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ATHLETICS
BSC names Athletes of the Year
The 2014 Larry D. Striplin Athletes of the Year (l to r): Larry Thomas,
Blake Stevens, Hannah Busk, Duncan Bonney, and Hank Ballard.
Birmingham-Southern held its annual Athletic Awards Banquet in
May and named the 2014 Newcomers, Athletes, Teams, and Man and
Woman of the Year, as well as the Johnny Johnson Most Inspirational
Senior Student Athletes.
Sophomore swimmer
Hannah Busk
was named Larry D. Striplin
Female Athlete of the Year after earning her second-straight Southern
Athletic Association Women’s Swimmer of the Year honor and
helping lead the Panthers to the 2014 SAA Championship. On the
men’s side, four Panthers shared the Larry D. Striplin Male Athlete
of the Year award: track and field’s
Hank Ballard
, swimming and
diving’s
Duncan Bonney
, baseball’s
Blake Stevens
, and men’s
basketball’s
Larry Thomas
. BSC’s Athlete of the Year awards were
named in honor of late benefactor Larry D. Striplin ’52, a member
of the college’s Board of Trustees and the BSC Sports Hall of Fame;
the baseball field and fitness center on campus are also named in his
honor.
In the Newcomer of the Year category, the college named two
women and two men. Softball’s
Taylor Harkins
and runner
Elise
Pittman
were named Female Newcomers of the Year, and swimmer
Scott Taylor
and men’s tennis’
Alex Makarenko
were named Male
Newcomers of the Year.
The Johnny Johnson Most Inspirational Senior Award was given
to women’s soccer’s
Richelle Byrd
and baseball’s
Evan Grovenstein
.
The award is named for the late vice president for business and
finance at Birmingham-Southern, who was an avid supporter of BSC
athletics.
The college also named its Man and Woman of the Year, given to
student-athletes who’ve earned First-Team All-Conference honors,
are members of the SAA Academic Honor Roll, and who are active
in the community.
Elizabeth Bromirski
, a dual-sport athlete
in women’s basketball and track and field and SAA high jump
champion and SAA Woman of the Year, was named BSC Woman of
the Year, and baseball’s
Miles Nordgren
, who was First-Team All-SAA
this past season and also earned Capital One Academic All-District
accolades, was named BSC Man of the Year (read more about his
accomplishments on p.44).
Finally, BSC named its Teams of the Year, giving the award to SAA
champion squads women’s swimming and diving, softball, and
baseball.
fall 2014 / 43
Hall of Fame day
—
During Family/
Homecoming/Alumni Weekend festivities
Oct. 3-4, six alumni were officially inducted
into the college’s Sports Hall of Fame,
bringing the total number of inductees to
189 individuals and teams. Those honored
were:
•
Kirby Sevier ’68
, basketball
•
Russell Thompson ’71
, basketball
•
Paul Rogers ’89
, tennis
•
David Horne ’06
, baseball
•
Jill Stupiansky ’07
, golf
•
Reba Ross Hudson ’08
, basketball
In addition, Kathy Webster, the office
assistant for athletics, received the 2014
Bob Strain Distinguished Service Award
that weekend. The award is named after
the late 1940 BSC alum who founded the
hall of fame in 1981.
Kathy Webster received her award from BSC Athletics
Director Joe Dean Jr.
The 2014 HOF winners (l to r): Jack Thompson, who
accepted the award on behalf of his brother, Russell;
David Horne; Kirby Sevier; Reba Ross Hudson; Jill
Stupiansky; and Paul Rogers.