University of Southern Indiana Athletics announced its 2020-21 award winners Sunday night in the 2021 Archie Awards, which was presented by Old National Bank on the GLVC Sports Network.
Student-Athlete of the Year
Headlining the list of honorees was USI’s Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year, which respectively went to Men’s Basketball senior forward Josh Price (Indianapolis, Indiana) and women’s cross country/track & field senior Jennifer Comastri (Indianapolis, Indiana).
Price earned honorable mention All-All-America honors from the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association as well as first-team All-District accolades from the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 2020-21. He was a unanimous first-team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference and GLVC All-Defensive team selection after finishing fourth in the league with 16.7 points per game and second with 8.9 rebounds per appearance.
Student-athletes under consideration for this year’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year award included Men’s Soccer sophomore Zach Barton (St. Louis, Missouri), Baseball junior Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) and senior Bryce Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana), and men’s track & field junior Austin Nolan (Evansville, Indiana) and freshman Titus Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee).
Previous winners of the award were Duncan Bray (2003, 2004; soccer), Matt Keener (2005; baseball), Chris Thompson (2006; basketball), Melvin Hall (2007; basketball), Paul Jellema (2008; cross country/track), Shaun Larsen (2009; baseball), Jamar Smith (2010; basketball), Trevor Leach (2011; baseball), Dustin Emerick (2012; Â cross country & track), Michael Jordan (2013; cross country & track), Johnnie Guy (2014, 2016; cross country & track), Tyler Pence (2015, cross country & track), Jeril Taylor (2017, basketball), and Alex Stein (2018, 2019; basketball). The award was not presented in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Comastri earned first-team All-America honors in the indoor 5,000 meters and second-team All-America honors in the outdoor 5,000 meters during the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. She was the GLVC Champion in the outdoor 5,000 meters and earned All-GLVC honors in cross country as well as two All-GLVC awards in outdoor track & field. She also was All-Region in the indoor 5,000 meters as well as the outdoor 5,000 and 10,000 meters, while breaking the school records in the indoor 5,000 meters as well as the 10,000 meters.
Student-athletes under consideration for this year’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year award included Volleyball sophomore Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois), Softball freshman Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana), Women’s Basketball senior Emma DeHart(Indianapolis, Indiana) and Women’s Soccer senior Madelyne Juenger (Columbia, Illinois).
Previous winners of the award were Shannon Wells (2003, volleyball), Jenny Farmer (2004; cross country/track), Heather Cooksey (2005; cross country/track), Laura Ellerbusch (2006; volleyball), Allison Shafer (2007; cross country/track), Kristin Eickholt (2008; softball), Mary Ballinger (2009, 2010; cross country/track), Danielle LaGrange (2011, 2012; volleyball), Susan Ellsperman (2013; soccer), Anna Hackert (2014; basketball), MacKenzie Dorsam (2015; softball), Haley Hodges (2016 & 2017; softball) and Emily Roberts (2016; cross country/track), Kaydie Grooms (2018; basketball), and Jennifer Leonhardt (2019; softball). The award was not presented in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Screaming Eagle Pride Award
In addition to Student-Athletes of the Year, USI Director of Athletics Jon Mark Hall announced the winners of the Male and Female Screaming Eagle Pride Awards, which respectively went to Baseball senior Manny Lopez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and Volleyball senior Callie Gubera (Thorntown, Indiana).
Lopez was voted by the USI Athletics coaches and staff members as the Male Screaming Eagle Pride Award winner after demonstrating all the attributes that embodies Screaming Eagles both on and off the playing field. He was a second-team Academic All-American in 2020 and has demonstrated a positive attitude as well as positive sportsmanship to everyone around him.
In addition to Lopez, student-athletes that were nominated for the Male Screaming Eagle Pride Award included Men’s Basketball sophomore Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) and Men’s Track & Field senior Austin Nolan (Evansville, Indiana).
Gubera was voted by the USI Athletics coaches and staff members as the Female Screaming Eagle Pride Award winner after seeing years of hard work and dedication pay off for her on the court this year. She earned a spot as USI’s startling libero this Spring, helping USI claim its first GLVC Tournament title since 2004 and being named the GLVC Defensive Player of the Week as well as the AVCA Division II National Player of the Week along the way.
In addition to Gubera, student-athletes that were nominated for the Female Screaming Eagle Pride Award included Women’s Soccer senior Megan Brune (Olathe, Kansas), Softball junior Courtney Schoolcraft (Crest Hill, Illinois), Women’s Basketball senior Audrey Turner(Fishers, Indiana) and women’s cross country/track & field sophomore Presley Warren (Henderson, Kentucky).
