Bradford, Pa. – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford athletics department gathered on campus Friday evening for the annual end-of-year Athletic Awards Banquet.
The annual event is a recap of the athletic year and serves to recognize the department’s student-athletes and their achievements on and off the field. Additionally, the department distributes eight individual awards. Each of the four award types is given to one women’s and one men’s sports athlete. They include the Triangle of Success, Rookie of the Year, Student-Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Year.
The Triangle of Success is awarded to two athletes who show a dedication to their while also displaying strong examples of attitude, effort, citizenship, character, leadership, community service and sportsmanship. This year’s winners were Hannah Fisher of the softball team, and Andrew Bokulich of baseball.
Fisher is a dedicated 4-year member of the softball team, playing first base. While playing with the Panthers, Fisher is very active around the Pitt-Bradford campus, serving as an athletic training intern, leading Pitt-Bradford’s Chapter of The Hidden Opponent, and becoming a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and Phi Epsilon Kappa, the national professional fraternity for exercise science.
Bokulich is a 4-year member of the baseball team. He was a 1st Team All-AMCC selection last year, carries a 3.91 GPA as a Pre-med major, and is a resident assistant with campus housing. While doing all of this, Bokulich has prepared for the mCAT and medical school, worked as an EMT and is actively involved with his church and any community service activities.
The second award of the night was the department’s Rookies of the Year. This was awarded to women’s basketball player Paige Grotto and wrestler Gavin Thompson.
Gratto was the key cog for the Panthers, as they returned to the playoffs for the firt time in 5 seasons. She led the team with 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. She reached double figures in 23 of 24 games played, and was named 2nd Team All-AMCC at the end of the playing season.
Thompson had an impressive debut campaign with the wrestling team, posting a 22-11 record with 12 wins by pin and 5 by major decision. Thompson earned a spot on the 2nd All-Conference team with his runner-up finish at the AMCC Championships. Thompson also had a 2nd place finish at Lycoming’s invitational and took 3rd at Baldwin Wallace.
Pitt-Bradford’s Scholar Athletes of the Year is awarded to student-athletes that have had a successful performance during their playing season, while also performing well in the classroom. This year the award was presented to softball player Krislyn Clement and men’s soccer player Jared Scarlett.
Clement has had an excellent start to her sophomore season, leading the Pitt-Bradford pitching staff, while also being a potent piece of the Panther offense. In the circle, Clement is 6-1 with a 1.57 earned run average, both good for 2nd in the conference. She is also 3rd in the AMCC in strikeouts (48) and 1st in triples (6). Clement was also recognized as an Easton/NFCA Scholar Athlete and an AMCC All-Academic honoree. She is a double major in Forensic Science and Chemistry and carries a 3.62 GPA.
Scarlett has played 3 seasons for the Panther soccer team, playing in the Pitt-Bradford goal. He was a 1-time AMCC Defensive Player of the Week. Along with his work on the field, Scarlett has a 3.937 GPA, is vice-president of Pitt-Bradford’s Student Athlete Mental Health Awareness Committee, is a SAAC representative, resident assistant, campus ambassador, student government general assembly representative and is involved in the Blue and Gold Society.
The final award of the night was the Athlete of the Year, presented to the Pitt-Bradford student athlete with the most outstanding individual performance during their season. This award was presented to Faith McLaughlin of the softball team and Conan Young of the men’s swimming program.
McLaughlin is a 4-year starter for the softball team and brings all five tools to the field. She plays in the outfield and at short, playing wherever her diverse skill set is needed for the team. Last week, Faith became the 17th Pitt-Bradford player to reach 100 career hits and is all over the Panther record books. This season she is hitting .388 with 16 runs scored, 15 RBI, and 2 home runs. She is 3rd in the AMCC in slugging percentage at .735 and extra base hits with 10.
Conan Young followed up on his Rookie of the Year winning freshman season with another strong campaign for the Panthers. He repeated as the AMCC champion in the 1650-yard freestyle and also was 2nd in the 400-yard individual medley. He set 4 program records this season and just missed out on national qualification. Conan also maintains a 3.7 GPA and volunteers with camps, clinics and Special Olympics.
