Kansas Rowing Holds End of the Season Awards Banquet

May 13, 2012

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Kansas rowing honored its six seniors and handed out multiple individual awards at the annual end of the season awards banquet on Saturday evening in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The six seniors honored on the 2011-12 roster are Molly Boehner, Lindsey Bricklemyer, Melanie Luthi, Angela Mings, Kathryn Schoonover and Paige Stephens. Luthi and Stephens also received the Senior Academic Achievement award.

“I think this senior class has been really good, even though we don’t have a big senior class,” Kansas head rowing coach Rob Catloth said. “We had three seniors in the Varsity Four that won the Big 12 Championship (Lindsey Bricklemyer, Kathryn Schoonover and Paige Stephens) and they’ve all done a really great job since they’ve been in that boat. They are undefeated since before the Knecht Cup, so they are having a really good run right now.”

Four rowers were awarded the “Class of 2000” Team Academic Award. Senior Melanie Luthi and sophomores Caty Clements, Elizabeth Scherer and Hannah Singhal all earned the honor for their work in the classroom. All four honorees had a GPA of 3.86 or higher.

To begin the night for the individual awards, Luthi took home the Oarswoman of the Year award. Luthi has been a member of the First Varsity Eight since her freshman year. She has also been named a two-time Conference USA All-Academic Team, 2012 Academic All-Big 12 Team, 2012 All-Big 12 Second Team, two-time Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll member and two-time Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal recipient.

“Melanie (Luthi) is the one senior in the First Varsity Eight and this is her fifth year, but she has been in the 1V8 since her freshman year,” Catloth explained. “She’s sort of been the anchor or the stalwart in that first eight for several years now. She sat one year out after having knee surgery, but other than that she is just such a strong competitor. I think she’s one of the more competitive people we’ve had in the program in a long time.”

Bricklemyer was awarded the Nikia Rosenberger Outstanding Coxswain Award. Bricklemyer has been the coxswain for the First Varsity Eight and First Varsity Four during her tenure at KU. This season, she helped lead the Varsity Four boat to wins at the Knecht Cup, Big 12 Championship and Conference USA Championship. The Varsity Four boat hasn’t lost a race in over a month.

“Lindsey (Bricklemyer) has been in the First Varsity Eight, but since she has been back in the First Varsity Four they haven’t lost, so she’s done a really good job of making that boat competitive,” Catloth said.

Kansas rowing also recognized the work of two newcomers this season. Freshman Brooke Thuston was named the Most Improved Newcomer and freshman Erin Brogan was named the Outstanding Newcomer. Brogan was chosen as one of 24 rowers from around the country to attend the USRowing Women’s National Team Freshman Camp, which takes place in June.

To round out the individual awards, sophomore Caity Decker was named the Most Improved Oarswoman and junior Cheyenne Verdoorn took home the “Essence of a Jayhawk” award.

The Jayhawks finished the 2012 season in Oak Ridge on Saturday at the Conference USA Championship.