May 10, 2011
Rita Ciambra, Colin O’Donnell Awarded Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year Award at Senior Banquet
DURHAM, N.H. – Rita
Ciambra (Hanover, N.H.) of the women's track & field
team and Colin O’Donnell (Hampden, Mass.) of
the men’s soccer team were named the 2011 recipients of the
Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year award by the University of
New Hampshire athletic department at Tuesday night’s annual
Senior Banquet.
The award is named in memory of
longtime UNH coach Jim Urquhart, who coached the New Hampshire
men's lacrosse team for 17 years and the wrestling team for 11
seasons before taking the position of Associate Athletic Director
of Event Management in 1997. He passed away after suffering a heart
attack on Jan. 14, 1998.
The Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year Award began in 1999
and is bestowed annually upon UNH senior student-athletes who excel
both in athletic competition and the classroom, as well as
possessing great character, sportsmanship and a passion for
sports.
The Tina True Memorial Award, given annually since 2007 to two
Wildcat athletes for their commitment to strength and conditioning,
was presented to Paul DeTurk (Durham, N.H.) of the
men's track & field team and Sara Heldman
(Greenwood, Ind.) of the volleyball team.
True was a co-captain and coxswain
of the women’s crew team from 2000 to 2002. Her commitment to
training and her passion for her sport greatly contributed to the
success of the team. In January of her junior year, Tina’s
life was tragically cut short in a car accident.
The Athletic Director's Award for Academic Excellence, given for
just the second time in department history, is awarded to a male
and female senior student-athlete with the highest cumulative
grade-point-average. On the men's side Joe
Corsello (York, Maine – Environmental Engineering:
Municipal Process) from the men's soccer team was the honoree,
while Kaitlyn Dugan (Hatfield, Pa. –
Chemistry/Pre-Med) from the women's track & field team was the
female recipient.
Dugan was also feted with the
Community Involvement Award. The award, presented for the first
time, recognized Dugan's commitment to serving the University, the
athletic department and the larger community over the course of her
time at UNH. She volunteered as a coordinator and traveled two
years to New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity as part of the
spring break relief program. Additionally, she has been a Big
Sister in a nearby community for four years and, in her
Philadelphia-area hometown, has volunteered with the Variety Club
Camp, which serves kids with permanent or temporary disabilities.
On campus, Dugan has been an Honors Program mentor for three
years, was the only Hamel Scholars Program representative of
the junior class for her college division, volunteered for move-in
opening day crew and is a four-year member of Athlete's
Intervarsity, currently serving as a member of the leadership
team.
Ciambra, a graduate student on the women’s track & field
team, continued her dominance in the pole vault with her third
outdoor title at last weekend’s America East Championships.
She took first place in the event with a cleared height of 13-feet,
7.25 inches, breaking her own school and America East Championship
record.
Ciambra is also a three-time indoor
conference champion in the pole vault and capped off her indoor
career with a title this past season, qualifying for the ECAC
Championship by clearing 12-feet, 3.50 inches. Earlier this winter,
she captured the event at the Boston Indoor Games with a height of
12-feet, 11.75 inches.
She was just as impressive
academically earning the America East Scholar-Athlete award this
past winter as one of just six student-athletes recognized by the
conference for their performances both in their respective sports
as well as in the classroom. Ciambra, a two-time member of the
America East All-Academic Team, is pursuing a master's degree this
year in secondary education after graduating Summa Cum Laude from
New Hampshire with an undergraduate degree in biology.
O’Donnell was a major key to
UNH's success this season, becoming the first goalkeeper to record
three shutouts in the America East Tournament, as he earned
All-Tournament Team honors and concluded his collegiate career with
a shutout streak of 309 minutes, eight seconds. With the streak he
increased his single-season shutout total to 10, tying the UNH
record, while lowering his goals-against-average to 0.43, which is
also a program single-season record and ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Additionally, O'Donnell finished the year ranking first in the
country with a .902 save percentage, allowing more than one goal
just once in 17 matches. He was especially stellar at home, posting
a 5-0-2 record with a 0.26 GAA, .946 save percentage and five
shutouts as he stopped 35 of 37 shots on goal. His accomplishments
did not go without merit, earning the America East Goalkeeper of
the Year award and All-Conference First Team honors for the second
consecutive year. Aside from his impressive GAA and save percentage
numbers, he topped the America East in shutouts (10) and saves
(74), while ranking third in saves per game (4.35). O'Donnell is a
two-time America East scholar-athlete award winner and an America
East All-Academic selection each of the last two years. He also
earned first-team Academic All-District recognition from CoSIDA and
was selected as a National Soccer Coaches Association of America
(NSCAA) Men's College Scholar All-American this year, becoming just
the second Wildcat all-time to achieve Academic All-American
status.
DeTurk, a graduate student now in
his third year as a thrower on the men’s track & field
team, placed second in the hammer throw at the 2011 America East
Outdoor Championships and will look to add to his lofty resume at
the New England and IC4A Championships in the coming weeks. DeTurk
opened the outdoor season with four top-5 finishes in the event,
including a pair of first-place showings at back-to-back home
meets, and went on to place seventh in the Championship Division at
the prestigious Penn Relays. In the indoor season, DeTurk was
always a top contender in the weight throw and finished runner-up
in the event at the conference championships.
