FLORENCE, S.C. – Francis Marion University held its 37th-annual Athletic Banquet, Monday, April 23, in the university’s Edward S. Ervin III Dining Hall. Most Valuable Player awards were given in 14 sports. An outstanding cheerleader award, a student-athlete award, and two MVP Partner awards were also presented.

Freshman Holly Todd (Loris, S.C.) was presented the Gail Summersett Outlaw Outstanding Cheerleader Award. An elementary education major, she also ran cross country for the Patriots and competed on the track and field squad.

Junior Dylan Owen (Chesterfield, S.C.) was presented the Conyers O’Bryan M.V.P. Award for baseball. Owen, a 6-0 right-handed pitcher, leads the Patriot staff with a 9-1 record and owns a sparkling 1.05 earned run average. He has struck out a Peach Belt Conference-leading 107 batters in 94.2 innings, while walking only 16, and opponents are batting only .207 against him. He has helped lead the 22nd-ranked Patriots to a 35-16 record, and a third-place finish in the PBC. With the PBC Tournament still remaining on the schedule, FMU is hoping to advance to the NCAA Division II national tournament for the fourth time in five years.

Senior Raymond Dorsey (Florence, S.C.) was presented the Howard Stokes M.V.P. Award for men’s basketball. Dorsey, a 6-6 forward, averaged 13.3 points per game and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game, while connecting on 56.6 percent of his field goal attempts (which ranked second in the Peach Belt Conference and 50th in all of NCAA Division II). He ranked in the top 10 in the conference in four different statistical categories, and ended his FMU career fourth on the team’s all-time list for blocked shots (94). The Patriots finished the year 9-19 and placed third in the PBC’s North Division standings.

Junior Brittany Young (Moncks Corner, S.C.) was presented the Carroll Player Jr. M.V.P. Award for women’s basketball. Young, a 5-6 guard, led the team in scoring at 11.8 ppg and in assists at 5.6 per contest, third-best in the Peach Belt Conference and 16th nationally. She also averaged 3.9 rpg, while logging nearly 34 minutes per game. She is now fifth on the program’s career list for assists (440), with her senior season yet to be played. She also took an active role in the athletic department by serving as president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.  The Patriots compiled a 6-22 record and finished sixth in the PBC’s North Division standings.

Sophomore Steven Holmes (Hodges, S.C.) was presented the Alice Baker M.V.P. Award for men’s cross country. This past fall, Holmes was the top FMU runner in five of seven meets. His season-best 8,000-meter time of 27:24 at the Blue Hose Invitational was the 10th best time for a Patriot runner since the program moved to NCAA Division II affiliation. For that effort, he earned PBC Runner of the Week honors. He helped the Patriots to a fifth-place finish at the Peach Belt Conference Championship Meet with his 21st-place showing. He later placed 89th at the NCAA Division II South Regional Meet, where the Patriots finished 17th in the team standings. In the classroom, he has been accepted into the nursing program.

Sophomore Kelly May (Bowling Green, Ohio)was presented the Most Valuable Player Award for women’s cross country for the second consecutive year. She was FMU’s top finisher in six of seven meets during 2006, including two Top-10 finishes. She twice broke the 20-minute mark for 5,000-meters, only the third Patriot to go under that barrier. She earned All-Conference honors for the second time with a 13th-place showing at the PBC meet, where she helped the Patriots finish seventh in the team standings. Her season-best 5,000-meter time of 19:42 came at the PBC meet. She later finished 34th at the South Regional Championships, where FMU placed 18th in the team standings.

Freshman Christopher Couch (Summerville, S.C.) was presented the Clifford Cormell M.V.P. Award for golf.   Couch compiled a team-leading 74.19 stroke average despite playing very challenging courses. He finished in the top half of the field in all but one event, including five Top-25 finishes and two Top-15 showings. He shot five sub-par rounds, and set the school record for a freshman with his final-round 66 at William & Mary’s tournament.  Francis Marion recorded a 48-95-1 mark while completing its second and final year of transitioning from NCAA Division II membership to Division I.

Junior Biagio Galle (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) was presented the Jerry W. Wilson M.V.P. Award for men’s soccer. A midfielder, he started all 17 matches this season and finished with three assists. His career totals stand at two goals and eight assists and he has started 52 of 56 matches in his three years at FMU. This past fall, his versatility was essential to the team as he was asked to play as a defender, midfielder, and at times an attacker. FMU finished the year 4-12-1 and seventh in the Peach Belt Conference.

Junior Jacque Sutphin (Davidsonville, Md.) was presented the Most Valuable Player Award for women’s soccer. A 5-8 goalkeeper, she recorded 100 saves, posted seven shutouts, and had a 0.98 goals against average, while starting all 19 matches. She had the 41st-best save percentage in Division I, and during the season she set a new FMU record for consecutive minutes without giving up a goal (484 minutes – more than five matches). Her work in the net was instrumental in the team’s dramatic improvement from the 2005 season, and this turnaround was recognized as the fourth-best in NCAA Division I. The 2006 Patriots were 11-5-3 in their second and final year of transitioning from Division II to Division I.  