Previous winners of the Pride Award were Ginnie Roberts (softball) 2003; Mike Arnold (men’s basketball) 2004; Brian Kendall (men’s cross country/track) 2005; Angie Davis (softball) 2006; Geoff Van Winkle (men’s basketball) 2007; Kathy Wood (softball) 2008; Austin Inge (men’s track) and Brittany Neuman (women’s basketball) 2009; Jeron Lewis (men’s basketball) and Sara Loete (softball) 2010; Lauren Meneghetti (women’s basketball) and Mohamed Ntumba (men’s basketball) 2011; Susan Ellsperman (women’s soccer) and Brendan Devine (men’s cross country/track) 2012; Ellena Stumpf (women’s tennis) and Scott Ernstberger (baseball) 2013; Stephanie Carpenter (women’s basketball) and Jeff Neidlinger (men’s soccer) 2014; Austin Davis (men’s basketball); and Mary O’Keefe (women’s basketball) 2015; McKinsey Durham (women’s soccer) and Lucas Woodford (men’s soccer) 2016; and Kendyl Dearing (women’s basketball) and Bobo Drummond (men’s basketball) 2017; Olivia Clark-Kittleson (softball) and Adam Zehme (men’s soccer) 2018; Alex Stein (men’s basketball) and Claire Johnson (softball) 2019. The award was not presented in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Team GPA Award
USI’s Team GPA award went to Women’s Tennis, which compiled a blistering 3.705 GPA in 2020-21 to edge runner-up, Women’s Soccer, which finished the year with a modest 3.699 team GPA. Women’s Golf (3.582), Women’s Cross Country (3.575) and Women’s Basketball (3.558) rounded out the top five teams in contention for the award.
The Team GPA award marks the second straight season Women’s Tennis has claimed the award after earning the honor following the 2019-20 academic calendar. It also pulls them into a tie for with Women’s Soccer (2006, 2018) and Softball (2012, 2014) for the third-most Team GPA awards since its inception in 2006. Volleyball has claimed the Award a record five times (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015), while Women’s Cross Country (2013, 2016, 2017) has won the award three times. Women’s Basketball earned the award in 2011.
Archie Awards
The student-athlete voted Archie Awards also were presented by USI Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator Alex Eaton Sunday night. Softball’s Courtney Schoolcraft (Crest Hill, Illinois) was honored with the Inspiration Award as well as the Best Comeback Award, while Men’s Basketball seniors Josh Price (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Mateo Rivera (Indianapolis, Indiana) were named the Duo of the Year.
USI Volleyball was the student-athletes choice for Team of the Year, while student athletes from each team were recognized with “Most Likely to” awards in the categories of die first in a horror movie; be late to a practice or game; make you smile; best shoulder to cry on; be at Chick-fil-A; and be on a reality show.
The 2021 Archie Awards are available to watch on-demand on the GLVC Sports Network.
Most Likely Awards:
Most likely to die first in a horror movie
-Baseball: Sammy Barnett
-Men’s Basketball: Keegan Wilcher
-Women’s Basketball: Tara Robbe
-Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Cameron Cox
-Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Hadley Fisher & Kati Hoerig
-Men’s Golf: Peyton Short
-Women’s Golf: Halle Gutwein
-Men’s Soccer: Justin Brooks
-Women’s Soccer: Alyssa Wright
-Softball: Katie Back
-Men’s Tennis: Parker Collignon
-Women’s Tennis: Elizabeth Cluck
-Volleyball: Audrey Crowder
Most likely to be late to a practice or game
-Baseball: Austin Moody
-Men’s Basketball: Jelani Simmons
-Women’s Basketball: Ashley Hunter
-Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Cameron Cox
-Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Hope Jones (Winders)
-Men’s Golf: Jace Day
-Women’s Golf: Brooke Moser
-Men’s Soccer: Alec Meissner
-Women’s Soccer: Maggie Winter
-Softball: Sammie Kihega
-Men’s Tennis: Kooper Falkenstein
-Women’s Tennis: Alexa Wilkison
-Volleyball: Taylor Littekin
Most likely to make you smile
-Baseball: Sam Mudd
-Men’s Basketball: Clayton Hughes
-Women’s Basketball: Ashlynn Brown
-Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Cameron Cox
-Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Emma Brown
-Men’s Golf: Zach Breault
-Women’s Golf: Kelci Katterhenry
-Men’s Soccer: Ryan Nevins
-Women’s Soccer: Jill DiTusa
-Softball: Mikaela Domico
-Men’s Tennis: Spencer Blandford
-Women’s Tennis: Lauryn Thompson
-Volleyball: Katherine Koch
Best Shoulder to cry on
-Baseball: Sam Boese
-Men’s Basketball: Clayton Hughes
-Women’s Basketball: Hannah Haithcock
-Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Todd Baxter
-Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Lauren Greiwe
-Men’s Golf: Nate Caudle
-Women’s Golf: Hannah Herma
-Men’s Soccer: Zach Barton
-Women’s Soccer: Megan Brune
-Softball: Katie Back
-Men’s Tennis: Dylan Brown
-Women’s Tennis: Chloe McIsaac
-Volleyball: Casey Cepicky
Most likely to be at Chick-fil-A
-Baseball: Tyler Hagedorn
-Men’s Basketball: Michael Rogers
-Women’s Basketball: Lexi Thompson
-Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Will Sims
-Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Aubrie Deal
-Men’s Golf: Matthew Kingston
-Women’s Golf: Hannah Herma
-Men’s Soccer: Eli Quivey
-Women’s Soccer: Madelyne Juenger
-Softball: Mikaela Domico
-Men’s Tennis: Spencer Blandford
-Women’s Tennis: Lauryn Thompson
-Volleyball: Leah Anderson
Mostly likely to be on a reality show
-Baseball: Paul Perez
-Men’s Basketball: Ashlynn Brown
-Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Noah Hufnagel
-Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Hadley Fisher
-Men’s Golf: Matthew Kingston
-Women’s Golf: Hannah Herma
-Men’s Soccer: Scott Ross
-Women’s Soccer: Skylar Brant
-Softball: Mikaela Domico
-Men’s Tennis: Marvin Kromer
-Women’s Tennis: Lindsey McCord
-Volleyball: Casey Cepicky
