Forward (Harrisonburg, VA/Eastern Mennonite) earns his first All-State First Team award after being named to the Second Team in both 2008 and 2009.  The senior scored 10 goals this fall, which was third-best in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and had 23 total points, tied for second in the ODAC.  He had five game-winning goals during the regular season, which led the league.  Leap leaves the 91¶ÌÊÓƵ program fourth in Career Goals with 35 and fifth in Career Points with 80.

Fellow senior (Harrisonburg, VA/Eastern Mennonite) dominated the midfield to earn his All-State First Team nod.  Chico had three goals and one assist.  He also scored the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Virginia Wesleyan, which was the men’s first win over the powerful Marlins since the 1998 ODAC Championship Game.

(Harrisonburg, VA/Eastern Mennonite) was named First Team as a defender.  The junior was a key ball-controller in the back line and routinely beat opposing forwards to long passes before pushing the ball up on offense.

All three players were also named All-ODAC First Team earlier this fall.

In 2009, 91¶ÌÊÓƵ put two men on the All-State First Team.  In 2008, four Royals were honored by the VaSID, with all of them on the Second Team.

The Royals tied with Roanoke for the best ODAC record during the regular season and also tied the program mark for most ODAC wins in a season with seven.  They were upset in the conference semifinals by Lynchburg, 2-1.

Christopher Newport University swept the top player awards with the release of the 2011 College Division Men’s Soccer All-State Team, as voted on by the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID). Senior forward Brian Lybert earned the Player of the Year honor for the second straight year and his teammate Jalon Brown was voted Rookie of the Year. Voted the State Coach of the Year was Randolph College’s Bryan Waggoner, who led the WildCats to the round of 16 in the NCAA Division III tournament.

Lybert, the 2011 USA South Player of the Year, led the Captains to a 17-1-1 record and a No. 1 national ranking in the polls during the regular season for the third straight year. Lybert finished his career at CNU as the program’s all-time leader in assists. This past season he ranked third in the nation in assists per game and sixth in the nation in total assists with 13.

Brown started every game for the Captains in his first season and earned first-team USA South honors. He scored 11 points during the season on four goals and three assists.

Waggoner led the WildCats to an 18-5 overall record and the college’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in any sport.  Randolph advanced to the NCAA round of 16 in just the fifth year of the program’s existence.

Christopher Newport led the voting with seven picks on the All-State team, including four First-Team choices. Eastern Mennonite, Hampden-Sydney and Randolph College placed three players each on the All-State team. Lybert and Hampden-Sydney’s Nick DeProspero were repeat selections on the First Team.

COACH OF THE YEAR, Bryan Waggoner, Randolph
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Brian Lybert, Christopher Newport
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Jalon Brown, Christopher Newport

FIRST TEAM
F – Brian Lybert, Christopher Newport             
F – Corey Sindle, Randolph
F –  Mitchell Leap, Eastern Mennonite
M – Jalon Brown, Christopher Newport           
M – Nick DeProspero, Hampden-Sydney       
M – Drew Claytor, Roanoke
M – Kevin Chico, Eastern Mennonite
D – Sean Moriarity, Christopher Newport
D – Ryan Eshleman, Eastern Mennonite
D – Curran Blackwell, Hampden-Sydney        
GK – Justin Wolfe, Christopher Newport

SECOND TEAM
F – Winston Mattheisen, Christopher Newport
F – Brian White, Roanoke
F – Josh Smith, Southern Virginia
F – Bryan Wharton, Hampden-Sydney
M – Nick Cornell, Randolph
M – Kevin Gorman, Bridgewater
M – Brian Sims, Mary Washington
M – Steven Farmer, Christopher Newport
D – Josh Thrower, Averett
D – Basil Richter, Washington and Lee
D – Will Wolf, Randolph
D – David Hass, Christopher Newport
GK – Michael Releford, Lynchburg
(tie in voting for final forward and defender spot)

Daryl Bert, vice president for finance, opened chapel by praising the tireless efforts of Bruce Emmerson, food services director for Pioneer Catering, which operates 52 kitchens nationwide.  Emmerson, who was named Pioneer’s “rookie of the year,” in 2007 and “director of the year,” in 2011, has continuously improved the quality of services that are offered to the students, faculty, staff and visitors of 91¶ÌÊÓƵ, said Bert.

