Photo Gallery

DETROIT (4/15/2014) -- University of Detroit Mercy seniors Adam Bedell and Lindsey Lammers took home the most distinguished award Titan athletics has to offer as the Annual Academic & Athletic Awards Dinner was held on Tuesday night at the Hard Rock Café in downtown Detroit.
 
The award marks the second-straight year that a men's soccer and women's golfer earned the President's Award, given to Detroit's top male and female most outstanding senior student-athlete. Both Bedell and Lammers earned the Titan Club Award in 2013.
 
Bedell had a terrific finish to a great career as he became the first Titan to ever get drafted by Major League Soccer (MLS) and sign a contract to play for the Columbus Crew. A two-time First Team All-Horizon League selection, he was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and HL Offensive Player of the Year in 2012, leading UDM to a regular season championship. He ended his career among the school leaders in several major statistical categories including sixth all time in career points (67), goals (23), and assists (22). He has been a team captain, a member of SAAC, on the Detroit Athletic Director's and the Horizon League Academic Honor Rolls as well as HL All-Academic, and has taken part in numerous community service initiatives.
 
Lammers is the school leader in career average (77.79) and owns the top two marks in season averages with a 76.3 last season and a 75.8 this year. A two-time All-Horizon League honoree and the first Titan to win the HL Player of the Year last season, she has also been All-Tournament twice and became just the second player in school history to win the HL Championship in 2012, all while helping Detroit to a school record and NCAA tying nine tournament wins as a junior. She has also tied a school record with seven career wins and has been in the top 10 in 18 of her last 19 events. Off the course, she is also a member of SAAC, on the Detroit Athletic Director's and the Horizon League Academic Honor Rolls as well as HL All-Academic, and has twice earned Scholar All-American by the Women's Golf Coaches Association.
 
Senior men's basketball standout Evan Bruinsma and senior distance runner Louisa Coppola were selected the recipients of this year's Titan Club Award, presented to a male and female student-athlete who has achieved academic and athletic excellence during their UDM careers.
 
Bruinsma has been named to the Athletic Directors Honor Roll four times, a recipient of the Academic Excellence award, a three time member of the Horizon League's Fall and Spring Academic Honor Roll and is a two time Horizon League Scholar of the Month honoree. He started all 31 games and topped the team in rebounding, steals and was second in scoring and assists this season and was second in rebounding and 12th in scoring in the Horizon League and collected a team best six double-doubles. 
 
Coppola has cemented herself among the top runners in school history as she earned the Team MVP for the second-straight year after posting personal records in the 4K, 5K, and 6K. She was in the top 14 six times, in the top seven five times, top three four times and won two races. She ran the 5K in under 20 minutes eight times and under 19 minutes on six occasions and was First Team All-Horizon League in both her years in cross country and was First Team in indoor track and field for the mile and distance medley in 2014. She was also tabbed the Most Outstanding Performer Award at this year's HL Indoor Track and Field Championships.
 
Junior Troy Dennis from men's lacrosse and senior Christina Thorne of the women's golf team were named the winners of the Reverend Nobert Heutter Award, presented to a male and female student-athlete who has demonstrated leadership, dedication, cooperation with teammates and coaches, pride in team achievements, determination to excel, and graciousness in victory or defeat. 
 
Dennis is a candidate for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate men's lacrosse and is a four-year letter winner who helped Detroit capture its' first-ever MAAC Championship and NCAA Championship appearance in 2013 as well as a runner up MAAC championship effort in 2011. Thorne has been one of the women's golf captains for the last two years and helped Detroit win the Horizon League Championship in 2013. She is second on the team with a 79.6 average with four top ten marks and is currently fourth in the Titan Record book with an 81.5 career average.
 
The Horizon League Sportsmanship award went to softball senior Hannah Klenk. The award is given to the student-athlete or team who best exemplify the true essence of sportsmanship and ethical conduct.  The recipient of this award exemplifies teamwork and dedication. An amazing student in the classroom and a hard worker on the field, they have led by example for their teammates and fellow athletes, and are always willing to lend a hand by helping a teammate in the classroom or filling an important role on the field with class and sportsmanship.
 
The Dad Butler award - presented to the male and female student-athletes who show dedication to practice and having the ability to rehabilitate an injury to his or her fullest capabilities – was given to junior Shayne Adams of the men's lacrosse team and sophomore Haley Morairty of women's track and field and cross country.
 
Adams suffered a shoulder injury last season that required surgery and he has come back strong, leading Detroit so far with 29 goals and placing second with 35 points. Morairty sustained a hip injury in August and while it kept her out of both cross country and indoor track season, she has continued to commit to whatever she needs to do to get back on the track and she never gets discouraged through this long process.
 
This year's Newcomer of the Year - awarded each spring to the athletes who have competed during the previous academic year as incoming freshmen or transfer students on the basis of athletic excellence – went to Nathan Steinwascher of men's soccer and Nino Sujashvili of women's tennis.
 
During the 2012 season, Steinwascher started all 19 games and posted four shutouts and a GAA of 1.42 in helping the Titans win the Horizon League regular season championship. He was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team and earned Defensive Player of the week three times. Sujashvili was Second Team All-Horizon League as a freshman during the 2012-13 year and finished the regular season with a 13-2 mark in dual matches and a perfect 11-0 record in tournaments. She also recorded a 17-6 record in doubles, including 6-1 against Horizon League opponents.
 
27 athletes earned one of the highest awards on the night in the Academic Excellence Award. These individuals were all seniors who have achieved academic excellence during their time at the University of Detroit Mercy and is given to those student-athletes who have earned at least a 3.0 GPA for every semester they participated in college athletics.
 
This year's 27-member class included Liz Arroyo, Eva Berndt, Evan Bruinsma, Shannon Canavan, Sara Cupp, Torrie Eger, Sam Felton, Cole Goike, Raina Halabi, Hannah Klenk, Lindsey Lammers, Joe MacLean, Julia Maksym, Shannon Marchant, Tom Masterson, Karyn McCarty, Ian McDonald-Wilkins, Nicole Meisner, Ugochukwu Njoku, Drew Schupbach, Patrick Soltys, Katelyn Steffel, Christina Thorne, Kayla Zauner, Stephanie Cuniberti, Louisa Coppola and Olumide Solanke.
 
The 2014 Team Excellence Award, which recognizes the varsity team with the highest overall grade point average for the past academic year, was won by the women's golf team with a cumulative grade point average of 3.692, while the men's soccer team had the highest GPA on the men's side.
 
Greg Russell - a television fixture in Detroit for years and host and producer of the syndicated show "Movie Show Plus" – served as the banquet's emcee. Director of Athletics Robert C. Vowels, Jr. started the event with some opening remarks before University Minister for Athletics Sr. Beth Finster S.S.J. gave the invocation.
 
The Athletic Department would like to thank all of those in attendance and all the great student-athletes who achieved greatness in the classroom and in competition.