Freshman Michaela Wolf (Littleton, Colo.) was presented the Bobbie Davis M.V.P. Award for women’s softball.   A 6-0 left-handed pitcher, Wolf posted a 21-10 record to become only the second FMU pitcher in the past 18 seasons to win 20 games. She compiled a 2.26 ERA, pitched 216.2 innings, and struck out a school-record 193 batters, despite suffering through a late season injury. In her first collegiate outing, she came within two outs of throwing a perfect game, but had to settle for a shutout. She later in the season combined with a teammate on a no-hitter.   At the plate, she hit three home runs, drove in 17 runs, and recorded a .256 average and a .402 slugging percentage. She helped the Patriots to a 34-16 record and a fifth-place finish during the PBC regular season. FMU spent five weeks in the Top 25 poll, and for the fourth straight year, narrowly missed earning a bid to the NCAA Division II national tournament.

Junior Franklyn Emmanuel (Colombo, Sri Lanka) was presented the Lorin Mason M.V.P. Award for men’s tennis. Emmanuel finished with a 13-2 record in singles play, including a 7-1 mark in the tough Peach Belt Conference that included wins over two nationally ranked opponents. He started at the No.3 singles spot and ended up in the No.1 position. His only singles losses were to players currently ranked first and fifth in the country, and he lost only 6 of 32 sets during the year. He also compiled a 14-4 doubles mark, playing mainly at the No. 1 position. Francis Marion ended the year nationally ranked (29th) with an 8-10 record, with all 10 losses coming at the hands of nationally ranked opponents.

Senior Kamini Murugaboopathy (Chennai, India) was presented the Gladys Hite M.V.P. Award for women’s tennis for the third time in four years. Murugaboopathy was 18-4 in singles play, mainly at the No.2 position, and lost only 10 of 47 sets. She also posted a 15-9 mark in doubles competition. The 16th-ranked Patriot women posted a 16-8 record, the second-most wins in school history, and advanced to the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Regional title match for the second straight year. Although her eligibility is up, Murugaboopathy will remain at FMU to begin work on her M.B.A. degree.

Senior Patrick Hopewell (Malvern, Pa.) was presented the Jerry and Jean Lee M.V.P. Award for men’s track and field.  Hopewell placed third at the S.C. State Championships in the 5,000-meter run; previously earned Academic All-American honors for cross country; has been a good leader and influence on a young team; and will graduate with high honors and continue his running career with the Lockheed and Martin Corporation.

Junior Codi Knoch (Wapakoneta, Ohio)was presented the Most Valuable Player Award for women’s track and field for the third time. Knoch placed second in the 3,000-meters at the 2007 Braves Track Classic. Last fall, she was an All-Conference runner in cross country. She was a consistent and reliable performer and a valued leader to a very young team that was half comprised of freshmen.

Senior Jessica Strader (Kettering, Ohio) was presented the Joseph B. Durant M.V.P. Award forwomen’s volleyball. A 5-4 libero, she appeared in all 34 matches (and all 121 individual games), led the Peach Belt Conference in digs (5.41 per game) and ranked fifth in service aces per game (0.44), while  recording a .947 reception percentage on over 800 chances. She earned All-Conference honors and helped lead Francis Marion to a 26-8 record and a share of the PBC regular-season championship. She ended her career fifth in NCAA Division II history with 2,248 career digs.

Senior women’s soccer player Brittany Rothenbach (Bel Air, Md.) was presented the Debra Lee Orander Swamp Fox Academic Award.   Rothenbach was a four-year starter on the soccer field, and helped aide in the program’s transition from Division II to Division I membership. A mass communications major, she owns a 3.945 grade point average. She is a member of Psi Chi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Chi Alpha Sigma, and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. She is also a member of the FMU Student Media Association and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. She has been named to President's List for six of her seven semesters (Dean’s List the other semester), and has been selected to FMU's Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic Honor Roll four times and to the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll three times. An All-PBC performer in 2004, she served as a team captain each of the past two years, and was named to the Division I Independent All-Academic Team in 2005.

Of the 10 FMU athletic teams that keep win-loss records (excluding the cross country and track and field squads that compete in multi-team events), five registered winning records this past year, and four appeared in national poll rankings.

Two awards were also presented to individuals who assisted with the FMU athletic department in varying ways. The 2007 Most Valuable Partner Award for a community member went to Ric Garni, former sports director at WBTW TV-13. During his three years at WBTW, he regularly covered Patriot athletics, while also taking some courses at the university in preparation for a second career in veterinary medicine. The 2007 Most Valuable Partner Award for a faculty/staff member went to the husband-and-wife team of Roger Hux and Dr. Julia Krebs. Hux joined the FMU library faculty in 1975, and just recently retired from full-time work. He also served as Francis Marion’s faculty marshal. Krebs has been a member of the biology faculty since 1977, serving for seven years as department chair. These two have been ardent supporters of Patriots athletics, both on campus, in the classroom, and at athletic contests.