“I have appreciated how seriously Bruce takes feedback from our community by personally, wittily and publicly responding to feedback cards in the cafeteria,” said Bert. “I am always amazed at how quickly Bruce implements themes from the survey forms into the food service experience in the cafeteria…

“I believe this attention to quality is validated by the large number of faculty and staff that join students in the cafeteria for lunch on a daily basis.”

Byron Peachey, associate campus pastor, said: “Anytime I’ve needed to work with Bruce or Ramona [Lantz] with special catering needs or events, they are adaptable and easy to work with, willing to take on special events such as the Late Night Breakfast… The food is always consistently delicious and varied.”

91¶ÌÊÓƵ routinely hosts outside groups, conferences and youth camps over the summer which adds to Emmerson’s schedule. LeDayne McLeese Polaski, program coordinator for the Baptist Peace Fellowship also praised the work of Emmerson and Matthew Hunsberger, Lehman Auditorium facility technician, in a written statement to Bert.

After stating that her Fellowship puts 91¶ÌÊÓƵ at the top of the list, Polaski added: “I would be remiss if I did not mention the excellent work of Matt Hunsberger and Bruce Emmerson… They are true professionals who go above and beyond the call of duty to provide excellent service.”

Below is a list of students who were honored at the chapel ceremony for academics, athletics and community service.

Fall Season

Men’s Cross Country:

Dan Nafziger: ODAC Athlete of the Week (Sept. 1-5), All-ODAC Second Team, All-South/Southeast Region First Team, NCAA National Championships participant

Field Hockey:

Nicole Bencsik: All-ODAC Second Team

Jenessa Derstine: All-ODAC Third Team

Valerie Landis: ODAC All-Tournament Team, All-ODAC First Team

Adriana Santiago: ODAC All-Tournament Team, All-ODAC First Team

Men’s Soccer:

Barkot Akalu: All-ODAC Third Team

Kevin Chico: ODAC All-Tournament Team, All-ODAC First Team

Ryan Eshleman: ODAC All-Tournament Team, CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District Team, All-ODAC First Team

Mitchell Leap: ODAC Player of the Week (Sept. 19-25), ODAC Player of the Week (Oct. 3-9), ODAC Player of the Week (Oct. 24-30), All-ODAC First Team

Brent Yoder:    All-ODAC Third Team

Women’s Cross Country:

Katie Eckman: All-ODAC Second Team

Women’s Volleyball:

Tabitha Bowman: CUA Guetle All-Invitational Team

Brittany Childress: 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Hampton Inn & Sleep Inn All-Invitational Team

Winter Season

Men’s Basketball:

Owen Longacre: Marymount Tip-Off Tournament All-Tournament Team

Women’s Basketball:

Raiven Patterson: 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Tip-Off Classic Most Outstanding Player

Kala Yoders: All-91¶ÌÊÓƵ Tip-Off Classic Team

Intensive English Program

Fanty Polanco

Maria Pena

Jihoo Park

Academic Support Center-Tutors

Stacy Kinkaid

Haleigh Hershberger

Lyubov Slashcheva

Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival nominations

Elizabeth Gannaway

Julia King

Justin Rittenhouse (alternate)

Jamie Hiner (stage manager)

Pastoral Assistant Recognition

Mitchell Stutzman – 1.5 years as pastoral assistant

Nursing Department Outstanding Service Award

Rebekah [last name omitted on request]

Student Government Association

Hannah Patterson, Senator

Joel Choi, Senator

Louise Babikow, Senator

Brittney Wenger, Senator

Katrina Goering, Senator

Daniel Sigmans, Treasurer

Nels Ã…kerson, c0-President