2004-05 FERRIS STATE TRACK & FIELD AWARDS ANNOUNCED

Men's & Women's Student-Athletes Honored For Season Performances

Freshman Jared Kelsh was recognized as the Most Outstanding Distance Performer for the Bulldog men's squad

The women’s Most Valuable Track Athlete Award was presented for the second consecutive season to junior Jenny Irwin (Scottville/Mason County Central), who placed second overall in both the 1,500 meters (4:34.90) and the 3,000 meters (10:11.17) at the 2005 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Outdoor Championships (May 5-6) in Allendale, Mich. A 2004-05 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field All-Academic Team honoree, Irwin captured all-conference recognition by winning the 3,000 meters (10:12.08) at the league’s indoor championships (Feb. 25-26) in University Center, Mich. The first-team 2004 All-GLIAC Cross Country pick was recently chosen to compete in the 1,500-meter run at the 2005 NCAA-II Outdoor Championships slated for May 26-28 in Abilene, Texas.

Freshman Kamitra Carroll (Flint/Carman-Ainsworth), who has claimed shot put championship honors four times to date this outdoor campaign, received the Most Valuable Women’s Field Event Athlete Award. She will also compete in the outdoor national meet this season after finishing 11th (44-2) in the event at the 2005 NCAA-II Indoor Championships (March 11-12) in Boston, Mass. Carroll was an all-conference shot put performer during both the league's indoor and outdoor seasons this campaign.

Sophomore Kyle Schuberg (Big Rapids) was honored as FSU’s Most Valuable Men’s Track Athlete while senior Kurt Peterson (St. Louis) earned the Most Valuable Field Event Athlete Award. Both were honored with the same awards a year ago. Schuberg received All-GLIAC honors in two outdoor events as he took third place in both the 200 meters (22.26) and the long jump (22-4.25) at the conference meet. Peterson sparked the men's team at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships by placing among the top eight finishers in four events. He earned all-conference laurels with a third-place showing in the pole vault (14-3.25) and also was seventh in the javelin (156-3), eighth in the long jump (21-0) along with eighth in the triple jump (42-0.75).

Most Improved Athlete Awards were presented to sophomores Larenda Hintz (Kingsford) and Chad Hanson (Dearborn/Edsel Ford) for the women and men, respectively. Hanson placed among the top 10 competitors seven times in the throwing events this outdoor campaign after accomplishing the same feat on three occasions during the indoor season. A hurdler, Hintz finished among the top 10 participants in five indoor and six outdoor races this year. She also posted the squad's top seasonal outdoor marks this year in both the 100-meter hurdles (16.11) and the 400-meter hurdles (1:07).

Freshmen Dia Price (Mt. Morris/Beecher) and Phil Doyle (Zeeland) garnered Rookie of the Year Award recognition. Doyle ran both the 200 and 400 meters this season for the Bulldogs while placing in the top 10 standings on three occasions. Price was among the top 10 competitors nine times during the indoor season and six times this outdoor campaign in the jumps.

Bulldog Pride Awards were given to senior Mary Miller (Sault Ste. Marie) and junior Sean Maxwell (Sturgis/Mendon) for their contributions to the program. A 2004-05 GLIAC Indoor All-Academic Team pick, Miller took eighth place at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships in the 10,000 meters (39:20.13) and was sixth in the 5,000 meters (18:38.93) at the conference indoor meet. Maxwell placed among the top 10 hurdling event performers four times during the indoor season and twice in outdoor competition this year.

Hintz and Schuberg were also honored as the squad's Most Outstanding Award Performers in the sprint and hurdle events while Carroll and junior Tom Swartwood (Morley/Morley-Stanwood) earned Most Outstanding Performer Award laurels for the throwing events. Swartwood was ninth overall at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships in the discus (146-11) along with registering top team seasonal efforts in the shot put during both the indoor and outdoor campaigns.

The Most Outstanding Performer Award recipients for the distance and middle distance events were Irwin and freshman Jared Kelsh (Chippewa Lake/Chippewa Hills). Kelsh won the mile run twice during the indoor season and placed third (4:15.19) in the event while earning all-conference plaudits at the league indoor meet. His top outdoor times in the 800 meters (1:59.16), 1,500 meters (3:53.87) and 5,000 meters (15:12.34) all were team season bests.

Finally, Most Outstanding Performer Award honors for the jumping events were handed to Price and freshman Joe Mielke (Westland/Franklin). Mielke registered all-league kudos by taking third place in the outdoor high jump (6-5.50) and also tied for sixth place in the long jump (21-4.75) at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships. He twice claimed high jump championship honors in the indoor season and posted the school's fifth-best tying all-time indoor performance (6-6) in the event this campaign.

The Ferris State men's and women's outdoor track and field teams both took sixth place in the 2005 GLIAC Outdoor Championships. The Bulldog women's team registered 64.50 points in the 10-team field while the men's squad totaled 44.50 points in its nine-team division. Ferris' women's squad finished fourth with 51.50 points at the league indoor meet while the men were seventh (31 points).