-Baseball

Four senior athletes were also honored at the banquet. Baseball players Hawk Scott and Gilbert Gonzales, volleyball player Marianna Naldi and women’s golfer Dena Dutchover were among the honored seniors. 

Dr. Garcia closed the ceremony with a speech discussing the importance of athletics to the student body and how much the program has grown within the past couple of years.  She then went on to elaborate on the controversial Athletic Fee bill present by State Representative Eddie Lucio III.  The bill was passed in large to Lucio’s involvement, said Dr. Garcia.