In 2010 as a senior, DeTurk was the America East outdoor track
& field individual champion in the hammer throw with a distance
of 61.97m. He went on to compete at the NCAA East Regional
Championship and placed 37th in the hammer throw. He
also placed 12th in the hammer at the IC4A Championships
as well as second in that event at the New England
Championships.
Heldman became the first America
East student-athlete to earn both Setter of the Year and Defensive
Specialist of the Year. In 2010, Heldman recorded 9.11 assists per
set in addition to 2.76 digs per set. The senior served up 16 aces
and recorded 26 blocks on the year. Heldman finished her final year
at New Hampshire with a team-leading 13 double-doubles, earning
Setter of the Week three times. Heldman ended her tenure in Durham
with 104 digs and finished with 287 digs. She became the first
player in program history to win Setter of the Year and is a
two-time All-America East honoree. Heldman is just the second
player in UNH history to record 1,000 digs and 1,000 assists.
Dugan, a senior multi-event
specialist for the women’s track & field team, finished
third in the heptathlon at last weekend’s America East
Outdoor Championships and second at the Holy Cross heptathlon
earlier in the season. Dugan enjoyed an impressive indoor campaign,
highlighted by an individual title in the pentathlon at the New
England Championships, and went on to place 11th in the
event at the ECAC Championships.
Dugan, a viable threat in several
events throughout her track & field career, enjoyed a
second-place finish in the high jump at the 2010 outdoor New
England Championships and a runner-up performance in the heptathlon
at last season’s outdoor conference championships. For her
impressive academic efforts, Dugan was named to the 2009-10 CoSIDA
Academic All-District Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Team as well as the America East Track & Field All-Academic
Team.
Corsello ends his career with seven
points on three goals and one assist after playing in 58 games at
back for the Wildcats. In addition to his offensive productivity,
he also provided stellar defense in the backfield throughout his
career, as New Hampshire proved to be one of the top defensive
teams in the conference each of the last two years. The
environmental engineering major capped off his senior campaign
collecting CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-America First-Team and America
East All-Academic Team honors for the second straight season.
Additionally, he collected National Soccer Coaches Association of
America (NSCAA) scholar honors after being tabbed a Second-Team
All-East selection as a senior and earning honorable mention status
the year prior. He was also selected to the America East
Commissioner's Honor Roll in both 2008 and 2009, while also picking
up conference honor roll status in 2007. He also earned the H.
Richard Sandler Award for academic achievement at the 2008 team
banquet.
In addition to Ciambra, the women nominees for the Urquhart Award
were Kara Connolly (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.; field
hockey), Allie Duclos (South Windsor, Conn;
lacrosse), Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine;
skiing and track & field), Heldman
(volleyball), Amy Perrault (Kirkland Lake,
Ontario; swimming & diving) and Chelsea
Steinberg (Ridgewood, N.J.; gymnastics).
In addition to O’Donnell, the men candidates for the
Urquhart Award were DeTurk (track & field),
Paul Thompson (Derry, N.H.; ice hockey) and
Dino Vasso (Crum Lynne, Pa.; football).
Jim Urquhart
Student-Athlete of the Year
1999- Jerry Azumah (football), Jason Krog (men's ice hockey),
Melanie Morin (women's cross country, track)
2000- Orsi Farkas (women's basketball), Kyle Schneck (men's cross
country, track), Mike Souza (men's hockey)
2001- Colleen Christopher (women's lacrosse), Ty Conklin (men's
hockey), Ryan DiNunzio (men's soccer), Andrea Encarnacao (women's
soccer)
2002- Amy DeCamp (women's cross country, track), Darren Haydar
(men's hockey)
2003- Greg Blaisdell (men's skiing), Marcie Boyer (field
hockey)
2004- Lesley Read (women's track/cross country), Steve Saviano
(men's hockey)
2005- Chiara Best (women's soccer), Ben Sturgill (men's
basketball)
2006- Amanda Hall (gymnastics), Derek Stank (football)
2007- David Ball (football), Danielle Clark (women’s
basketball)
2008- Cathy Parker (women’s cross country/track), Kevin
Regan (men’s ice hockey), Ricky Santos (football)
2009- Kacey Bellamy (women’s ice hockey), Sean McNamara
(men’s skiing)
2010- Veronique Archambault-Leger
(women's skiing), Bobby Butler (men's ice hockey)
2011- Rita Ciambra (women’s track & field), Colin
O’Donnell (men’s soccer)
Tina True
Memorial Award
2007- Aaron Brown (football), Erin Moore (women’s track
& field)
2008- Emmy Blouin (volleyball), Jeff Pammer (football)
2009- Kacey Bellamy (women’s ice hockey), Tom Bishop
(football)
2010- Willie Ford (men's skiing), Ashlee Lathrop (women's track
& field)
2011- Paul DeTurk (men’s
track & field), Sara Heldman (volleyball)
Athletic
Director's Award for Academic Excellence
2010- Ben Jenkins (men's cross country, track), Ally Yost (women's
soccer), Jenny Luoma (women's skiing)
2011- Joe Corsello (men’s
soccer), Kaitlyn Dugan (women’s track & field)
Community Involvement
Award
2011- Kaitlyn Dugan (women's track & field)
